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[GMCnet] Made It Home [message #245744]

Sat, 29 March 2014 21:42

Ken Henderson

Messages: 8726
Registered: March 2004
Location: Americus, GA

Karma: 9

Senior Member

I've just about recuperated enough to report on my trip to GMCMI
Montgomery.

Since SHE had been suffering with back pains for about 10 days, I had to go
to the convention alone -- well, not completely alone, just alone in the
coach. Hubert and Jeannene Rowell stopped with us on Friday the 15th and
left with me on the 17th for Cantonment, FL. We'd planned to park in John
and Rita Nicholls' yard, along with Kerry and Carolyn Pinkerton and Paul
and Nancy Doane. But after having received about 3" of rain over the
previous couple of days, John was afraid he'd be stuck with us forever if
we parked on his grass. So he made reservations for us at a nearby
campground. After we all got settled, we went to the Nicholls' for dinner.
RIta fixed us a wonderful meal and we had a great visit with old friends.

The next morning we tried to launch the 4-GMC caravan west, but Hubert's
coach didn't cooperate -- it wouldn't start. Being Hubert, it took him
only about 5 minutes to diagnose the problem, replace the ignition module,
and join the parade. It's really amazing how many of those seem to be
failing these days.

Since I'd screwed up the refreshing of my engine after the cross-country
valve burning, I was a little worried about it. The 700 mile oil change
following my no oil pressure cam break-in showed quiite a lot of iron
inside the oil filter on the "Filter-Mag". The couple of hundred miles
after that change, before I left for Montgomery, left the oil a little dark
already. All that made me a willing leader of the caravan -- it was nice
to know I had rescuers behind me. For the first couple of hundred miles, I
held a steady 60 mph. Then picked it up to 65 for the rest of the run into
Lafayette, IN where we planned to stay in the Acadiana Campground run by
that city. There we found the Richardsons, Jenkins, Meyers, and
Perryssettled in ahead of us. Some of us went out to dinner at a
Logans
Restaurant.

The next morning we got a 9:00 AM start on the final leg to Montgomery,
with the same 4 we'd come in with. I again led most of the way at 65 mph.
At our last fuel stop before we left I-10 at Beaumont, TX, Nancy Doane
gave me precise directions for where to get off of the interstate and what
roads to take. Unfortunately, specious detour warnings, and indications on
my GPS caused me to basically ignore her advice -- I did NOT get off where
I was supposed to. Fortunately, Paul and Nancy were next in the parade and
DID take the correct exit -- the other two were smart enough to follow
them. I soon realized my mistake and had the GPS recalculate, taking me on
US-90, basically parallel to US-105, which the others took. Near
Montgomery I rejoined the caravan, this time as tail end Charlie.

Perhaps because I'd been there twice before and knew what to expect, I
didn't find the campground as disappointing as some have reported. What I
did not like was that we seemed to be scattered too broadly with
vacancieswe could have occupied. But we really did almost fill the
place up --
without the 2 per site parking we've had in the past.

I won't say much about the convention itself since others have reported on
it pretty thoroughly. It was, however, one of the better ones we've had.
Perhaps I just tend to think "smaller is better" for visiting with our
friends. We were glad to have a large turnout of first-timers (13 IIRC).
Unfortunately, not all of them were there for the whole period; some could
only come for the weekend.

Because SHE couldn't attend, I served as her proxy as SE VP. The final
business meeting wasn't over until almost 1600 on Wednesday. I'd planned
to stay until at least Thursday morning to help the packing crew and to
have a full travel day. But the weather was starting to look ominous:
wind picking up, seriously dark clouds to the west, and a report from
someone that overnight rain, persisting for 5 days was forecast. After
learning that my assistance wasn't really needed with packing, I decided to
try to get ahead of the weather. I was rolling by 1615, and arrived in
Lafayette, LA, 238 miles away, at about 2215. Since I didn't want to
disconnect the toad, I hunted for a pull-through site. Not finding one, I
asked GPS for the nearest Walmart. When I arrived there, I decided that I
wouldn't unlock my car doors there even at mid-day, much less spend the
night. So I proceeded to the next Walmart along my route, in Breaux
Bridge, LA, about 6-8 miles farther east. That was a Super Walmart in a
nice commercial district with several other RV's already parked. A pleasant
night was had by all -- of me. 250 miles or so that late in the day
wouldn't have been nearly as bad if the wind had not been something like 15
G 20 most of the way, mostly cross-wind.

Thursday morning I slept in until about 0800 and got rolling by 0900. The
wind was even worse -- I'm sure it was 20 G 30+ a good bit of the way
across LA, MS, and AL. I used ALL of I-10 across those states. :-)

As the day passed and the miles got consumed at 65-70 mph, I got to
thinking about my schedule: I'm leaving Americus on Monday with my 14 yo
grandson for the Sun'n'Fun aviation meet in Lakeland, FL. Since our
handyman comes on Friday, it would be nice to have the filthy GMC there for
him to wash. With only 553 miles to go (about twice what I prefer to drive
per day), it seemed do-able. And was. Despite stopping in Dothan, AL to
visit with the 2 mo. owners of a GMC I spotted as we passed headed south, I
made it home at about 2200. Only to learn that Charlie came on Thursday
because of the rain forecast for Friday. :-(

I called Charlie first thing yesterday morning and he came over to wash the
GMC, but only got 1/2 done before the rain started -- and lasted all day.
This morning, the rain let up for a while, so he came back and finished
the job.

After he finished, I started the projected I'd been, justifiably, dreading:
The fresh water pump's pressure switch failed early during the trip,
leaving me without water when not connected. Since there was no chance of
getting a replacement switch or pump before our Monday departure I decided
to install an external switch. And while at it, I wanted to install a
surge tank to replace the leaky one I removed a couple of years ago.

More frustration: My first trip to Lowes (our only source now) yielded the
pressure switch but according to the "expert" clerk, they only carry 5
gallon and larger expansion tanks. Back home, the computer said they DO
carry the 2 gallon version. A 'phone call was answered with "we've got two
in stock". So, I had to go back to get one of them. Bad business!!!

I'm too old for crawling around on the floor, standing on my head, bouncing
up and down like a jack-in-the-box, and all the rest involved in replumbing the
darned thing under the bed in a little compartment beside the water tank.
But I did get it done, and seem to have even cured all the new leaks.

One final note: The dark oil I left home with 1600+ miles ago is now as
clean as when I poured it in. I assume the darkness was due to residual
iron filings, which have now been trapped by the Filter-Mag and the filter
material. Since the engine ran perfectly, with excellent instrument
readings (aside from the previously reported, undoubtedly errroneous EGT's),
I'm satisfied that I didn't do serious damage to the engine on initial
start-up.

Sorry for wasting so many electrons!

Ken H.
Americus, GA
'76 X-Birchaven w/Cad500/Howell EFI & EBL
www.gmcwipersetc.com
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Ken Henderson
Americus, GA
www.gmcwipersetc.com
Large Wiring Diagrams
76 X-Birchaven
76 X-Palm Beach