Home » Public Forums » GMCnet » Successful Short Trip (190 miles of up and down)
| Successful Short Trip [message #258868] |
Fri, 15 August 2014 00:27  |
George Beckman
Messages: 1085
Registered: October 2008
Location: Colfax, CA
Karma: 11
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Senior Member |
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This is for those getting discouraged with their GMC...
We just took a couple nights to get away. Top elevation was 6900 feet. Coach ran fine. Folks ogled the coach and were surprised it was a 1974. A fellow asked if it had a V-10 in it. All the parts of the road that were not going down were going up. Furnace worked. Fuel injection worked. Onan worked. Inverter worked. On demand hot water heater worked. Constant heat shower valve worked. (This makes me a hero with my wife every trip.) Brakes were fine. Steers like a car. The Van WInkle water pump buttons (another one that makes my wife happy) kept us from having to go "somewhere else" to turn water on or off. Transmission was perfect. No vapor lock. Engine didn't get hot. Emergency brake assist (Branscombe) worked every time. Refrigerator was perfect. Sully type bags leveled and held fine while camping. Got home and the macerator worked perfectly. Backed it in the barn with almost no retries.
I did not get between 9 and 10 mpg (8.5 on the computer) and we were not towing. Had to dump in a quart of oil because this engine is a "oil burner".
Have hope. When I brought this coach home the neighbor boy asked, "Papa, why did George get such an ugly motor home?" (We had a "cute" little 23' called "Baby" at the time and Ruth still misses it.) We have driven well over 40K miles and been on a flatbed once. (Transmission, which I knew was giving trouble but went up a almost 5000' to a church family camp, anyway.)
'74 Eleganza, SE, Howell + EBL
Best Wishes,
George
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| Re: [GMCnet] Successful Short Trip [message #258913 is a reply to message #258868] |
Fri, 15 August 2014 11:30  |
sgltrac
Messages: 2797
Registered: April 2011
Karma: 1
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Senior Member |
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Sounds like all you could consider now is having you engine/fuel injection tuned( although the ups and downs will have a pretty heavy impact on mileage) and finding a place for a decent paint job.
I'm sure you are the envy of many reading. (Myself included😜)
Todd Sullivan
Sully
77 royale
Seattle
> On Aug 14, 2014, at 10:37 PM, George Beckman wrote:
>
> This is for those getting discouraged with their GMC...
>
> We just took a couple nights to get away. Top elevation was 6900 feet. Coach ran fine. Folks ogled the coach and were surprised it was a 1974. A
> fellow asked if it had a V-10 in it. All the parts of the road that were not going down were going up. Furnace worked. Fuel injection worked. Onan
> worked. Inverter worked. On demand hot water heater worked. Constant heat shower valve worked. (This makes me a hero with my wife every trip.) Brakes
> were fine. Steers like a car. The Van WInkle water pump buttons (another one that makes my wife happy) kept us from having to go "somewhere else" to
> turn water on or off. Transmission was perfect. No vapor lock. Engine didn't get hot. Emergency brake assist (Branscombe) worked every time.
> Refrigerator was perfect. Sully type bags leveled and held fine while camping. Got home and the macerator worked perfectly. Backed it in the barn
> with almost no retries.
>
> I did not get between 9 and 10 mpg (8.5 on the computer) and we were not towing. Had to dump in a quart of oil because this engine is a "oil burner".
>
>
> Have hope. When I brought this coach home the neighbor boy asked, "Papa, why did George get such an ugly motor home?" (We had a "cute" little 23'
> called "Baby" at the time and Ruth still misses it.) We have driven well over 40K miles and been on a flatbed once. (Transmission, which I knew was
> giving trouble but went up a almost 5000' to a church family camp, anyway.)
>
> --
> '74 Eleganza, SE, Howell + EBL
> Best Wishes,
> George
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> GMCnet mailing list
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Sully
77 Royale basket case.
Future motorhome land speed record holder(bucket list)
Seattle, Wa.
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| Re: Successful Short Trip [message #258952 is a reply to message #258868] |
Fri, 15 August 2014 17:54 |
rvanwin
Messages: 325
Registered: April 2007
Location: Battlefield, MO
Karma: 6
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Senior Member |
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George Beckman wrote on Fri, 15 August 2014 00:27This is for those getting discouraged with their GMC...
We just took a couple nights to get away. Top elevation was 6900 feet. Coach ran fine. Folks ogled the coach and were surprised it was a 1974. A fellow asked if it had a V-10 in it. All the parts of the road that were not going down were going up. Furnace worked. Fuel injection worked. Onan worked. Inverter worked. On demand hot water heater worked. Constant heat shower valve worked. (This makes me a hero with my wife every trip.) Brakes were fine. Steers like a car. The Van WInkle water pump buttons (another one that makes my wife happy) kept us from having to go "somewhere else" to turn water on or off. Transmission was perfect. No vapor lock. Engine didn't get hot. Emergency brake assist (Branscombe) worked every time. Refrigerator was perfect. Sully type bags leveled and held fine while camping. Got home and the macerator worked perfectly. Backed it in the barn with almost no retries.
I did not get between 9 and 10 mpg (8.5 on the computer) and we were not towing. Had to dump in a quart of oil because this engine is a "oil burner".
Have hope. When I brought this coach home the neighbor boy asked, "Papa, why did George get such an ugly motor home?" (We had a "cute" little 23' called "Baby" at the time and Ruth still misses it.) We have driven well over 40K miles and been on a flatbed once. (Transmission, which I knew was giving trouble but went up a almost 5000' to a church family camp, anyway.)
George, I'm with you. We don't hear enough good road trip stories. Margie and I attended our Flatlanders rally in Chanute, KS about 3 weeks ago. A little over 300 miles round trip. No problems with the coach and had a great time with 6 coaches, an SOB and a couple staying at the local motel. Good turn out and a lot of fun. We were even written up in the local Chanute Tribune. http://www.chanute.com/news/article_7c5ded28-f80a-11e3-9028-0017a43b2370.html or http://tinyurl.com/puwfpay
The next weekend, we took our 16 year old granddaughter and two of her friends for a "last bash" before school to the lake for an overnight campout and water skiing. Again, coach ran fine. Everything worked and we made the 137 mile roundtrip getting 11.4 mpg (we were not towing). The Chanute trip was very windy (as it always is in Kansas). I only got 10.5 for that trip (again, not towing).
Great times in the GMC. The first week of September, we will be driving the coach to CA. The GMC is for driving and having fun!!!
Randy & Margie
'77 Eleganza II '403'
Battlefield, MO
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| Re: [GMCnet] Successful Short Trip [message #259917 is a reply to message #259893] |
Sun, 24 August 2014 12:29 |
cbryan
Messages: 451
Registered: May 2012
Location: Ennis, Texas
Karma: 3
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Senior Member |
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Sully,
George can hold forth on just about anything about the fuel injection protocol from idle enrichment to timed power enrichment, and has hacked the GM computer so that it holds few secrets from him. He supplies tables to those who need them already configured. He has tuned his computer on the fly so that it gets that last tenth of a mile per gallon, using a number of tankfuls of gas in the process. He is always available to help the unwashed on the EFI forum, understating his knowledge, yet being very helpful.
I only wish he would tune up my motorhome. It would be a matter of minutes before it would run as it never did. I have to look at each cell on the fuel map, while he can see the whole thing and tune things accordingly.
It is possible I guess that he needs plugs now, but unlikely. It was great to hear that things are going well for his MH. He has been on the mountain and has seen the promised land.
A lot of us are running well because of George.
Best,
Carey
Carey from Ennis, Texas
78 Royale, 500 Cadillac, Rance Baxter EFI.
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| Re: [GMCnet] Successful Short Trip [message #259929 is a reply to message #259917] |
Sun, 24 August 2014 14:57 |
sgltrac
Messages: 2797
Registered: April 2011
Karma: 1
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Senior Member |
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Thanks for the enlightenment.
Todd Sullivan
Sully
77 royale
Seattle.
> On Aug 24, 2014, at 10:31 AM, Carey Bryan wrote:
>
> Sully,
>
> George can hold forth on just about anything about the fuel injection protocol from idle enrichment to timed power enrichment, and has hacked the GM
> computer so that it holds few secrets from him. He supplies tables to those who need them already configured. He has tuned his computer on the fly
> so that it gets that last tenth of a mile per gallon, using a number of tankfuls of gas in the process. He is always available to help the unwashed
> on the EFI forum, understating his knowledge, yet being very helpful.
>
> I only wish he would tune up my motorhome. It would be a matter of minutes before it would run as it never did. I have to look at each cell on the
> fuel map, while he can see the whole thing and tune things accordingly.
>
> It is possible I guess that he needs plugs now, but unlikely. It was great to hear that things are going well for his MH. He has been on the
> mountain and has seen the promised land.
>
> A lot of us are running well because of George.
>
> Best,
>
>
> Carey
> --
> Carey from Ennis, Texas
> 78 Royale, 500 Cadillac, Rance Baxter EFI.
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://temp.gmcnet.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gmclist
_______________________________________________
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Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
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Sully
77 Royale basket case.
Future motorhome land speed record holder(bucket list)
Seattle, Wa.
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| Re: [GMCnet] Successful Short Trip [message #259972 is a reply to message #259917] |
Sun, 24 August 2014 22:23 |
George Beckman
Messages: 1085
Registered: October 2008
Location: Colfax, CA
Karma: 11
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Senior Member |
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cbryan wrote on Sun, 24 August 2014 10:29Sully,
George can hold forth on just about anything about the fuel injection protocol from idle enrichment to timed power enrichment, and has hacked the GM computer so that it holds few secrets from him. He supplies tables to those who need them already configured. He has tuned his computer on the fly so that it gets that last tenth of a mile per gallon, using a number of tankfuls of gas in the process. He is always available to help the unwashed on the EFI forum, understating his knowledge, yet being very helpful.
A lot of us are running well because of George.
Best,
Carey
Thanks for all the wonderful accolades, but Randy is the real brains. I can, as stated, do some pretty solid tuning and have the What's Up Display Trip Screen on my dash via VNC to my iPhone. But Randy worked for IBM and he didn't sweep up. I spent my life with 6th graders.
I look at a table of fuel values and begin to study the x and y column headings to get oriented and Randy, about that time indicates a diagonal bunch of cells with his hand saying, "I don't like this pattern though here." I am a pretty smart fellow but he is smart and really quick. I realized this when he tutored me in senior physics in high school. If we didn't live 1700 miles apart, I would probably be even smarter. (And he might be a little frustrated.)
But thanks for the nice words, each of you. And I do like to help when ever I can.
'74 Eleganza, SE, Howell + EBL
Best Wishes,
George
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| Re: [GMCnet] Successful Short Trip [message #259977 is a reply to message #259929] |
Sun, 24 August 2014 23:20 |
cbryan
Messages: 451
Registered: May 2012
Location: Ennis, Texas
Karma: 3
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Senior Member |
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[quote title=sgltrac wrote on Sun, 24 August 2014 14:57]Thanks for the enlightenment.
Todd Sullivan
Sully
77 royale
Seattle.
Sully,
Glad to do it. Thank you for your enlightenment, also. Fairly soon, I am going to order some Sully air bag kits. I figure that since the air bags are one of the few systems not giving trouble, that they are going to demand attention. If I brag on them thus, "I have great air bags, they always work and aren't cracked or weathered, they might last another ten years."
BAM!! "What was that? Coach is running pretty low..... Uh, oh, time to call Sully!"
Did you find that diesel pusher? I looked on craigslist in the King County area and came up pretty short on them, of a price I consider reasonable.
Sorry about your engine problems. Hope the next engine will last 100,000 plus miles. Very disappointing to read you had done so well rebuilding from scratch to have the engine lunch out. Rob Mueller might have something with his recommendation about not reusing the radiator oil cooler. I saw in a Oldsmobile hot rod book that one of the gurus advocates increasing rod and main bearing clearances. Rod clearances because near TDC the rods are weak enough that the piston weight pulls the big end egg shaped, and the narrower sides cause heat and bearing failure. The mains suffer from weak webs and the block moves around and again causes some clearance issues in a more minor way. I hasten to add that the guru says this occurs at a higher rpm like 5500 that we should never see in service. But I would try building with greater clearance. A balanced engine doesn't stress the block as much. Might be expensive but a good investment.
I wonder if there could be a database on rebuilds with the clearances documented so that when and if they fail, we could get an idea of the rebuild decisions that have been made. The survivors are the ones that should be replicated.
Good luck, and thanks for your invention.
Best,
Carey
Carey from Ennis, Texas
78 Royale, 500 Cadillac, Rance Baxter EFI.
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| Re: [GMCnet] Successful Short Trip [message #259981 is a reply to message #259977] |
Mon, 25 August 2014 00:26 |
sgltrac
Messages: 2797
Registered: April 2011
Karma: 1
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Senior Member |
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Mark G from Illinois came up with the original design which I improved upon to end up with the Sullybilt system.
I have been shopping pushers Carey but I'm taking my time. I want to be fairly sure that my next motorhome purchase remains turn key fully functional and will suit our needs rather than a full time hobby Segway. Short pushers (30' or less) are not nearly as common as 36 footers and larger and I don't want to restrict our access to places by going too big(which is why I bought the gmc in the first place). I have become somewhat convinced that only a low mileage pusher is going to be able to haul our trailer bikes an gear over hill and dale for the next four years without drivetrain issues.
Todd Sullivan
Sully
77 royale
Seattle
> On Aug 24, 2014, at 9:22 PM, Carey Bryan wrote:
>
> [quote title=sgltrac wrote on Sun, 24 August 2014 14:57]Thanks for the enlightenment.
>
> Todd Sullivan
>
> Sully
> 77 royale
> Seattle.
>
> Sully,
>
> Glad to do it. Thank you for your enlightenment, also. Fairly soon, I am going to order some Sully air bag kits. I figure that since the air bags
> are one of the few systems not giving trouble, that they are going to demand attention. If I brag on them thus, "I have great air bags, they always
> work and aren't cracked or weathered, they might last another ten years."
>
> BAM!! "What was that? Coach is running pretty low..... Uh, oh, time to call Sully!"
>
> Did you find that diesel pusher? I looked on craigslist in the King County area and came up pretty short on them, of a price I consider reasonable.
>
>
> Sorry about your engine problems. Hope the next engine will last 100,000 plus miles. Very disappointing to read you had done so well rebuilding from
> scratch to have the engine lunch out. Rob Mueller might have something with his recommendation about not reusing the radiator oil cooler. I saw in a
> Oldsmobile hot rod book that one of the gurus advocates increasing rod and main bearing clearances. Rod clearances because near TDC the rods are weak
> enough that the piston weight pulls the big end egg shaped, and the narrower sides cause heat and bearing failure. The mains suffer from weak webs
> and the block moves around and again causes some clearance issues in a more minor way. I hasten to add that the guru says this occurs at a higher rpm
> like 5500 that we should never see in service. But I would try building with greater clearance. A balanced engine doesn't stress the block as much.
> Might be expensive but a good investment.
>
> I wonder if there could be a database on rebuilds with the clearances documented so that when and if they fail, we could get an idea of the rebuild
> decisions that have been made. The survivors are the ones that should be replicated.
>
> Good luck, and thanks for your invention.
>
> Best,
>
> Carey
> --
> Carey from Ennis, Texas
> 78 Royale, 500 Cadillac, Rance Baxter EFI.
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://temp.gmcnet.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gmclist
_______________________________________________
GMCnet mailing list
Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
http://temp.gmcnet.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gmclist
Sully
77 Royale basket case.
Future motorhome land speed record holder(bucket list)
Seattle, Wa.
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