Back after a long hiatus

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pilondav

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Jun 28, 2025
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Hi all. I'm Dave Pilon from Westland, MI. I've owned a '75 Palm Beach since 2006.

So here's my tale of woe. On Labor Day weekend in 2020, the engine in our coach gave up the ghost with a bang and a big puff of white smoke. The engine blew a rod right through one piston and was unsalvageable. The search for, rebuilding of, and reinstallation of a new engine took six years. We finally got the coach back from the mechanic this month, albeit in not-quite-complete condition. The mechanic had had enough. He managed to drive the coach about two miles from his shop to my house. Our unspoken agreement was that he wouldn't charge me the other half of his fee and I wouldn't bring it back to him.

So, right now, the coach starts up with a good squirt of starting fluid (gas is old) and idles beautifully. But when I shift into drive, it stalls out. I'm not a great mechanic, but I know a thing or two. So far, I've redone the vacuum lines to match Dick Patterson's sketch and I'm presently working on the spark plug wires. The mechanic put the wrong length wires on some of the plugs, so some were stretched like banjo strings and others had too much slack. So wish me luck if you would and please advise if you know of something I can try.

One thing I noticed since I've been back online is the passing of so many great people. Emery Stora, Matt Colie, Alex Sirum, Joe Mondello, etc. These guys were celebrities of the GMC world for their knowledge, patience, and willingness to assist others. I was also saddened to read that Ragusa Pattern and the Co-Op both closed.

Best to all. Hoping to meet some of you at a Great Lakers rally or the GMCMI fall rally this year.

Dave and Kenn
 
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Welcome back!

Any time I have a mystery engine that I don't know the full background on, and it doesn't run right, I like to start with absolute basics.

I start with a compression check. Yes, even if they're new. If valve timing is off due to assembly error, compression will be lower than expected.

Then I do a smoke test on the intake. I have an improvised "smoke machine" that used some nichrome wire, mason jar, tiki torch wicks, a laptop power supply, and a $6 aquarium air pump. It works great! You're on the right track looking for vacuum leaks, but some are harder to find than others.
 
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Thanks for that, Paul! I'm definitely going to do a compression check. I might do the smoke test as well, although with the aluminum intake, I don't expect to find too much leakage (in or out). I know I should have just had the motorhome towed up to Cinnabar and had it done right. Let's just say I wasn't the biggest fan of Wes.
 
It's such a shame you had to have a six year hiatus from your motorhome. I hope it was stored well wherever it languished so you don't see too many more issues crop up. The aluminum intake certainly won't have cracking concerns, so that's good. Who knows with gasket installs though. They're awkward to set in place, so misaligned gaskets are always possible.

I was very fortunate when I needed a new engine. I just drove up to Spokane and got one (slightly mysterious rebuild that sat around) from another member and installed it at a friend's house (he has a lift a mile from my house).

Hopefully the cam on yours is timed correctly, lifters/rockers/rods are all correctly matched, etc. Fingers crossed for a simple explanation.

More things to check are manifold vacuum (can idle mixture adjustment improve it?), distributor weights not worn or stuck from sitting, vacuum advance not leaky (I check with a hand vacuum pump), choke and pull-off operating correctly, accelerator pump spraying correctly...

Swap out that gas too, or run it temporarily off a smaller fresh can to eliminate it as a variable.
 
It was stored outside, unfortunately, so I have some more wear on the paint and the window rubbers have passed from merely unsightly to downright dangerous.

I'm hoping for no major head issues. At idle, it sounds beautiful, but I'm not sure how it will be at 2600 RPM.

I bought a refurbished carb and distributor from Dick Patterson when I did the intake replacement, so those don't have much wear on them.

Any idea on how to get rid of about 40 gallons of six-year-old gas?
 
pilondav said:
It was stored outside, unfortunately, so I have some more wear on the paint and the window rubbers have passed from merely unsightly to downright dangerous.

I'm hoping for no major head issues. At idle, it sounds beautiful, but I'm not sure how it will be at 2600 RPM.

I bought a refurbished carb and distributor from Dick Patterson when I did the intake replacement, so those don't have much wear on them.

Any idea on how to get rid of about 40 gallons of six-year-old gas?
Click to expand...

pump it into a 55 gallon drum and put it up for 'free' on facebook marketplace

Or if you have an old beater / 'hooptie' vehicle, or a kid or grand kid drives one, put in a few gallons every tank full and burn it. As long as it smells decent.

Or if you burn fuel oil to heat your home, blend some in there when they fill the tank. 10 or 20 gallons of old gas mixed into 250 gallons of fuel oil isn't going to hurt your burner.
 
We should also warn you, old varnished gas that still "runs" the vehicle has been shown many times to cause bent pushrods in engines the 2nd, 3rd or 4th time the engine gets run. Gummy deposits build up on valve stems and can glue them into place when the engine cools. On the next startup, you get a bent pushrod since the valve is unwilling to move. Or sometimes, it's a pulled-out rocker stud. Depends on the engine.

I keep forgetting to ask, were you a member of the old birdfeeder forum? If you were, @Christo can probably merge your profiles or something like that.
 
Get your shine on at www.cruzingear.co
GMCMI Spring 2026 Rally

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