Finally an introduction

[Slw]

Hi all, we are the owners of a 1973 Sequoia purchased in May 2021. We took possession and within 10 miles of her old home decided to blow the water hose. Left her at a local mechanic for a week, until she was towed to Applied for an assessment and me, Sharon, to break my knee (surgery & no weight bearing for 14 weeks in my case). Circumstances being what they were, she stayed with Applied for a year, the last 4 months getting a good mechanical going over. Her name is Daffodilli and she is now parked on our very narrow street in Berkeley to the chagrin of our neighbor.

her previous owner bought her from the original owner in about 1974. The first owner bought her to take on a road trip the Alaska from L.A. and back. Went on the trip never used it again, then sold it to the PO. The PO used it to take summer trips to Mexico riding motorcycles and other off road activities.

Mostly original interior except for carpet and reupholstered dinette and captains chairs. Paint is original yellow with darker yellow strips around the cockpit. We believed she is a survivor worth some TLC. Currently we are getting her interior electrical, water, lights, drapes cleaned up for some small trips, then hopefully a trip cross country, a long time dream of mine.

Happy to answer any questions. Thanks for accepting us and our various inquiries, although not very sophisticated and basic.

Sharon & Gordon

 

[tmsnyder]

Wishing you many years and thousands of miles of safe travel, enjoy! and welcome to the forum

 

[pvfjr]

Very cool to have an original one worth saving! Ours was poorly remodeled, so we're starting from scratch with a lot of the interior cosmetic stuff.

 

[Matt Colie]

Sharon and Gordon,

Welcome to the group, family, cult, asylum......

Do two things in very short order:
Buy two spiral bound notebooks. I prefer one full size and one half size.
The half size is the maintenance log. Mine is divided into appropriate sections and every bit of maintenance, of repair or replacement get logged in there with date, mileage (if appropriate) or both.
The other is the travel log. This was almost a mistake for me. For years I have not been able to write on paper with a stick of any kind. (A result of damage to my hand.) So, I was keeping the log in the traveling laptop. Then that one crashed hard mid-excursion. Fortunately, I had been backing up regularly to a USB drive so only one day had to be re-entered.
You must do this because if you use Daffodilli as you should, both of those areas will soon be a blur of memory. ("Were we in Yellowstone the same year as the Albuquerque Balloons? The House battery can't be 10 already!)
The reason the maintenance book likes to be a spiral bound is because it will be out a lot and you don't want it to shed pages. You can also unkink the spring and wind it out to reshuffle pages when one section becomes over full. You can never tell how much a section will take. She will require very regular maintenance. She is nothing like the typical "appliance" cars of late. If you take care of her, she will return the favor. If you don't have a good grease gun, a pair of jack stands and a 3 ton floor jack, you should.

Now, there are some specific differences in '73s. Like the generator service, the water heater control and a few other things. So, download the X7424 manual and have it handy and if you are working from the X7525 manual and something doesn't jive, change to the older manual.

There is one area should should be aware of right now. The early lower control arms are/were known to be weak. There was a factory service recommendation to add metal to them. Mine had this done, but one failed at 175K and this was not a good time. Most fail when making a sharp turn at low speed. To this condition, never jam the steering wheel to the stop either way.

With all that said, I hope you have figured out that the real value in being the owner/conservator of a GMC/TZE is not that it is a big new toy, it is important that it connects you to this community. This community is amazing and supportive. We all have an agenda to see to it that you get to enjoy both the coach and what Daffodilli can do for you. There is now no place you can go that you will not have food and accommodations. Because of the helping nature of this community, do not be put off by the forwardness you will see. We are not all used car salesmen, we just want to best for you and Daffodilli. This community so much like that of the watermen that are my world that I like to welcome new owners here much as you might be in that world. So,

May the Good Lord bless this coach and all those that set forth within her.

Welcome Sharon and Gordon

Matt

 

[Tom Katzenberger]

Welcome aboard, I wish you have many safe and wonderful journeys.

 

[traveler1980]

Welcome Sharon and Gordon! Your plans for Daffodil sound awesome. Nice looking coach, too. Mine has been extensively modified, but I love mostly original survivors. @Matt Colie’s advice is solid and I do something similar, only I store the information in Google Drive (or similar - iCloud, etc) so I don’t need to carry around the notebooks and I have instant access at all times. I also downloaded the service manuals to my phone. This has come in handy a few times. Happy Travels!

 

[bdub]

Welcome to the family!

For the purpose of locating and keeping track of all Classic GMC Motorhomes.
Please fill out and submit the online form at www.gmcmhregistry.com/contact/form.html
(There are currently over 8,860 GMCs accounted for)

Find the VIN tag is on the firewall behind the passenger side hood.
Or on the inner glove box door tag.
Or on the title.

* Note about the Build Date of your GMC: From the decal on the inside of the glove box door - look for a number on the top line just left of center, similar to "032174". The example indicates the build date as March 21st, 1974. *

Thank you
Billy Massey
The GMC Motorhome Registry

 

[Louis]

Sharon & Gordon

Welcome to the group. We have a 74 yellow Canyonlands with mostly original paint that we call Sunshine. It's been touched up a bit here and there but mostly original. It's amazing how well the original paint holds up and how well it shines when waxed. When we got ours the sides looked great but the roof had faded to nearly white. After a good washing, rubbing compound, and waxing job it looks new again. We also have a Daffodil, but it's a lot different then your Daffodilli. Ours is a little car made by a Dutch company called DAF. They made little cars and now make LARGE trucks. I think you will enjoy travelling in your GMC, I know we do. Last year we drove ours 13000 miles. Not so much this year because my wife, Laural, just had a knee replacement. We might make it to the GMCMI convention if her recovery continues to go well. She gets the staples out today.. Enjoy your new toy. We like ours so much we bought a second one last week and are having fun bringing it back to life after 5 years of storage.

Louis & Laural
Gilbert, AZ