Lots of "stuff". Ken Frey and Zeb Frady both brought a bunch of parts
and accessories. Chuck Stoddard was there with his Caspro lineup. Dick
Paterson sold all the distributors that he brought by Monday. I picked up a
set of his Springfield HEI ignition wires(more later). Two vendors had the
Turbo City TBI system(uses components from Chevy truck) for the GMC.
Jim Bounds made it there in the "Dumpster" - you've got to see the tires on
this thing to believe it! The rims are not offset - they're 10" wide!
Actually looks like a "life-size" Hotwheels GMC and Jim claims it drives
like a dream(only looks like a nightmare). Jim found an Accuride number
on the wheels, but "no joy" with Firestone - the number is discontinued.
Jim brought along 10 sets of Viracon glass to install at the rally($400 per
side installed - a deal!), and the installation crew from Charleston put in
8.5 on Tuesday - one buyer was a no-show and one only wanted the driver's
side. There was still plenty of interest Wednesday morning, so Jim was
going to try to locate more glass for another round today. Also, Jim
brought along "the ultimate leak-finder" - a big squirrel cage fan that he
mounts into a window opening. With the fan cranked up and the coach
pressurized, Jim walks around with a squirt bottle of soap and the coach
blows bubbles everywhere there's a leak. The resulting show really draws a
crowd.
Back to Dick Paterson's Springfield HEI ignition wires. They're 8mm double
silicone covered with sprial wire cores - 750ohms/ft according to Dick(I'll
check tonight) versus 5k to 7k for graphite wires. The spark plug ends have
600 degree silicone covers and fiberglass "fire sleeve" for the first 6
inches of wire. The distributor ends have numbered sleeves. Stainless
steel "snap" connectors are used on both ends. Dick's a neat guy, very
understated, he makes no outlandish "better milage" or "more power" claims
for his wires. Just that they will get the voltage to the plugs and are
warranted to last as long as the coach. $119US seems a fair enough price
after looking through the JEGS and Summit catalogs.
One trick that Dick includes on his distributor which I added to mine as
soon as I got home. He installs a half inch longer screw on the noise
filter(a can capacitor on older modules - an IC on newer ones) mount and
connects a ground wire where it exits the bottom of the distributor housing.
He then connects this wire to the battery negative, ensuring a good ground
for the ignition.
Ron Tase's 31 foot "stretch" was there. Nice coach, but hard to believe
that he only picked up 600lbs. and that it drives as good as he claims.
Walk around queen bed, dry bath, ceramic tile kitchen counter and full size
sink. Amazing what you can do with an extra 5 feet. I was really
surprised by the number of 23 footers there and that most of them are for
sale. Anyone having a hard time finding a 230 to buy should go to an GMCMI
rally. The weather was a little too cool to enjoy being at the coast.
Thunderstorms most of Sunday made that day interesting, but it was pretty
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I had to come home early to rescue the
grandparents from my children.
Met lots of GMCnetters - all fine people. Won't mention any names for fear
of overlooking someone, but you know who you are!
I put almost 800 miles on my father's 76 Eleganza with only one "problem".
I let the "Main" get low enough to suck air while exiting I20 for a fuel
stop. When the 455 sputtered, the alternator belt gave up the ghost. I
gassed-up, located the nearest NAPA and 45 minutes later we were back on our
way(many thanks to whoever posted the belt numbers a couple weeks back).
The other two belts looked new, so when I asked my father about the age of
the alternator belt, and he told me it was the one that came on the coach
four years ago, I let him know in no uncertain terms that belt replacement
is a maintenance issue IMNSHO! So that doesn't really qualify for a
"breakdown" - just another "war story".
I'll try to have some pic's up by the weekend, but I fear I toasted my modem
before I left Saturday(wouldn't work last night) so it might take a little
longer.
Later!
Patrick
- -----Original Message-----
From: HamRealtor [mailto:HamRealtor]
Sent: Sunday, March 21, 1999 11:43 PM
To: GMCMOTORHOME
Subject: GMC: Myrtle Beach-deals
Hey are you guys finding any good deals down there on any useful or
interesting products?
David
and accessories. Chuck Stoddard was there with his Caspro lineup. Dick
Paterson sold all the distributors that he brought by Monday. I picked up a
set of his Springfield HEI ignition wires(more later). Two vendors had the
Turbo City TBI system(uses components from Chevy truck) for the GMC.
Jim Bounds made it there in the "Dumpster" - you've got to see the tires on
this thing to believe it! The rims are not offset - they're 10" wide!
Actually looks like a "life-size" Hotwheels GMC and Jim claims it drives
like a dream(only looks like a nightmare). Jim found an Accuride number
on the wheels, but "no joy" with Firestone - the number is discontinued.
Jim brought along 10 sets of Viracon glass to install at the rally($400 per
side installed - a deal!), and the installation crew from Charleston put in
8.5 on Tuesday - one buyer was a no-show and one only wanted the driver's
side. There was still plenty of interest Wednesday morning, so Jim was
going to try to locate more glass for another round today. Also, Jim
brought along "the ultimate leak-finder" - a big squirrel cage fan that he
mounts into a window opening. With the fan cranked up and the coach
pressurized, Jim walks around with a squirt bottle of soap and the coach
blows bubbles everywhere there's a leak. The resulting show really draws a
crowd.
Back to Dick Paterson's Springfield HEI ignition wires. They're 8mm double
silicone covered with sprial wire cores - 750ohms/ft according to Dick(I'll
check tonight) versus 5k to 7k for graphite wires. The spark plug ends have
600 degree silicone covers and fiberglass "fire sleeve" for the first 6
inches of wire. The distributor ends have numbered sleeves. Stainless
steel "snap" connectors are used on both ends. Dick's a neat guy, very
understated, he makes no outlandish "better milage" or "more power" claims
for his wires. Just that they will get the voltage to the plugs and are
warranted to last as long as the coach. $119US seems a fair enough price
after looking through the JEGS and Summit catalogs.
One trick that Dick includes on his distributor which I added to mine as
soon as I got home. He installs a half inch longer screw on the noise
filter(a can capacitor on older modules - an IC on newer ones) mount and
connects a ground wire where it exits the bottom of the distributor housing.
He then connects this wire to the battery negative, ensuring a good ground
for the ignition.
Ron Tase's 31 foot "stretch" was there. Nice coach, but hard to believe
that he only picked up 600lbs. and that it drives as good as he claims.
Walk around queen bed, dry bath, ceramic tile kitchen counter and full size
sink. Amazing what you can do with an extra 5 feet. I was really
surprised by the number of 23 footers there and that most of them are for
sale. Anyone having a hard time finding a 230 to buy should go to an GMCMI
rally. The weather was a little too cool to enjoy being at the coast.
Thunderstorms most of Sunday made that day interesting, but it was pretty
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I had to come home early to rescue the
grandparents from my children.
Met lots of GMCnetters - all fine people. Won't mention any names for fear
of overlooking someone, but you know who you are!
I put almost 800 miles on my father's 76 Eleganza with only one "problem".
I let the "Main" get low enough to suck air while exiting I20 for a fuel
stop. When the 455 sputtered, the alternator belt gave up the ghost. I
gassed-up, located the nearest NAPA and 45 minutes later we were back on our
way(many thanks to whoever posted the belt numbers a couple weeks back).
The other two belts looked new, so when I asked my father about the age of
the alternator belt, and he told me it was the one that came on the coach
four years ago, I let him know in no uncertain terms that belt replacement
is a maintenance issue IMNSHO! So that doesn't really qualify for a
"breakdown" - just another "war story".
I'll try to have some pic's up by the weekend, but I fear I toasted my modem
before I left Saturday(wouldn't work last night) so it might take a little
longer.
Later!
Patrick
- -----Original Message-----
From: HamRealtor [mailto:HamRealtor]
Sent: Sunday, March 21, 1999 11:43 PM
To: GMCMOTORHOME
Subject: GMC: Myrtle Beach-deals
Hey are you guys finding any good deals down there on any useful or
interesting products?
David
