The Ferrigno Family's 1976 Palm Beach

[pvfjr]

The title starts out the same, but this is a NEW thread, I promise. The 1975 Glenbrook is beloved by our family, but the kids are growing up fast, and my free time is very limited.

A coach came up at auction that has acceptable paint, dash AC, and upholstery. I tried not to buy it, as inspection revealed many things wrong with it, but a couple friends who are bad influences encouraged me in a time of weakness. I paid more than I thought I'd be willing, but my wife and daughter both like the interior, and I like the potential time savings. Thus, a new story begins.

 

[tmsnyder]

Those friends will do that to you!

 

[pvfjr]

Copart now says though shalt tow away. It was marked as "runs and drives" Ha! The steering box was ripped off the frame from the front collision. My friend with a wheel lift was available. It was about a 35 mile tow to his yard, which got me 15 miles from home. My place is too uneven for a wheel-lift tow configuration, so the goal was to get it up-and-running on site at the tow yard.

 

[pvfjr]

The pre-bid inspection revealed some problems:

• Rear bedroom vent cover was cracked in half; rain had been getting in
• Mold was starting to show up in a few places
• All three batteries were dead as can be
• Steering box was ripped off the frame
• Radiator frame took a hit; entire assembly was extremely tilted
• Fan shroud was busted; fan was jammed
• Water pump pulley jiggles; coolant is slightly low
• Coach won't go into park
• Parking brake does nothing
• Brake pedal is mushy; forward reservoir is empty and very rusty
• Someone in the auction yard absconded with the rugs

Needless to say, I had some work to do at the towing yard before I cold head home with it.

 

[pvfjr]

The two biggest obstacles for limping it home were the steering box and lines, as well as the radiator fiasco. Up first was the steering. Luckily the parts coach had a box to donate. It sure was easy to pull with no front nose on the coach. Although I don't think the rod ends had ever been separated from the arm. Talk about stuck! I thought my separator was going to explode; it took a lot of hammering on the arm end while the separator was under tension, then finally it violently blew apart.


On the new coach, three bolts had broken and one cast ear had snapped off the box. One of the mounting bosses on the frame got distorted and mushroomed a bit, so I had to ream it out with a stepped bit. The steering shaft had been pulled apart at the slip joint. There's four choices on position; I just had to roll the dice for now. Getting the shaft to slip back together while hoisting the box up behind the fender was a chore by myself, so I rigged up an auto-locking truckers hitch with some paracord to get rid of the slack and hold the box in place while I bolted it down. I should have started with that method first instead of struggling so much!


And of course it had to be snowing, and I was rolling in mud and ATF.

 

[Matt Colie]

Paul,
If you center the steering box and the steering wheel, there is a really good chance it will be right.
If it is not, then pop the horn switch and look for the chisel mark on the steering shaft. If it isn't at straight ahead, you will have to fix that too.
Matt_C

 

[Carl Stouffer]

Nice looking coach! A little extra TLC should put it right in short order.

 

[pvfjr]

Paul,
If you center the steering box and the steering wheel, there is a really good chance it will be right.
If it is not, then pop the horn switch and look for the chisel mark on the steering shaft. If it isn't at straight ahead, you will have to fix that too.
Matt_C

The box should be close to correct. It appeared to have the same relationship between pitman arm and input shaft. With the input shaft's relief cut for the clamp bolt, I can't really put that together wrong. I had to guess at the relationship on either side of the slip joint on the lower steering shaft. It has the big "four spline" section with the blue coating and the plus-sign cross section. So there's four choices, and I'm guessing I picked the wrong one. It drove OK, so the self-centering seemed fine, but the wheel was off about 100 degrees. Unfortunately I'll have to pull it apart again, assuming that tick-mark on the steering shaft is off by the same 100 degrees as the wheel.

 

[bdub]

I bet you got a really great deal on that coach, Paul. It'll be a honey again soon. And thanks for the VIN. ;-)

 

[pvfjr]

You can see how tilted the radiator and its frame are. This also resulted in ripping apart the dipstick tube. I'm not yet certain whether its related to my inability to shift into park.




This is one of the brackets that holds the radiator frame to the chassis. It's supposed to be a simple L bracket, but is quite twisted up. They're about 3/16" steel, and felt a bit tempered, so we had to heat them up to pound them back into shape. I didn't get "after" pics, but we got them nice and straight. Much to my surprise, we even got all the bolt holes to line up again! The fan and shroud were no longer jammed up, and I could start the coach without noise coming from the fan clutch.




Starting the coach made it obvious that the old power steering line wasn't going to make the drive home. So I cut off the damaged end, saved the non-standard 11/16" tube nut for 3/8" tube, and fabbed a patch. The old line is pretty tough stuff. I wouldn't have been able to flare it without my Mastercool kit. It took about 5 bends to get the angles just right too.

 

[pvfjr]

I removed the grill, as it was broken in four places and hanging by a thread. All six original mounting bosses were broken or missing. I popped off the hubcaps to check and add air as needed. Running the motor a little more revealed a knocking sound. I don't want to say it's rod knock at this point. I really, really hope it's the timing chain, as I have to do the water pump anyway. It also needs some tuning, and I don't think the choke works. It's a little cold-blooded. I had to bypass the NSS so I could start it, since park is reverse and neutral is drive. With all that, we were underway and headed for the hills!


And we're home!


I got the service light working just for fun, and started charging the house batteries via the boost solenoid.

 

[pvfjr]

I pulled it in the shop and started messing with the systems. The stove didn't want to work, so I checked the propane tank. The control panel indicated an open circuit, of course, but the tank gauge showed some level of propane. I kept at it with the stove, and it eventually lit up. I reckon the lines were full of air and needed bled out.


The Onan didn't want to start, but sounded like pretty slow cranking. I got the 455 fired back up and the Onan cranked more enthusiastically with the help of the alternator. I love seeing the glow of that little orange light! Looks like there's a thousand hours on this one. With 52K on the coach, they basically ran the generator for an hour for each 50 miles driven. Seems like a decent ratio; I wonder what's typical.


A temporary fix will keep the rain/snow out of the busted vent cover.


And she piddled on my floor. Hopefully the jiggly water pump is to blame.

 

[pvfjr]

The grill was in my way, so I decided to fix it. This was the best boss left--still cracked. The others were missing in part or in whole, and some had taken large chunks of the flange with them. I built up new bosses with ABS rod, then drilled a pilot hole in each.


I preheated brass "wood insert nuts" and pressed/screwed them into the bosses. After they cooled, I loosened the jamb nut and removed the screw. It turned out pretty decent, and feels very solid. Later I'll delete all the holes left by the deck screws and sand/paint as needed.


I reinforced all the breaks with stainless mesh and welded them up. Then I was able to remount the grill and get it out of my way. Feels very solid. I should've done this with my other coach.



I also messed with the radio, as it looked rather attractive. It wouldn't turn on, so I took a meter to all the fuses. They all checked fine, then the radio magically worked. Obviously I fixed something by accident. I guess I'll be seeing a loose fuse in my future. Maybe I'll put the thermal camera on it at some point and see what I can see. Anyway, it's a Kenwood with Garmin navigation, and up to four camera inputs! Pretty cool. It also became apparent that there was a subwoofer under the bunk bed.

 

[dsmithy]

Paul,
You are so annoying....
First, you find a coach that probably wouldn't be rescued and save it, then you fix a bunch of things just to get it home, then you use creative solutions to save broken parts (my grill is still held on with zip ties). You do all this while raising kids, keeping your wife happy and holding down a job. I couldn't do that even if someone gave me a cape and a phone booth. Heavy Sigh...
The coach looks good though, I'm jealous of the full-length ZipDee awnings on both sides among other things. The coach was obviously loved at one time. Kudos to you for a terrific save. Just try not to remind me that I haven't your creativity or energy.

 

[pvfjr]

keeping your wife happy

You're too kind, but there's one inaccuracy here...
The Mrs is a bit miffed that there are now four coaches on our property! I've accelerated the parting out process of the parts coach, and all under strict orders to liquidate the other good one ASAP.

 

[Russell]

Good job saving another one Paul! That upholstery is really cool, and it matches the dash in a very 1950's style. Awesome!! Looks like you've got a good one.

Russell

 

[pvfjr]

Good job saving another one Paul! That upholstery is really cool, and it matches the dash in a very 1950's style. Awesome!! Looks like you've got a good one.

Russell

Thanks, feels good to get the misfits operational again.

I fiddled with the house thermostat contacts and got the furnace going again. Sounds quiet. Definitely smells like mouse pee, and my ozone generator is out on loan. The good news is, I've brought the temps up from low 30s to mid 50s, so The dehumidifier is no longer a block of ice. Relative humidity has dropped from 95% to 50% for the last couple days, and that is helping a lot. I've also been cleaning some mold that was growing on various residues. I got the fridge fired up, fixed the light, and got all the mold cleaned out of it as well.
.

The fridge compartment has been lined with sheet metal. I'm not sure if the PO did this for fire prevention purposes, or if it's something that GM started doing at some point, but none of my other coaches have had this. I like it.

 

[pvfjr]

The PO had some grab handles made from what I believe to be curved pine branches, but unfortunately they have not stood the test of time. I'll have to figure something else out.





I'm getting sick of this weather, but the pup still loves it.

 

[LQQKatJon]

Wow. Great job.

Time to start renting out the gmc’s to help pay for parts.

 

[pvfjr]

I had a bad GMC day on Saturday. I'm trying not to get discouraged. I had higher hopes, but this coach is nowhere near road-ready, despite having been on the road with the PO. That guy was on borrowed time.

I cleared a little shop space, got it pulled all the way in, got it off the ground, and started working on removing the wheels. Even that wasn't easy. I usually overinflate the airbags, block the bogie bracket, then deflate. These won't raise up very far no matter how long the onboard compressor runs. I wonder if it's just not up to the task? My quad-bag coach goes way higher; I don't think that should be the case...

First off, the driver's wheel made a simple task complicated. Man, it was stuck--really came off with a bang. I'm so glad to have the 10-ton hydraulic gear puller sometimes.


Then, I discovered why the rear brake circuit was bone dry. Hard line at the back of the wheel cylinder snapped off when I looked at it wrong. It had clearly been rusted through and leaking for a while. I just did all this on the Glenbrook, so I guess I'll be even better at it this time around.


The disheartening discoveries were:

1. Bogie play. Worst one is driver's side rearmost bogie. About a 1/2" play at the wheel.
2. Front wheel bearings are smoked. Both front wheels jiggle around quite a bit. Ugh.
3. Rearmost driver's wheel bearing is toast as well. Not a ton of play, but it growls a lot. Hopefully the spindle is OK.

I dread the idea of having to ship my heavy parts off to be serviced and paying untold hundreds/thousands to specialists, and waiting for them to come back again. I'm still doing some research to see what my options are.