Hello all.
In March my wife and I bought a 76 Palm Beach in Washington and brought it
to Northern California. We had the brakes completely rebuilt, dropped the
gas tanks, replaced the gas lines, new propane lines, new shocks, replaced
the steering damper, new upper and lower radiator hoses, new front wheel
bearings, installed rock guards in front of the radiator, cleaned and
resealed the roof, replaced the window seals, fixed the bent door hinge,
and replaced the vent fans.
Wednesday we went to the shop to pick it up. Drove it to get it smogged -
and burst a hose (the only one we didn't replace since it was shown as new
on the previous owners' workorder). Well the hose was more or less new, but
looks like it had a fault since it blew apart in a major way. We cut the old
hose out and made a shunt with new hose. Works fine, even though we no
longer have water preheat.
We drove through San Francisco at the beginning of rush hour - mostly stop
and go. The coach handled well and the brakes were great. We got to San Jose
at the height of rush hour. So, we decided to stop for dinner and drive the
rest of the way after traffic died down. Normally I would stop after 10-15
miles to check for leaks but no stops were possible in the 60 miles from San
Rafael to San Jose. Walking around the coach we noticed a small puddle
between the driver's side rear wheels. Backed it up and the puddle re-
appeared. We were leaking a small quantity of braks fluid. No big deal I
thought. We stopped at a friends house a few miles away to put some brake
fluid in and tighten the fitting. The leak got worse. Took it apart, cleaned
the flare and put ti back together. It was worse yet. I walked over to a
neighboring house that had a GMC in front and asked the owner where they got
their work done.
Thursday my wife and I drove back to San Jose and went to the shop BEFORE I
started driving the GMC. I drove the back way through mostly residential
neigborhoods so I wouldn't need to use the brakes much. Got to the shop OK
and had the brake light come on as we finished parking the GMC for them to
work on.
The mechanic tried reseating the fittings to no avail. So, off came the
wheel and the hard line. A small fracture in the flare caused the leak.
Unfortunately California no longer permits mechanics to make brake lines.
So, we had to wait for a delivery form the parts store. 4 hours and a small
bill later we got the GMC smogged and drove over highway 17 towards Santa
Cruz. GMC is now home and ready for today's adventure in registration.
The list has been terrific in helping me determine what I should look at
first in the GMC. Now we're down to the "small" stuff like fixing the A/C
control doors, cleaning, and making the list of a thousand and one things we
want to do.
I can highly recommend Tony and Dave at Norcal GMC in San Rafael. The work
that they did for us was great. The hard line was just one of those things
that happens. Tony even offered to come down to San Jose to do the work for
us (which seemed silly to me) and let us know what to look for as the work
was being done. Over the last month we've seen Tony work on a number of GMCs
on an emergency basis. He's always managed to get people back on the road
safely.
Henry
Henry Davis Consulting, Inc / new product consulting
PO Box 1270 / product readiness reviews
Soquel, Ca 95073 / IP reviews
ph: (408) 462-5199 / full service marketing
fax: (408) 462-5198
http://www.henry-davis.com
In March my wife and I bought a 76 Palm Beach in Washington and brought it
to Northern California. We had the brakes completely rebuilt, dropped the
gas tanks, replaced the gas lines, new propane lines, new shocks, replaced
the steering damper, new upper and lower radiator hoses, new front wheel
bearings, installed rock guards in front of the radiator, cleaned and
resealed the roof, replaced the window seals, fixed the bent door hinge,
and replaced the vent fans.
Wednesday we went to the shop to pick it up. Drove it to get it smogged -
and burst a hose (the only one we didn't replace since it was shown as new
on the previous owners' workorder). Well the hose was more or less new, but
looks like it had a fault since it blew apart in a major way. We cut the old
hose out and made a shunt with new hose. Works fine, even though we no
longer have water preheat.
We drove through San Francisco at the beginning of rush hour - mostly stop
and go. The coach handled well and the brakes were great. We got to San Jose
at the height of rush hour. So, we decided to stop for dinner and drive the
rest of the way after traffic died down. Normally I would stop after 10-15
miles to check for leaks but no stops were possible in the 60 miles from San
Rafael to San Jose. Walking around the coach we noticed a small puddle
between the driver's side rear wheels. Backed it up and the puddle re-
appeared. We were leaking a small quantity of braks fluid. No big deal I
thought. We stopped at a friends house a few miles away to put some brake
fluid in and tighten the fitting. The leak got worse. Took it apart, cleaned
the flare and put ti back together. It was worse yet. I walked over to a
neighboring house that had a GMC in front and asked the owner where they got
their work done.
Thursday my wife and I drove back to San Jose and went to the shop BEFORE I
started driving the GMC. I drove the back way through mostly residential
neigborhoods so I wouldn't need to use the brakes much. Got to the shop OK
and had the brake light come on as we finished parking the GMC for them to
work on.
The mechanic tried reseating the fittings to no avail. So, off came the
wheel and the hard line. A small fracture in the flare caused the leak.
Unfortunately California no longer permits mechanics to make brake lines.
So, we had to wait for a delivery form the parts store. 4 hours and a small
bill later we got the GMC smogged and drove over highway 17 towards Santa
Cruz. GMC is now home and ready for today's adventure in registration.
The list has been terrific in helping me determine what I should look at
first in the GMC. Now we're down to the "small" stuff like fixing the A/C
control doors, cleaning, and making the list of a thousand and one things we
want to do.
I can highly recommend Tony and Dave at Norcal GMC in San Rafael. The work
that they did for us was great. The hard line was just one of those things
that happens. Tony even offered to come down to San Jose to do the work for
us (which seemed silly to me) and let us know what to look for as the work
was being done. Over the last month we've seen Tony work on a number of GMCs
on an emergency basis. He's always managed to get people back on the road
safely.
Henry
Henry Davis Consulting, Inc / new product consulting
PO Box 1270 / product readiness reviews
Soquel, Ca 95073 / IP reviews
ph: (408) 462-5199 / full service marketing
fax: (408) 462-5198
http://www.henry-davis.com
