Fun / Projects / with my 1997 America Dream

Looks awesome! And the goat food is a nice touch. :-)

I can't wait to do some updating such as yours to our coach!

Keep those pictures coming! I love to see this kind of restoration!...

BTW - nice CJ!...I just sold my '76 with a 401 (swapped out the 304) and had all the stock engine components so it looked like the stock 304...still had the factory AM radio too! The original paint (Firecracker red) was ...well....original...

Looks awesome Glenn. Can't wait to see how the finished carpet looks.

As for ours, I am going to get it out of storage tomorrow night so we can start using it. I have to replace the drag link on the steering. I noticed a tie rod end that had some play in it when I did the service last fall and had to order one.

It came in around November but I will tear into it this next week and get it replaced. Then in April as soon as the weather warms a bit I am going to touch up the pain in a few spots where I have some clearcoat starting to peel.

Mike.

Sure would like to hear from the peanut gallery on what you have going on for projects in your MH. You will not hurt my feelings for hijacking the thread for a couple of posts.

We are closing in on the finish line here (going to the Gator Nationals the beginning of March). There are still lots of projects that have been started that need to be finished.

Because of the weather we have been thinking we might flip the trip around (go to the Nationals and then stop on the way back at Sun Coat Design to get the two fogged windows fixed.

As always there are more pictures and text on my web site at this link. 1997 American Dream

Are my eyes fooling me? I think we are closing in on the end of this marathon. The old carpet is coming out.



The carpet from the side walls has been removed and the carpet in the main lounge area has been pulled up.



The carpet in the ceder closet has been pulled up as well as in the bedroom





There were no shortage of staples, many , many , many staples were scraped up.



We keep finding the original owners wiring attempts. It is a wonder this coach never burned down. Do yourself a favor, if you do not know how to wire safely don't do it.



One couch, one table, one driver's seat, one passenger seat. An interesting discovery was made. I believe that this coach had two different floor plans, one with two opposing couches as we currently have and one with one couch on the driver's side and a work desk on the passenger side. It appears this couch originally had a desk on the passenger side as there are holes in the wall to hold the desk up and a power outlet, and phone outlet on that side. I actually like that floor plan better, and may look for the desk and chair that was originally in that position.

Anyone out there that has pictures of the 39 foot Dream with the desk configuration I would be interested in pictures



The new carpet pad is now going down



Now we get to see if the color choice was correct. I think we went a little to conservative on the pile. We got a high grade commercial carpet so that it would resist stains well and wear well, and it would have been nicer to get a more lush pile. Time will tell if we made the right decision.






Check back later to see the finished install. I had to leave before they were done.

For lack of a better word I called this design on the front hood a bow tie. I hated it from the first time I saw it.



It is now gone, the hood and the lower valance (spoiler which was full of stone chips) were removed and take home.



We missed on the alignment of the strip but is is still better than the "bow tie".



The white spot in the "center" of the hood is the reflection of the widow in the garage door. That door is only three feet in front of the bus so I cannot get a straight on shot, but will do so later.

The white line now just goes straight across

Work continues on replacing all the old rope lights with new ones. We are also consolidating some of the 12 volt and 110 volt lights so that there are not so many switches to turn on and off.

All though I have shown this picture before I want to show what the rope light looked like without the channel, with just the hangers and how the rope drooped between the hangers.

So if you look carefully you can see that in this picture.



This picture shows the channels before they are installed.



This picture shows what the lights look like with the channel installed. Well worth the effort.

Updates have gotten away from me so now to catch up I will have to post a couple in a row.

We will pick up after the interruption of the comment on the poor service from Conway Volvo Truck & Bus, 2654 W Henrietta Rd., Rochester, NY 14623.

The complete opposite of the support and service provided by Caledonia RV.

The generator had been removed.

The generator was separated from it's cradle and everything was cleaned. New hoses and belts were installed. A crack was found in the fuel pump so a new one was installed.





The unit was put back into the MH and moved outside and test run

Well I resisted a long time in not mentioning the name of the repair facility that ripped me off when I returned from AZ with the MH.

I should have known better than to tell a shop to just do the repairs, but I had had dealings with this shop when I was driving tankers.

I had no idea how bad people will rip other people off.

They charged way to much labor time and their repairs were ineffective.

Now you would think I would be concerned about them suing me for slander, but the State of New York Department of Motor Vehicles Division of Vehicle Safety Services agreed with me and forced a refund.

Still I did not mention the name until now.

This past week the fan motor was pulled apart, this is the fan motor that they made three attempts at repair and it was found that, and wait for it......, Conway Volvo Truck & Bus, 2654 W Henrietta Rd., Rochester, NY 14623, had not only used the wrong type of o-ring (a/c o-rings, not hydraulic o-rings), but the wrong size, and then filled the voids with silicone sealer, and charge $500.00 to do this job.





My advice is number one get a written estimate up front before you do any work, and number two stay away from these guys..... Conway Volvo Truck & Bus

AZPops wrote:
Dig thoughs gauges! ...


Pops

Your should be pretty much the same, but you are on a spartan chassis correct?

Dig thoughs gauges! ...


Pops