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Mike Leary · 05-29-2012, 01:00 PM

The ground strap is often overlooked, I've done it.

Keyair · 05-29-2012, 08:57 PM

Thanks for the heads up guys...
I will check the chassis end of the strap, as I know the drawer end is good.

Had a varied bag today.
Tested the alternator output again today, and could not be sure there was a problem...

I did do some crawling about under the front end, and also pulled off the fender shield on the drivers side to check the Hydroboost and MC.
Fluid was full in both bays and looked fresh and clear.
The hydroboost looked clean and good.
My search for the PS leak focused on a drip off the bottom of the pump... so need to check all the connections.

Pleased to note that both sides have Supersteer Bell Cranks!

Spotted a little horror that I was pleased to be able to fix...
Looking on the pass side of the motor, I looked at the pipes to the fuel pump.. I noticed a damp spot on the main inlet pipe that feeds from the main chassis rail pipe...
As soon as I touched it, I heard a hiss...
The pipe was split badly, so badly in fact it was barely holding..
I will post a pic tomorrow... it was scary bad.
I replaced it right away, and will now really have to look close at everything.

AirRowan · 05-30-2012, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keyair

Thanks for the heads up guys...
I will check the chassis end of the strap, as I know the drawer end is good.

Had a varied bag today.
Tested the alternator output again today, and could not be sure there was a problem...

I did do some crawling about under the front end, and also pulled off the fender shield on the drivers side to check the Hydroboost and MC.
Fluid was full in both bays and looked fresh and clear.
The hydroboost looked clean and good.
My search for the PS leak focused on a drip off the bottom of the pump... so need to check all the connections.

Pleased to note that both sides have Supersteer Bell Cranks!

Spotted a little horror that I was pleased to be able to fix...
Looking on the pass side of the motor, I looked at the pipes to the fuel pump.. I noticed a damp spot on the main inlet pipe that feeds from the main chassis rail pipe...
As soon as I touched it, I heard a hiss...
The pipe was split badly, so badly in fact it was barely holding..
I will post a pic tomorrow... it was scary bad.
I replaced it right away, and will now really have to look close at everything.

"The pipe was split badly, so badly in fact it was barely holding..
I will post a pic tomorrow... it was scary bad.
I replaced it right away, and will now really have to look close at everything."

I had the same problem when I fist got mine and the smell of gas is scary! There are about 4 places on the stainless steel fuel rail that are joined with clamps and 1/2 fuel hose. I changed all of mine and used two clamps on each side and the best fuel hose you can buy. I also shielded the ones that were close to the tail pipe.

Keyair · 05-31-2012, 06:00 AM

Busy day...

Finally put 4.6 Stroker motor in my sons Jeep in the morning..
Good job these kids are fit and strong... I did the directing!
We almost got it all zipped up... but he could not find the belllhousing bolts..

Onto the Airstream.
Finished putting the exhaust back on the Genset, and got that fired up!
Have some issues to deal with later on that, but for now its running.
Replaced 4 sections of fuel hose, but spotted more that I will do, but they were 1/4" return hose and I did not have that to hand!
Gently tightened some oil pan bolts that will hopefully cure the weeping I can see.
Used my Powerprobe 3 on the Motorhome finally!
Fixed the engine Temp Gauge... wire had come off.
Yesterday, I had wiped off the underside of the PS pump.... its wet again, so it goes on the list.

Found 2 wires hanging loose beside the engine...

neither had power, but both were burned by contact with the exhaust manifold... Need to chase them and see what they are!

Noted that the Dash A/C has been converted to R134a, as it has the quick connect fittings added... But the compressor clutch power wire has been cut... and despite me searching, I could not find a wire that looked like it was originally connected to it...

The long lead on the PP3 allowed me to attach the clips to the battery AND go all the way to the back and test the tail lamps!
I have a lot of issues.... and so does the Airstream... we are a matching pair!
The PP3 tells me that there is some variation in the Alternator output... It has a speaker, and its crackling, which they say can be bad diodes...

I also found a hot wire in the fuse box in the glovebox..... and when I say Hot, I dont mean in the electrical sense! The wire was HOT to the touch... I was probing the fuses with the PP3, and I touched it with the back of my hand... made me jump. The wire feeds the heater fan, and Aux heater according to the wiring diagram, but someone has spurred 2 more wires off it at some time. I pulled the connector out... and the plug was melted/soft, so I left it disconnected, as I need to look deeper..

Need to get back to bed... woke at 3am...
More later..

Keyair · 05-31-2012, 09:49 PM

Some pics that I had not uploaded...
Nylon block securing the Golf cart batteries for now...

Better pic of how the drop floor of the tray looks....
Trying to decide for the future if its best like this, black and low profile, or with a piece of diamond plate, or pieced of polished aluminum...
The bit I had was too deep, but ya get the idea...
Opinions??

Could noit hold the piece up straight and take the pic it seems...

Keyair · 05-31-2012, 09:52 PM

Here is the scary fuel pipe....
This is how it was, I did not twist or make it look worse...

New coolant overflow fitted..

Keyair · 05-31-2012, 09:56 PM

Getting ready for the move...
Original mirrors back on...

Tail lamps, and spare tire cover temporarily in(zip tied)...

Keyair · 06-03-2012, 11:16 AM

More progress toward roadworthyness, fit and finish...
New sparkplug wires fitted, and put the old airfilter back on.... for now.
More fuel line replaced, and tuned the fitting of the battery tray... it slides better now, but still does not close quite right for some reason..
Took it for a spin around the storage and as I had secured some of the loose stuff better, I was able to test the brakes more firmly and all felt good!
The engine still "Bogs" when I get on the gas, then it picks up and flies.
I bet its a carb problem, but as the carb is going to be replced with the rebuilt Quadrajet soon, I will live with it for now.

The genset is running great and smooth, but I am having a problem with it "dieseling" on after I stop it when its hot. I will put a can of Seafoam thru it to break down the carbon, and tune the carb a bit better, see if its running too lean

I have only once opened the awning before, and now with all the space I have, I was able to unfurl the beast, so I could get some more polishing done in the shade!
Posted more pics over on my polishing thread, but here are some...

Did most of the section forward of the entrance door..
Still some more to detail, but its 90% there now..
I had stripped the clearcoat on the rest of the areas, but had not rinsed it off properly, and it had dried. I needed to reactivate it, but had taken my can of stripper home, and forgot to bring it back!

After that, I went over the front drivers side corner with the finer polish..

Then I attacked the midsection with the G6 until I had used it all up..
I managed to connect the back to the front and back with a continuous line of shine!
Aside from the bits I see I missed, its looking better I think..

ScrapIrony-2 · 06-03-2012, 03:22 PM

I drove to an auto parts place east of El Paso to look for a carb kit...came out empty-handed, but saw this huge puddle under the rig, and was thinking"Oh, great, there goes the fresh water tank..." but the puddle was a leak in the gas line just aft of the fuel pump...it was like 98 degrees outside, and I had the mental image of Scrap going up in flames, and a further vision of one of those beer cans in the firepit the morning after...a spark plug inserted rapidly after the clippers worked well, but I think the pucker factor did some serious damage to the parking lot...I threw my shorts away.
I now carry enough gas line to re-equip a fleet, and a spark plug is in my 'ready' box. I usually travel over-equipped, but always find something else I want to carry...after the fact...m

Keyair · 06-03-2012, 08:59 PM

Yep, I hear ya...

Cranking it out today...

Degreased the Genset floor ... AGAIN... it was bad!

Pretty much finished stripping the rest of the painted lower half and anything I missed before.

Seems the genset door vents that we puzzled about are in fact Aluminum...
The yellow primer that was on the whole thing was stubborn tho!

Its gonna need another stripping...
I did so much stripping, I should have a fist full of $1 bills!

streamquest · 06-03-2012, 09:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScrapIrony-2

I drove to an auto parts place east of El Paso to look for a carb kit...came out empty-handed, but saw this huge puddle under the rig, and was thinking"Oh, great, there goes the fresh water tank..." but the puddle was a leak in the gas line just aft of the fuel pump...it was like 98 degrees outside, and I had the mental image of Scrap going up in flames, and a further vision of one of those beer cans in the firepit the morning after...a spark plug inserted rapidly after the clippers worked well, but I think the pucker factor did some serious damage to the parking lot...I threw my shorts away.
I now carry enough gas line to re-equip a fleet, and a spark plug is in my 'ready' box. I usually travel over-equipped, but always find something else I want to carry...after the fact...m

Have you considered adding some "Depends" to the ready box?????

streamquest · 06-03-2012, 09:17 PM

Key,

I believe the yellow primer is zinc chromate. Skip the stripper. Lacquer thinner should take it right off.

Mike Leary · 06-03-2012, 09:20 PM

It's got to have a middle wrap color scheme, what are you going to do?

Keyair · 06-03-2012, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Leary

It's got to have a middle wrap color scheme, what are you going to do?

I am gonna polish it for now Mike.
Due to my past in Design, I am very aware and sensative to the way adding a belt color will change the proportion.
Putting a black line along it will visually lengthen, and make it appear lower.

Not what I want for now....

Keyair · 06-03-2012, 09:55 PM

Awesome Pic Mike!

Keyair · 06-05-2012, 10:59 PM

Huge HUGE day for me today!

Ever since I bought my 345 I have had no horn...

I actually have plenty...
Two Spartan Electric Trumpets on the roof...

Two new looking Fiamm horns under the Hood...

And an older looking one down low on the drivers side under the washer fluid reservior...

None of them worked..
The big clue was the missing fuse in Chevy Chassis glovebox mounted fusebox...
The one marked HORN...

Putting a fuse in the slot resulted in an INSTANT Blow... and burned fingers if you dont use the fuse tweezers.... I learned!

Aside from the No horn, I also had no 12v power at the drivers and passengers recepticles..
I thought that was unconnected, but looking in my Chevy C/K truck manual told me that the always on 12V feed to the horn... also spurs off and feeds the Cigar lighter...

So today it was ON, big time!
I broke out the BIG Guns...
My PowerProbe 3 and the Powerprobe ECT2000 Short Finder!

First I checked the fuse pocket...
The PP3 confirmed 12V on one side and a dead short on the other.

I plugged in the ECT 2000 into the dead short side. It begins to send a signal down the wire, which you trace with a wireless receiver..
The display beeps and the LED says a shorted circuit...

It gives a strong signal in the glovebox area.
It does not give me a good signal under the hood, or near any of the horns!
It does give a strong signal under the drivers side instrument panel.... but which wire it shorted in this mess!!!!

Well, I keep following the signal...
The receiver has a pair of LEDs that point you which way the short is..

And it leads me to the drivers side trim..
I check the Cigar lighter, but the signal is weak..
I was baffled...
Soon, I was pulling out the cup holder, seat switch, and Cigar lighter to gain access.
I looked down into the trim panel and I see an Orange wire that runs along and disappears rearward.
I put the receiver close to it, and it goes NUTS!
This is the wire... I am looking at it and my mind says ROOF HORNS...
I go outside and get the ladder, and climb up...
No signal!
Back inside, I look again...
I cant see where that orange and shorted wire goes...
I decide to take the trim off.

I take out the very first screw...
Suddenly I hear the tone of the ECT2000 change..
I look at the box, and the unit is telling me I suddenly have an OPEN Circuit, not a short!
Thats odd...
I screwed the screw back in, and there it goes... back to shorted with a change in tone and LED..
Baffled..
I undo the screw again, and the tone changes...
Using the receiver I test the orange wire... and I pull it..
It suddenly comes free!
I pull it out, and guess what?
Its the feed wire for the drivers side 12v receptical!
The screww had pirced it perfectly dead center at some time before I bought it...
Look at the picture...
I ulled the wire out to show the truth!
Could you do that if you tried???

The two Fiam horns are working now!

Keyair · 06-06-2012, 11:42 AM

Some more polishing... almost done with the first hit..
Stll a little swirly, but I think its an improvement...

When I bought it...'

Now...

Even got a shine on the Banks tip!

Mike Leary · 06-06-2012, 11:50 AM

Coming along, my friend, looking (and working) better and better.

Keyair · 06-06-2012, 01:55 PM

Thanks Mike!

So, I have a question.....
Those of you that have the Trumpet horns on the roof...
How was it set up originally?
Was there only the Roof horns, or Roof and underhood?
If the latter, did they both sound, or was there a toggle switch?

Mine are DOA..
So, I pulled them off to reseal/polish the area...

When I got them home, I did some research and it seems that maybe they can be fixed..

So here we go...
Sparton Model U Trumpet Horn restoration attempt!

There was this lump of gunk in one...

I started on the shorter one... pulled the trumpet section off the working end..
The Ground connection was so badly rusted I could not get a connection, so I used the body for a ground instead..

Video of the test... it is making a slight sound!

Research told me rust in the diaphram body is the problem...
A shake of the unit confirmed... sounded like it had a lot inside!

Next is to drill out the rivets..

Seperated, here is the outer half of the trumpet and the outer half of the diaphram... not too bad... Note the critical gasket...

But the inner half is a mess...

Left this bit soaking in Derust solution for now...
Lets see if it can be saved!

DaveFL · 06-06-2012, 02:03 PM

Brown on tire is age and sun related, can't buff it out;-(
Check the date of manufacture, I have a michelin with the same signs and when I looked real close I could see the hairline cracks. 16 (week) 03 (year) so it is time to replace as Michelin recommends 8 yr life expectancy. I did the rears last year when 11 yr old one blew at a traffic light while we were stopped in front of a tire dealer.