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#533 Heading East!
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marcjs
Posted 2015-04-08 9:08 PM (#2635)
Subject: #533 Heading East!



(69.132.61.111)		{also posted on Yahoo site}

Well, this Saturday I shall set out to transport #533 home to NC.

She's been in Bellingham being prepared for the journey for nearly a year...how time flies when you're procrastinating a 3,000 mile journey in a 41-year old coach!

She's my third FMC 2900r - all three having been acquired over the past 2 years. All I can say is ever since the aliens visited my thought process has not quite been right...

For those interested, #533 seems a bit of an oddity. She's a 1974 coach, but has an Allison 4-speed. She also lacks a bathroom window, but has a drivers-side door. Along with the Allison she also has the squirrelly third mini-hydrovac that's present on the transits. She has ultra-low, documented 30k miles, and has been kept in a collector's warehouse wince purchased in 1990 for a hefty $30k. You can find my picture gallery of her on the Yahoo FMC group site.

Since acquiring her the good folks at Unlimted Services Bakersview have installed a rebuilt/resealed carb, replaced master cylinder and all wheel cylinders, re-routed the rear brake lines to enter lower cylinder first (as opposed to the jacked-up way they came from the factory), and flushed entire raking system and re-filled w/ DOT 5 silicon fluid. She also had a major tune-up and a bunch more work done but that's the major items anyway.

I recently shipped seven of my 19.5" ALCOAS west, and they'll receive new Hankook AH11 tires on Friday for the journey. The original 17" split rims together with antique rubber will accompany us on the journey to NC (useful for roll-arounds).

If all goes well by Saturday afternoon I should be heading southbound on I5 for Portland to visit a friend. By Sunday I will be heading east on I85 for Boise and then down to Salt Lake City where I'll pick up I80 east for an eternal journey to Kansas City.

From there St. Louis/Nashville/Ashville/Mooresville NC...brutal!

I am travelling alone as I wouldn't involve my family in such an uncertain adventure. I believe the coach has been reasonably prepared and gone over, but you never know. I have both AAA and Good Sam coverage in case I get stranded on the way.

I doubt I'll have time to post while making the journey, but I'll try and take some pics along the way. If I do post it'll likely be a distress call!

Wish me luck!

-Marcel
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BigRabbitMan
Posted 2015-04-08 9:49 PM (#2636 - in reply to #2635)
Subject: Re: #533 Heading East!



Location: Cottage Grove, OR
(68.186.124.23)		Good luck!!

Since this is the coach's first road trip in many a year, one never knows what will occur other than good miles. Have a great trip and give us a "trip report" once you have made it home.
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marcjs
Posted 2015-04-08 10:13 PM (#2637 - in reply to #2636)
Subject: Re: #533 Heading East!



(69.132.61.111)		Thanks Stephen! I'll definitely post a "trip report" upon returning.
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5Dollar
Posted 2015-04-08 10:36 PM (#2638 - in reply to #2635)
Subject: Re: #533 Heading East!


Location: Bethune, SC
(165.166.72.232)		Tight belts, flexible hoses, properly inflated tires (use truck scales to get weight, chart for inflation), eyes on temp and charging gauges frequently, carry a spare ballast resister and voltage regulator as both do not do well after inactivity, grease everything, and finally, test the brakes and thoroughly check for leaks at every stop for any reason. Do not ignore any odors, good or bad. Any time you do anything, disconnect the battery, twice. Any rewiring on this thing is a bitch. Check all lights frequently, filaments age quickly when not used or vibrated -- have plenty of spares for all bulbs, including instruments and headlights. Never drive sleepy, the FMC does not self steer well. Put in Timbrens if not already in place.

Henry
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andy1canada
Posted 2015-04-09 1:17 AM (#2639 - in reply to #2635)
Subject: Re: #533 Heading East!


Location: Victoria, BC. Canada
(108.180.28.87)		Have a safe trip Marcis. Indeed, let us know how you made out. Remember to stop for a 'brake-check' at the top of all the big hills.
Henry: your post brought back a lot of memories of when I drove #509 north 1000-miles to import it into Canada. Brakes were screwed! Did a lane-change (right) if I didn't have a firm grip on the wheel when
I hit the brakes. As well, with nearly no dash lights, I taped a flashlight to the steering column to light up the dash. I would argue that that the FMC can steer pretty damn good when they're set up right. Yet, it can be outright scary if it's not.

Terry
#846
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5Dollar
Posted 2015-04-09 10:23 PM (#2642 - in reply to #2635)
Subject: Re: #533 Heading East!


Location: Bethune, SC
(165.166.72.232)		Marcel,

I forgot the most important thing -- fuel filters. I use the Fram F2 (5/16) or F3 (3/8). They are the clear plastic ones. Mount one in a low heat place, first filter in line. Driving an Imperial from Baton Rouge to Atlanta, I used nine, and the tank still had rust in it.

Henry
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andy1canada
Posted 2015-04-10 12:05 AM (#2643 - in reply to #2635)
Subject: Re: #533 Heading East!


Location: Victoria, BC. Canada
(108.180.28.87)		With all due respect - USE METAL CASED FUEL FILTERS IN AN FMC ENGINE HOUSE!

Terry

#846
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marcjs
Posted 2015-04-16 10:11 PM (#2652 - in reply to #2635)
Subject: Re: #533 Heading East!



(69.132.61.111)		Well, 6 days and 3,000 miles later she's in North Carolina!

She didn't let me down - not once. Not even when climbing through the Tetons of Wyoming! No overheating, nothing.

Now for the kicker...

....I shipped a set of seven Alcoas over which were on coach 594 that I purchased a year of so ago. I scrapped the original weather-checked tires, and shipped the rims unmounted. I had ordered a set of seven Hankook tires and shipped to the Les Schwab shop in Bellingham to be mounted for the journey. Well, the wise manager at Les Schwab waited to check the rims for correct fit prior to mounting the tires. GOOD THING HE DID 'CAUSE THE ALCOAS DID NOT FIT!!!

It appears a previous owner of #594 had the hubs turned down to accept some DODGE 5-lug wheels. The centers of those wheels are roughly 1/8" smaller than the FMC hubs. I opted to have just one tire mounted as a spare for the journey...

I had to risk running on 1998 date coded 7.5x17 Michelins. Fortunately there was no weather-checking as #533 was kept in a warehouse since those tires were fitted. I checked pressures at each re-fuel stop and they held a solid 75 psi throughout the trip. Needless to say I was nervous - had one gone down I'd have had to file the center out of my spare rim to get it to fit the hub. Good news is that it wasn't necessary.

Well, that's all for now. Time to catch up on sleep.

-Marcel
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5Dollar
Posted 2015-04-16 10:59 PM (#2653 - in reply to #2635)
Subject: Re: #533 Heading East!


Location: Bethune, SC
(165.166.72.232)		Congratulations!!! Are the Michelins bias ply? If so, you can probably count on them to last a while. On the split ring rims, the radials are prone to overheat from tube friction. A problem I have also seen with radials on split rings is a circumferential crack at the bead, but they got you home.

I am looking forward to seeing it.

Henry
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B. Sitton
Posted 2015-04-17 8:43 AM (#2654 - in reply to #2653)
Subject: Re: #533 Heading East!


Location: Ignacio Colorado
(72.161.106.242)		Hold on to those alcoas as they will fit on your coach. The center hole on Alcoas is larger than the original 17" rims. This does not matter as the Alcoa wheels are centered on the studs and have no contact with the center hub. Your hubs being machined smaller has no issue with Alcoa wheels fitting. Tire guy was out to lunch. Damn this makes me the bad guy again. Well I guess I am just good at telling people they are wrong.
The Alcoa wheels fit the coach you pulled them from, center is not important with the Alcoa wheels.
Bill
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5Dollar
Posted 2015-04-17 9:37 AM (#2655 - in reply to #2654)
Subject: Re: #533 Heading East!


Location: Bethune, SC
(165.166.72.232)		I thought that was true, but having seen only one set of Alcoa's, mine, I did not know if all were the same stud centric pattern.

Henry
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marcjs
Posted 2015-04-17 10:35 AM (#2656 - in reply to #2635)
Subject: Re: #533 Heading East!



(69.132.61.111)		Bill,

I must not have made the point clearly enough so let me clarify. The center holes of the Alcoa rims from my parts coach (#594) were only 5 7/8" diameter, and as such did not fit over the 6" diameter hubs (all figures approximate as I did not have my caliper - just a tape measure). I will look up the part numbers of the Alcoas, but they are not the FMC part numbers!

So these (non FMC Alcoas) have the correct stud-pattern, are bud-centered, but have center holes too small for a stock FMC hub. The hubs on #594 from whence the Alcoas originated must have been turned-down by a previous owner.

I fully intend to use these Alcoas once I open up the center hole to the correct diameter to match that of correct FMC-spec Alcoas.

I hope that is clear.

-Marcel

Edited by marcjs 2015-04-17 10:50 AM
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5Dollar
Posted 2015-04-17 10:54 AM (#2657 - in reply to #2635)
Subject: Re: #533 Heading East!


Location: Bethune, SC
(70.210.6.112)		Do your Alcoa's have the bevel on the lug hole to make them lug centric?

Depending on how you want to do this, you may want to have the 4 smaller drums turned than the 7 larger wheels.

Would be cheaper.

Henry
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