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New Owners-ish!
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digidana
Posted 2017-08-02 5:37 PM (#4810)
Subject: New Owners-ish!


Location: Knoxville, TN
(73.113.155.159)
Hi! Dana (and Richard) Hughes here. We're picking up our new coach in a couple of days and getting pretty excited. I believe its #970. Does anybody know the previous owner or know anything about it? We don't know much. We spent about 10 minutes looking through it with a slick-talkin car salesman right behind us. He didn't know anything about the coach except that he bought it at auction and drove it to the lot. He was afraid we'd run down the battery by running the generator.

We're not new to motor homes, just new to FMC. We had a Dolphin for a couple of years, and a cool old Foretravel

Does anybody else out there have a high-top? Anybody else east of the Mississippi River?

I'm sure Richard (dynaguytn) will have a ton of questions once we bring it home. My first one is what the heck are all the light switches for? hahaha Is there a user's manual that exists anywhere?

Look forward to getting to know everyone!
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hemi354az
Posted 2017-08-02 5:53 PM (#4811 - in reply to #4810)
Subject: Re: New Owners-ish!


Location: Scottsdale, Aridzona
(24.251.160.88)
What's a "high-top" ?
Where will it live ?
Light switches are usually for lights.
Who knew a FMC could be so complicated ?
Welcome, Lou #120

Edited by hemi354az 2017-08-02 5:56 PM
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digidana
Posted 2017-08-02 6:07 PM (#4812 - in reply to #4811)
Subject: Re: New Owners-ish!


Location: Knoxville, TN
(73.113.155.159)
are there no other high tops? it actually has a higher top. kind of like a conversion van. it was apparently part of a custom factory thing. its all part of the solid fiberglass body. part of it is actually an attic. there is a panel that drops down that has a folding ladder like a regular attic access. i wish i could post a pic, but we didn't take any and they've already removed the ad. i ran a bunch of searches and didn't see another one like it either.

light switches for lights? very enlightening! heehee i just noticed that there were a good many switches in really odd places. i guess we'll figure it out when we get it home.

it'll live in knoxville, tn.
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BigRabbitMan
Posted 2017-08-02 8:03 PM (#4813 - in reply to #4810)
Subject: Re: New Owners-ish!



Location: Cottage Grove, OR
(97.94.227.253)
I have seen pictures of your coach attending FMC coach rallies back in the nineties. You do have a one-of-a-kind as Mr. Coleman, who owned it for many years, did the modification to add storage capacity and I don't know what else to his FMC. It was not a factory option nor done by the factory. I do have pictures of the coach from a Craig's list ad of several years ago. When it comes to switches, there are the ones installed by FMC which are usually easy to figure out what they do, but it seems most coaches now come with various numbers of what we refer to as "mystery switches". These are the ones that PO's (Previous Owners) added at various times to do various things. Those are the ones that make figuring out a new-to-someone coach very interesting.

There are three factory manuals: Owners Manual, Parts Manual, and Service Manual. They are available online on a website hosted by a person in Norway who owns coach #477. Here is the link to the website: http://www.fmcmotorcoach.com/Manuals.html I just tried the link and it didn't work, but I expect that is temporary situation. If desired, I can also send you the manuals on a thumb drive that you can then transfer to your computer. We communicated earlier by email as I am the site administrator so you have my email and phone number.

As to there being other coaches East of the Mississippi, yes, there are a number of them. I am hoping that someone will step up and put a rally together somewhere along the eastern seaboard before winter arrives. Email me directly and we can discuss this in more depth.

Welcome to FMC ownership and to this website,

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digidana
Posted 2017-08-02 8:23 PM (#4816 - in reply to #4813)
Subject: Re: New Owners-ish!


Location: Knoxville, TN
(73.113.155.159)
wow, very cool! i thought it might have been a factory option. we haven't seen the roof yet, but richard is thinking that the high top is actually part of the shell. we didn't see any roof leaks, etc. the floor plan appears to be different than the ones that we've found online as well. right inside the door to the right is the sink and the stove sits by itself across the aisle. it apparently sleeps a lot of people. the front passenger seat bed, the sofa/bed behind that, another fold down across from it, the two twins in the back, and then from the roof there are two bunk "cots" that fold down from the ceiling. is that standard? we'd love any info that you can share about the history of the coach. i'd love to see the pics!

yeah, it seems to have many mystery switches. that seems to describe it perfectly! we have a lot of 'figuring out' to do!

the link still isn't working, i'll check again later. thank you very much for the thumb drive offer. we may take you up on that if we can't get them from that site.

we'd be down for a rally. maybe not right away. we'll probably try it out locally a few times first to make sure she's still road worthy for a decent road trip. appreciate you, and this site! this is going to be a learning expedience...that we're really looking forward to! thanks so much
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BigRabbitMan
Posted 2017-08-02 8:40 PM (#4817 - in reply to #4816)
Subject: Re: New Owners-ish!



Location: Cottage Grove, OR
(97.94.227.253)
digidana - 2017-08-02 6:23 PM ... and then from the roof there are two bunk "cots" that fold down from the ceiling.


The two bunk beds that you mention were a factory option, not standard. Most of the rest of what you describe is custom by one or more PO's!!

I visited Knoxville in the summer of 2016 in my FMC. That is a nice area. There are others with less modified coaches within a day's drive of you should you want to look at a more standard coach to compare to yours. There were primarily three floor plans: the J model which had a couch in the dining area, the A model which had a dinette, and the M model that had a reduced kitchen with a small couch behind the driver seat in addition to the couch that the J model had. I will email you the drawings of the floor plans.
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LCAC_Man
Posted 2017-08-02 8:56 PM (#4818 - in reply to #4817)
Subject: Re: New Owners-ish!


Location: Oceanside, CA
(172.10.134.245)
A couple years ago when I was shopping for a coach I was pretty interested in that High-Top...but...the seller just wouldn't get realistic on price.
That's a cool coach you got!
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digidana
Posted 2017-08-03 6:39 AM (#4827 - in reply to #4810)
Subject: Re: New Owners-ish!


Location: Knoxville, TN
(73.113.155.159)
i'm not sure which model it is. the sink is right inside the door, and behind the sink is a sofa that has two pole tables. i think one of the tables may swing up on a piano hinge from behind the sink. if i can figure out how to post pics i'll post some when we get it home.

len...mind if i ask what he was asking for it? i'm pretty sure we got a good deal on it...

it seems to be in really good shape, sounds really good running, drives really nice, interior is very clean. looks like only 50k-ish miles. we didn't get to poke around much tho. anxious to bring it home!
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Duramaxer
Posted 2017-08-03 6:44 AM (#4828 - in reply to #4810)
Subject: Re: New Owners-ish!



Location: Oslo Norway
(193.181.237.1)
#970 is originally J-model by Serial number.

Stay high!

Kjetil
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LCAC_Man
Posted 2017-08-03 7:06 AM (#4831 - in reply to #4828)
Subject: Re: New Owners-ish!


Location: Oceanside, CA
(172.10.134.245)
They were stuck on $12k when I was looking at it. I was shopping in the $5500-$9500 range, with it being across country it was just not a good fit. I was also shying away from any coaches that may have spent time in the midwest and I couldn't get any history on that one..
But, to be clear I was looking for rigs that were good recipients for the duramax swap which is a lot different that shopping for one that you want to keep the original drivetrain on.
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digidana
Posted 2017-08-03 7:22 AM (#4832 - in reply to #4810)
Subject: Re: New Owners-ish!


Location: Knoxville, TN
(73.113.155.159)
thanks. we got it for $11k....so i guess we did ok. do y'all actually use them a good bit for camping/road trips? or are they mostly a restoration passion?
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LCAC_Man
Posted 2017-08-03 7:24 AM (#4833 - in reply to #4832)
Subject: Re: New Owners-ish!


Location: Oceanside, CA
(172.10.134.245)
I load the crap out of mine...it gets used:
http://www.fmcowners.com/mbbs22/photos/show-album.asp?albumid=156&p...
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digidana
Posted 2017-08-03 8:29 AM (#4834 - in reply to #4810)
Subject: Re: New Owners-ish!


Location: Knoxville, TN
(73.113.155.159)
nice! we're thinking of towing our jeep behind as well. do most people try to restore back to their original glory? or is it more of an anything-goes type restoration? i really hate the stove configuration. its stuck by itself in a corner with no counter space on either side...and i'm not crazy about the twin beds in the back.
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B. Sitton
Posted 2017-08-03 8:43 AM (#4836 - in reply to #4834)
Subject: Re: New Owners-ish!


Location: Ignacio Colorado
(75.121.83.178)
The twin beds in the rear should have an extra panel that folds over, or slides across to create a queen bed.
Bill
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B. Sitton
Posted 2017-08-03 8:56 AM (#4837 - in reply to #4810)
Subject: Re: New Owners-ish!


Location: Ignacio Colorado
(75.121.83.178)
As to the question about using vs restoration, it is pretty much a combination of the two. Once the bugs are worked out they get used until more bugs show up. It's a process, but usually Love is involved. Just in case the hook isn't set get to a rally, that should really get you reeled in because you will have a one of coach and plenty of coach tours. Hope to see you and #970 at a rally in the future. My #902 has the same paint just no extra top.
Bill
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BigRabbitMan
Posted 2017-08-03 9:27 AM (#4839 - in reply to #4810)
Subject: Re: New Owners-ish!



Location: Cottage Grove, OR
(97.94.227.253)
Some become restoration queens, but many others travel a lot. I put about 60,000 miles on mine over a 10 year period before deciding to convert to a Duramax diesel. That conversion took 5 years to do, but since completing it two years ago, I have put another 25,000 miles on it including a loop around the USA a year ago. It is best for any vehicle to be used to keep things in working order. That doesn't mean long trips as a 20-30 mile trip is all it takes. I have done a lot of short trips as well as a few long ones.
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digidana
Posted 2017-08-05 4:24 PM (#4856 - in reply to #4810)
Subject: Re: New Owners-ish!


Location: Knoxville, TN
(73.113.155.159)
we went up to visit her today and spend a little more time going through it. duramax...i checked all the cabinets for any brochures or manuals and no luck. BUT, we did find a receipt from the previous owner, and it turns out that they live 10 doors down from us (or at least they did in 2013). that was a shocker!! hoping they're still there so they can maybe walk us through some things. i started our album if anybody wants to see the "before". i took pics of some of the mystery switches. it looks like we have an electric awning. i was surprised to see that. no clue if it works or what kind of shape its in yet. ;0)
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