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The Dieselfication of Coach 1046
Author: BigRabbitMan (Show all albums)

This album is dedicated to following the process of Coach #1046 being converted from a 1976 Chrysler 440-I with a 4spd Allison AT540 transmission to a 2006 GMC Duramax LBZ turbo diesel with a 6spd Allison 1000 double overdrive transmission. There is a companion discussion thread in the Mechanic's Corner section of the Forum area of this site.
Show Newest Photos First | Show Oldest Photos First379 Photos - Page : [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32]


Switched over to completing the modification of the GM fuel pickup assembly so that it works with the new 60 gal FMC fuel tank which is 10" deeper than the GM tank. Here you see the assembly split into two halves.

This is an inboard U-joint. They are both very heavyduty.

Since I had a bad outboard U-joint on one side and since now would be the best time to work on them, as preventive maintenance I am replacing all six of the U-joints. This is one of the outboard U-joints.

There is limited room between the differential and the first set of bolts. A 3/8" drive socket and ratchet or breaker bar would not fit in the space available. I had made a quick trip down to the local low priced tool source and found this slimline ratchet with 3/8" drive on one end and 1/4" drive on the other end. It helped with this project and, hopefully, will with other projects in the future.


(1 Comments)
The right axel is almost off, one more bolt to go after Big Bertha arrives. The manual calls for 25-30ft.lbs. of torque when installing these bolts. It appears that the last person that lubed the axel bearing put these back on with an impact wrench rather than a torque wrench!! As a side note, this picture shows how my brake line was extended down to the lower wheel cylinder instead of going to the upper wheel cylinder. This can only be done if the line is secured so that it does not get entangled in the drive shaft.

..... through one of the two driveshafts that take the power to the wheels. Here is the left drive shaft with the edge of the differential on the right. In this picture 12 of the 16 bolts that hold the two U-joints on are loose or removed. The four larger bolts that hold it to the axel shaft flange are still tight as I am awaiting the arrival of "Big Bertha", the 650 ft.lb. air impact wrench needed to loosen them.

Once the engine is in the coach, the power has to go somewhere. The first place is this driveshaft. Since FMC's have independent rear suspension with a stationary differential, the drive shaft is very short. From there it goes into the differential and out .....

We used a Sharpie pen to mark the material with the hold down ring's outline and the spots for the holes. The punch was then placed into a vise and secured. The holes were then punched into the nitrile material as you see here. You can also see the tool used in this photo. It pays to attend rallies over the years and get to know other FMC owners. One never knows when you may need to draw on a fellow FMC owner's expertise. Thank you Harry.


Harry was available and very helpful! After I presented my problem, he thought about it and started opening toolbox drawers until he came up with the tool you see here. It is a hole punch that is designed for punching holes in sheet metal. It has several different sized punch and die sets that adapted it to the sizes needed. We mic'd the 10/32 machine screws that will be used and picked a punch size that gave us a hole big enough for the screw to easily pass through, but small enough to stop fuel travel up the screw.

To install the fuel pickup assembly, I needed to prepare the gasket that will prevent leakage between the top of the tank and the piece of the donor vehicle's tank that will hold that assembly. I ran into a little problem in that I don't have a tool that would punch a clean, correctly sized hole in the nitrile gasket material. I searched my memory bank for where I might fine some kind of tool that would do the job and the name Harry Day, seen here, came up. Conveniently, I would be passing by his place in a different state in a few days.

In this closer view, you can see the size of the opening for the fuel pickup assembly that will be transfered from the donor unit's tank. There is double thickness around the opening and around the fill spout.

(1 Comments)
At last the new fuel tank is done. I was going to have it made with carbon steel, but in the end, after much encouragement (harassment?!!) by other FMC owners, I had it made with stainless steel. You will just have to crawl under the coach to see the bling! It is a match in size, 60 gallons, with the original.
Show Newest Photos First | Show Oldest Photos First379 Photos - Page : [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32]

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