Out with the old..................

Oh where do I start.  I have a cold so no big party tonight,  and then this whole fiscal cliff BS.  I normally don't talk bad about our great country and our leaders.  Maybe it's just the cold meds but this is not looking good.  Even if the price of everything that is being payed for with out tax money goes up,  just think how other countries see how the good old US of A handles things.  OK off the soap box now.

But the good news is that 2012 was a good/bad year.  Some friends have passed away, others have been born.  In our own family our son and future DIL have moved back to Oregon, our daughter graduated again from another college and Sophie really gave up working in the schools.  We adopted another rescue Bago, do you like how I worded that.  Our "more mature" Bago took us all around the Northwest in style and without a problem.  Let's hope for similar service from the Superchief. So all in all it's been good year

So let's hope 2013 will be filled with more good things.  And better health than I have right now.

One last Christmas celebration

Who would have thought that Wilbur and Smokey would have presents under the tree, but sure enough when we got around to opening presents with our kids and their significant others, there they were.  There was a pig tree ornament for Wilbur from Smokey, and Wilbur gave Smokey a Smokey Bear key chain.  Aren't they just the best Bago's a family could ask for.  And another Bear and Bago showed up from various family members.
Take a look.

Oh and here is the rest of the family,

One more trip to the gas station

I had ordered a couple of side light bases and they came in.  But since today was colder and not sunny like yesterday I did not do anymore to the roof or put on the new sidelight's.
And with the price of gas going up I decided to finish filling up Smokey's gas tank.  The needle is now bouncing on the F mark.  Only 90 gallons in the tank.  We use the Fred Meyer gas discount card and so I took Smokey out for a drive and wouldn't you know it that the delivery truck was at the gas station.  And that blocks most of the lanes so I waited until there was room for me and I pulled in. Then after getting my 35 gallons, the limit for the discount price, I waited until there was room for me to back up and drive out.  Wouldn't you think that the pump boy's would help a little more than standing off where I couldn't see them to help me get out???   Well at least they have a job someplace.
So here's my light purchase,

And it came to an even $5.00 for the 2 bases, the even have bulbs in them, and the 2 new covers.  I just can't get over the cost of these lights.  So it will be stock sidelights for me.

Up on the roof top reindeer pause, or is the paws???

So today, after a day of celebrating Christmas, I decided to try some repair on Smokey's roof.  There are all kinds of roof repair stuff and I have used several on house roofs, but on Smokey I have only used some elastomeric roofing ( not the black tar stuff).  Smokey has a fiberglass roof which I really like, except no one has been doing the annual sealing around the skylight and roof vents.  So what happens is just like every other RV roof, they leak.  And once the water gets in to a laminated roof the wood rots and then delaminates.  That's what has happened on Smokey.
And I would love to have some warm dry weather, or even a large inside garage, to tear into the roof.  Well maybe this Summer.  But I might have fixed most of the leaks today.  There is a very thin fiberglass roof on top of a this piece of plywood, foam insulation and more plywood with an inside ceiling covering.  The ceiling looks great yet.  What I found today was a spot where the fiberglass cracked.  I think it cracked because the roof is soft there and nothing was nothing supporting the fiberglass.
Since we are having some drier weather, but not quite warm enough for drying the snow roofing, I used a heat gun to dry it.  We will see how it works.

Using snow roof primer and a heat gun in cold weather patching..

Merry Christmas

Here it is Christmas day again.  After a few days of family celebrations the day of Christmas has come.  And since my son is in Arizona with his fiance and her family they will be back in a couple of days and we will celebrate some more.
But on the bright side I have had a chance to talk Winnebago's with family.  Even my one nephew wanted to see how the inside of Wilbur ('73) turned out because the last time he was in it the roof was off.  But Smokey ('89) was the place to be.  Everything from the power steps to the LED lights were discussed.  I am still learning how some stuff works but with the generator running and the furnace and a small electric heater on it really heats up nice and that's always good on a cold night.
So to all my RV friends, and my other fiends and family, you have a great Christmas.

Christmas time

The Christmas celebrations have started and we had a house full yesterday.
Of course there were the tours of my newest motor home and plenty of questions about it.
Sophie had this idea she read about in a magazine where we would take a picture on the stairs   I think it turned out OK, but since we have so many people here we need more stairs.

And now we are getting ready for another smaller gathering tomorrow.
It was another wet day so not much outside stuff.

New side lights for Smokey

I have been looking at new side lights since the first time I washed Smokey and one of the covers fell off.  Someone had replaced the right front one with a non-stock replacement light but not exactly like the original one.  And I did buy a couple of those new style ones, but yesterday I stopped by an RV place that is close to my house and found some new covers for the original lights.  Today I went back and bought 6 new covers and ordered a new original base so I can keep it all original.  Jeff will like that.

This is the right front side light that is not original.

Yea only 71 cents.  I like that too.

A new cover with the sticker still stuck on the inside.  When it gets warmer outside I want to take all the lights off and clean and re-caulk the lights.

I like all the lights to work.

Am I ready for Christmas yet?????

Sure some of you are shoppers and love to buy gifts but that's not really me.  I have a wife that does the shopping, but this year I have seen her stress about a gift for our family gift exchange.  I like to see that side of her.  Stressed while shopping, cool. 
I went out to Smokey today and started him up.  Right now the only adjustment I want to do is set the idle up a little.  Now that I have adjusted the choke to work right it drops down to a slow idle when it warms up like it should.  And now that the snow is falling in every mountain pass we won't head out of town to far to check out how it does on the big hills until the weather warms up some.

And now for Smokey


I am playing with the RC planes today.  First I covered some Dollar Tree foam board with packing tape like this.

That's it for today.

Can I Blog too???

Some of my readers have ask me how they can start a Blog.  The way I started was to go to Blogger.com and sign up for a free Blog.  This is an easy way to get a Blog.  You should see "create Blog" at the top right of my Blog.  Just click on it and it will take you to the Blogger sign up site.  Just follow the instructions and you will be Blogging in no time at all.  Or you could just visit Blogger.com and follow the instructions.

And you can put videos up on youtube.com and  make yourself a star.

Then the next thing will be to put ads up and see what happens.

Inside stuff

Today is one of those days when I could just stay inside and stay warm and dry.  The wind has been pretty strong and the desire to go out is not so strong.
 I have been having trouble with the drivers door lock on my wagon.  The part that moves out of the way when the key goes in does not move out of the way.  Oh yea I have oiled it, banged on it and picked on it but still no luck.  And with it so cold and windy I really don't want to spend the time to take the inside of the door off and see what is going on.  I still have 2 other door locks that work, but I wouldn't want to crawl thru the back hatch to the front to unlock the door.

And Smokey would like you to watch this video

RC airplanes. My other hobby

Another hobby I have is flying Radio Control Model Airplanes.  Some of you might have tried this hobby and now that the weather is cold and wet I feel like staying inside and playing with my planes.
I now have plenty of planes to fly but just like RV's you can't have to many......or can you?
I have been in and out of the model hobby on and off since I was probably 10 or so and living next to a school where we flew control line planes.  Then when I was stationed in Thailand during my Air Force days in 1975 I tried the RC stuff.  Wow has that hobby changed.  And this last time I got into it everything has changed from the radios to the batteries.  And now since I am so cheap I am looking at planes built out of foam board from the dollar store.
Take a look at this http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1587275

Roof repairs

The roof on Smokey is 100 times better than the roof I started with in Wilbur.  You can look at my roof repairs Here.  So with Smokey I have been on the roof and inside looking at the repairs.

This is with the inside skylight removed.

You can see the thin layer of fiberglass roofing on top.

I thought I could slide some thin material on top of the foam but then I found out that the screws that hold the outer skylight on are in the way.  And since it is raining and cold outside I will just have to wait until the weather warms up to work outside.  That is unless I back it in the garage and work on it there.

Now for Smokey's video of the day.

Only you can prevent forest fires.

How Smokey got his name.

 

Our friends Terry and Carolann gave us this bear.

What are friends for if they can't help you out.
When Smokey was first bought he had an oil leak.  The leak did not seem like much when we ran it parked in the storage lot, until he got out on the road.  And once up to speed there was just enough oil blowing on the exhaust pipe to cause some smoke.................OK plenty of smoke.  So when your wife says to call the RV Smokey, it kind of makes sense.

My nurse graduates

My daughter added some more letters to her name today.  She graduated from a top nursing school with a BSN (bachelors of science in nursing).  Now she can add that to her name after her BS.  So that was the big thing to attend.  Of course we did out WW meeting where I logged in another loss.  Now if I can keep up the loss next week I might get my 40 pound loss. 

We are so proud of our little girl.

And by chance if anyone who wants to go on a shooting spree is reading this, please put yourself first.  Don't waste the gas and time to drive someplace, stay home and shoot yourself first.

The tree is done

So what do you think?????  The tree turned out pretty good huh.

The Oregon State Capitol Tree.

The golden man stands watch over the Christmas tree.

The weather was really nice this afternoon so we took a walk around the Oregon State Capitol.  Last year our friends John and Sue came to stay with us for a couple of days since one of their sons was getting married in town.  And I took them to see the Capitol and listen to one of the local schools choir sing.
I hope they see this and remember their time here.

Last year at the Capitol

First thing this morning I had to make a trip out to Smokey and get the coffee maker.  Seems like the one we have been using in the house did not want to work.  I wonder what the neighbors thought seeing me come in from Smokey with my coffee pot. 

Cleaning the master cylinder area and getting a tree.

A big improvement on the Superchief from the Indian is the see thru brake system master cylinder reservoir.  But like the cooling system overflow tank this plastic was black.  So today I cleaned it up.  Now after cleaning it I still did not see the brake fluid but after checking it was full.  So I guess I should drain some out so I can see the level.

And with the big celebration of Christmas coming we got our Christmas tree today.  We found a tree farm close to us that we used last year and found the perfect tree, hey God didn't make a bad tree, and they shake the loose needles off and I get it bailed and throw it in the wagon.  Last year was the first year for the wagon since I bought it in November.  Did I tell you it was a $300 car that didn't run and I fixed it up.  Hey I'm cheap and enjoy a challenge.  And I did pay $10 for the tree.

I like the shaker and get it bailed.

Looks like a Weight Watchers tree huh.

So now it's time to decorate the tree.  And maybe I will have time to work on Smokey tomorrow........

Fixing some things under the hood

The lower grill was removed by my friend to get to the starting battery.  Seems like Winnebago located this battery behind the front bumper and the easiest way to get it out was to remove the lower grill.

 

So today I bought some new screws, the old ones were rusty, and installed the grill.  I cleaned out the radiator overflow tank.  It looked like there was mud in the bottom and a good cleaning did wonders for the tank.

Kind of makes me want to buy a tractor.
Nothing runs like a Deere.

I also fixed the strap that holds the overflow tank in place.  The bungee cord that was holding it was getting worn out.

The inside hood release has also been bent and twisted so I also adjusted it to work better.

My blow out plug

For those of you that want to see the blow out plug I made, here are some pictures.

Bought at Lowe's

Tapped hole for the 1/4" pipe thread.

Ready to plug and play.

WOW someone is reading my BLOG

Great to see so many people reading this BLOG lately.  Some have wanted to see older posts about where we have been or repairs done to mt RV's.  There is a box at the top left where you can type in something and search the BLOG.
Enjoy some of the Oregon, WA and the very Northern tip of the CA coast where we have traveled.
We do like the Oregon Coast.

Took Smokey for a drive.

With the price of gas down............well not as high as it's been,  I decided to go for a drive.  I pulled one of the spark plugs out and it looked real good so that is one thing I won't think about for awhile.  The plugs look easier to get to than the 440.  And I think this thing is getting shorter as I am not as concerned about driving around town.  Then I took it out on I-5 for a short time.  It sure drives better than my '73 and I shouldn't complain but I wish the CC (cruise control) worked better.  When I put it on it looses about 5MPH and then slows down and finally shuts off. Something else to look into.  I would think it was just a vacuum leak but when I find out and get it fixed I would like it better.  Now after driving Wilbur for all these years I can get by without the CC it just would be nice to have it working.

The water lines are all blown out and the tanks drained.  I think I'm ready for Winter but I really would like some warm weather to seal up the roof better.  Not an big leaks in fact the only leak I seem to have is around the skylight.  

Winterizing and maintenance day. Some timing too.

Oh the weather outside is frightful.  Well really not that bad of a day and I really had some time to check out the whole timing thing and do the weatherizing I wanted to do.
I used my new timing mark on the bottom of the crank balancer and got the timing dialed in, as best as I can do.  The first thing I did was to adjust the choke so the big engine would idle down to what I figure would be a slow idle.  And once I had that set I had my soul mate give me a hand with the gas peddle.  So the mechanical advance seems to be working, and the vacuum advance kicks in where I think it should be too.  With the timing marks in a place that you could never see them I am sure they were never adjusted using those marks.
Something that gave me something to think about was on the carb next to the choke thermostat.

Holley application manual  Figure 5 shows what I am talking about.

Can you see the Choke Fresh air in take to the left of the choke thermostat.  Does that look like something should be connected to it?  Yea I thought so too but I guess not.

Once the idle, choke and timing advance was checked and adjusted I spent time winterizing.
When I was talking with my brother about blowing the water out of the water lines he told me about a fitting he was given that was not some cheap plastic thing but a metal fitting.  So here is what I built.

I don't really like the messy job someone did around the city water connection.  Just another job to do.

It is a garden hose fitting for a quick disconnect system that has been threaded for a 1/4" pipe thread.  Then I used an air tool fitting to connect to the air hose.
Now here is a deal for my loyal readers.  If you bring me the hose fitting I will thread it for FREE.  Yes this is a limited time deal and only if you act now, or at least until I break or loose my tap, then you too can have one of these.
And since the way I would winterize Wilbur was to pull up the garage door and drive it in, this was the first time I have done this.  I drained the fresh water tank, drained the water heater and blew out all the water lines to the sinks, shower and toilet.

I lubed the steps since they have not fully extended a couple of times.  It just might be needing some oil.  And I also spent some time looking at the under side of Smokey.  Boy if I had a nice warm day or two there are plenty of things to check over on a motor home this size.

I just went out and started Smokey.  The choke worked great but still stayed on longer than needed so I adjusted it some more.  Some of the vacuum hoses are hard, so I have been replacing them as I use up all the hose I buy.  But vacuum hose is cheap and easy to work with.  The story of my life, cheap and easy.

The 460 is one big old engine

Who would have ever thought that I needed another online forum to follow.  Now I have been sucked into the 460ford.com world.  What started out as just fixing up another old Bago has lead me down a road of playing with a whole new adventure.  So Smokey is running good, but I have been getting an education in big block Fords.  I do like to know how to fix things I drive and one reason I bought this Bago was because..............OK it was cheap and big.  But it is old enough to be able to work on.  And the 460 Ford boys really like those Big Blocks. 
That's where I am now.  Reading the 460 forum and learning about the engine. 
Today after having coffee with my flying friends, the weather was not good enough for flying, we met up with our daughter for lunch.  She is almost done with here nursing school and getting ready to go to work.  Anyone need a full time nurse?  She did have an interview with a large hospital this morning.
Maybe tomorrow I will have time to play with Smokey and have pictures and info on what I find.
If I get time to check out the timing and see if the vacuum advance and centrifugal advance works, I would feel better that things are working.  I might even get cute and check the TDC of the #1 piston and mark the crank for future use.
That's today's report.

More timing stuff

So today I really didn't do much on Smokey.  I did talk to the local Speed Shop guy about timing marks and he said just find TDC (top dead center) and put a mark on the crank balancer and some kind of pointer to line up with it.  Then you can put the other marks on the balancer to get the different degrees of advance.  So I lined up the original marks and tried my hand at painting a line but the paint went under the tape I used so I didn't take a picture.  Oh well maybe tomorrow I will spend some time on it.  What I really want to see is how the advance works or if it does work.  Then between how it starts hot and how it runs and even how the spark plugs look I should have an idea of how it is running.

And since the weather was clear we took the mustang out for a drive.  With the top down we got plenty of fresh air.  And a night time drive through the Christmas light display will be nice if we have a good night for it.

So keep checking back to see how things progress on the great Smokey fix up.

I adjusted the timing today

After adjusting the timing and taking it for a drive today I think it fixed the warm starting problem and it still runs good.  But there is another trick I read about when the timing marks are hidden.  Someone used a mirror and turned the engine over by hand to where the timing marks line up, and then put some marks somewhere else.  I will look into that another time.

Maybe I can paint a mark on the crank pulley and a mark on the front of the oil pan or above it,  They might even have timing mark pointer I could bolt to the oil pan bolts that would point to the crank pulley.  How about a nice chrome one, OOOHHHHH.


Here is one at Autozone.  Mr. Gasket $4.38
This might just work.

We put up some outdoor Christmas lights since it wasn't raining and I was just thinking about Christmas lights on Smokey.  Maybe I will look into that too.

I give up on the timing light

You would think that an old handyman guy like me would be able to find a way to use a timing light on this big old Ford engine to set the timing but I GIVE UP.  Yes I tried to see the marks by raising up the front end.  That is one nice thing about having power leveling jacks, and I turned the wheels all the way to the right but after looking at what I could remove to be able to see I give up.  I tried to use a mirror and decided that to adjust the timing by seeing how it drives and starts will be good enough.  Some day when I have driven it I will take out some spark plugs and look at them.  That way I should be able to see if it is running good or not.
And then when I finally find my special distributor wrench to loosen the hold down bolt, it doesn't fit.  Yes the bolt is a 1/2" and the wrench is 1/2" but the wrench is too thick to fit between the bolt and the dizzy shaft.  Well I know how to fix that and I grind some off.  Now it fits and I retard the timing some.  So far I haven't taken it for a drive but after running it there is no problem starting it up.
And that's my Sunday.  I did start out by having coffee with my flying friends at the club house and did Subway for lunch because Sophie had a lunch and movie with the girls.  Something about a fu fu place to eat and a sparkly vampire movie that is not my thing.  Give me a greasy cheap old motor home and I am happy.

The 460 and timing the engine

The other day I was looking around the top of the engine wondering what I will ever do if this things breaks down.  So I popped the dizzy (distributor) cap off and looked inside.  Things looked good inside and I was surprised that it was not full of electronics.  Maybe I could fix it if it broke.  It doesn't look like there is a computer to this thing, just electronic ignition.  And I think most of the control stuff is behind the front grill where it is easy to get to.  So take a look at the top side of the power plant.

There are way to many hoses and wires here.
One job I want to do is to check the engine timing.  This is even worse than checking the timing on Wilbur's 440.  One guy I read about used a mirror to see the timing marks.  Now that would be a trick but I am still working on a way to see the marks while the engine is running.
And I did think I broke my toy again, because when I first started it up after looking around at things it idled slower and had a miss.  I changed the dizzy cap and now it runs fine.  I think I might have not had all the plug wires connected good but I put a new cheap dizzy cap on and now have a spare.