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Some Success Stories
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Date: 10/2023
This story was scheduled for the GMCMI magazine, which is in limbo now (7/7/24). We hope you enjoy it.
A Geezer, Coot and Codger Swap an Engine
What follows is not a blow-by-blow account, just a record of what happened and the highlights of what I experienced as a participant in a Black List (GMC Assist List) call. This is anecdotal, not comprehensive, but I can assure you, it happened.
Emery Stora, past president of GMCMI, GMC expert, and all-around good guy is tooling along Eastbound on Interstate 80 with his lovely and accomplished wife Michelle in the vicinity of Grand Island, Nebraska. He hears a noise he doesn’t like and pulls over, suspecting it was exhaust related. He’s looking, looking, but no visible problems. Back up to speed eastbound, Emery and Michelle suddenly hear a “WHAM” and their engine is dead, locked-up, f.u.b.a.r. and all those other words we have for boat anchors that were formerly robust Oldsmobile motors.
Having a deep roster of GMC friends both new and old, Emery calls Bob Dunahugh in Iowa because he knows that Bob has a spare engine that came with a coach purchased for his daughter. Bob, no stranger to Blacklist calls himself says, sure, you can buy the engine, and he’ll deliver because he also has the gantry/trolley that pulls engines up and through the coach to take them out the door. Bob also tells Emery to have the coach towed to a friend of his who runs a Corvair Museum and rebuilding business in Hastings, twenty-some miles away. The friend has a large lot with some concrete which will make the swap easier.
Emery is very familiar with the Blacklist having been on both sides and he looks up Nebraska listers and finds me, Doug Smith in Lincoln as the closest. The call is short because I figure an engine swap with two GMC stalwarts, (Emery figured a day to pull and a day to install) would be the best GMC education I could find, ever. We meet at a Hastings, Nebraska hotel Monday evening and arrange to meet at the coach in the morning.
Day 1, Tuesday, 10/3/23
55º in the morning, heading to a high of 80º, 10 mph wind.
Chris the Corvair Guy was very helpful and towed the coach to rough but solid concrete which at least made our creepers usable, and we installed the lifting trolley system. It is really a pretty cool five-piece system. Our only complaint was that the trolley itself was very stiff and had to be hammered along the beam. I took out the front wheel well liners and Emery provided me with a ziplock bag for the screws. It was the only time we were that careful with labeling nuts/bolts which was unfortunate since we had a nice collection left over for Emery to wonder about.
Stripping the rest of the engine accessories was uneventful except for the dipstick tube. Emery has a split tube with a brass union about half way, and it was the lower tube into the block which cost Emery and I about an hour and a half of frustration. A successful yank from the chain hoist confirmed that it was our grip strength that was lacking.
Day 2, Wednesday, 10/4/23
50º in the morning heading to a high of 71º, 14 mph wind.
We began our day with great optimism until we realized that because we were so close to engine removal that an engine hoist should be standing by to pick it out of the doorway. Emery gets on the phone to find a local tool rental place-- no joy at the two he found. Soon, all three of us were on our phones thinking surely a town of 25K would have an engine hoist somewhere. Once again, no joy. We did find one 24 miles/34 minutes away in Grand Island and dispatched Bob with his trailer (still carrying the new engine) to pick it up. At Bob’s return we finished unbolting the dead engine and got to our first big problem.
The engine is connected to the torque converter by three bolts and one of them had decided to stop rotation just at the edge of the block casting on the driver’s side. The engine would only give us about 1 ½ inches of space to reach the nearly inaccessible bolt head, and the completely seized engine prevented moving the bolt. We pondered what to do. From underneath, I could see that all I needed was a nine-sixteenth inch open-end wrench about two foot long to make the job easy. Bob and I went into the shop where Chris’s mechanic was perfectly happy to quickly create such a tool. We returned outside to the coach only to find that Emery, alone, had manipulated the hoist and engine enough to reach the bolt head and loosen it. The magic new tool just finished the job. Emery learned long ago that perseverance and creativity were essential for success. At 80, it’s clear he hasn’t forgotten that lesson and he more than pulled his weight on this project. Unfortunately, he also had to pay for it. After that episode, the actual hoisting of the engine, trolleying it through the coach and picking it out of the door was astonishingly easy. Lots of strenuous pushing and shoving but no damage to the coach or our ego’s. We dropped it on Bob’s trailer and marveled at the dents and holes in the oil pan. Parts swapping from the old to the new block began, EFI sensors, etc. We finished the day happy with progress, but frustrated that everything took so long.
Day 3, Thursday, 10/5/23
52º with a 22 mph wind heading for a high of 70º
We finished the parts swap, considering and deciding to keep the existing front motor mount bracket, when our second major problem emerged. I pulled the 6 bolt flywheel off and noticed as I carried it to the new engine that the bolt holes were ovalled out. Installing it finger tight revealed about a tooth worth of slop at the outside edge. Emery didn’t want to bury a problem that requires a transmission pull to remedy, so all three of us were back on our phones to look for a 1974 Toronado flywheel. What are the odds… In a town without even an engine hoist. We were looking at overnight shipping in the best of cases. NAPA-No, Oreilly-No, AutoZone-No, several independent repair shops-No, but at their suggestion, a local salvage yard-YES! At Michelle’s suggestion we took the old flywheel along to compare them carefully. The part had come from a ’73 Cutless and while the Cutless used different bolt holes, the parts were identical. $50 later, we were back in business. That flywheel had sat on the shelf since 1990, waiting 33 years for Emery to come along. It looked brand new.
Picking up the new engine and tucking it in the door onto the trolley was uneventful and we put a second hoist on the rear of the engine to tilt it into place. The water pump was in place and needed to be tucked under the deck and horse collar before leveling the engine into position. Emery and I did that while Bob returned the engine hoist to Grand Island and unfortunately, a third set of eyes would have been useful. At its most tilted position we lowered it and the deck snapped off a sensor. A call to Randy VanWinkle confirmed it was a common sensor that any auto part store should have and Emery found one easily.
Day 4, Friday, 10/6/23
45º with a 30 mph wind and rain heading for a high of 63
In weather more suited to sitting in front of a fire with a good book, Bob and I dove under to deal with the power steering pump, alternator, Sanden AC compressor, starter and everything else. Emery worked the topside and we moved right along while cursing the engineers who designed things. There was a pause while Emery explained the spacer which insures the alternator belt alignment. (Missing on my coach which explains my several alternator belt failures.)
The only mystery was a spare lower horse collar bracket with no place to go. It took a look at the dead engine to realize that the new lower motor mount bracket lacked the holes for the horse collar bolts. We pulled the correct bracket off the old engine so Emery would have yet another weekend project when he got home. It was getting dark before the EFI was all plugged in and the distributor installed with a preliminary timing. To our great relief the engine started easily and ran well, even though the coach filled with smoke from all the dead engine oil. Tired, but elated, we went off to dinner.
Day 5, Saturday, 10/7/23
33º with a 12 mph wind and rain, heading for a high of 66º
Shivering, but confident now that with wheel well liners, dipstick, and fluids, Emery and Michelle could drive off into the sunset, we set to work on the dipstick. Two hours later, our good will was wearing thin. No amount of pounding, wiggling, turning, bending and unbending would seat the last three inches of dipstick tube into the block. In desperation Emery got out a small file, and Bob suggested we pre-fit it into the dead block sitting on his trailer. Success came only after interpreting the witness marks on the freshly filed parts of the tube and pre-fitting it into the old block. The rest was easy. The engine was running by 2:00PM and we were cleaning up. I left at 3:00 for a dinner date in Lincoln and Bob left about 3:30. Emery and Michelle cleaned up the disaster of tools and whatnot in their coach and made it to North Platte before they stopped for the night.
Day 6, Trip Home
Emery called on Sunday to say that the only problems were a starter that needed a tap to engage and that they had lost their spark at speed in the last few miles of Nebraska. Emery carries ignition spares so the episode didn’t cost them too much time. They were home safe late Sunday.
Conclusions
The trolley out the door method is pretty slick, if you can find the fixture. We did it out in the weather on rough concrete. No other special tools are required unless you have a frozen engine, in which case we have a two-foot long wrench to lend you.
Emery Stora, Bob Dunahugh and I, Doug Smith are 80, 77, and 76 years old respectively. I can’t really recommend this age group for this kind of work. But really, Emery had just completed this same task, solo, about a thousand miles earlier so how hard could it be? Well, with the weather and some odd circumstances, it was pretty challenging. But it’s done, and we hope it will be a 200K mile engine. For Emery and Michelle, getting a new engine under unusual circumstances, cost thousands of dollars. For me, spending a week working in harness towards a common goal with two good-natured, competent mechanics—priceless. No matter which side of an incident you are on, the Black List is a good thing.
Douglas & Virginia Smith
Note: This was while enroute to the GMCMI Fall rally in Corunna, MI from Frederick, CO
Date: 9/14/2016
Two weeks after visiting the GMC rally in Dothan, Alabama I not only located a GMC in Houston, Texas but just as easily found a willing GMCer close by who would drive down to Sweet, Texas where the coach had been left on consignment. The gentleman got back with me, offering pictures, and a pretty thorough report of his personal inspection.
I drove out, turned in the rental car, bought the coach from its former owner, then drove back to Alabama without the assistance of rear brakes. You can do that when you don't know any better, but I did drive slowly only reaching 50 mph on I-10. I stayed on the phone with the black list member John Sharp by phone, and have called on him a number of times since about little things that have come up. He has always been generous with his thoughts and instructions for correcting challenges. Probably wouldn't have gone out to Texas without the help of a GMC black lister. Plus my first trip on the Road to Branson, my coach failed to proceed just North of Montgomery, Al. and was able to speak again with Mr. Sharp along with Mr. Joan Richardson in Florida who was able to give me a technician's name and phone number in Birmingham, Ala. who eased my mind as to the situation, and he was right. Six bolts later I was on my way again.
Gerald Dowling
Dothan, AL
Date: 9-8-16
Normally you hear Blacklist and negative images go through your mind. In the case of the GMC blacklist, it's just the opposite. We started out yesterday on a potential trip of 3-4 weeks into the northeast with our ultimate destination being Nova Scotia. After throwing an alternator belt and vapor locks in the heat yesterday, I'd hoped for a more relaxing day today. So when I hit the ignition this morning and she wouldn't turn over,
I was not a "Happy camper" to say the least. After spending a couple hours troubleshooting to no avail, my wife got on the Internet and checked the list for Georgia. I called Ken Henderson and he validated the steps I had taken,and also suggested more things to check to no avail (thanks Ken you were on the right track), then I called Johnny Bridges for his insight. He spent almost 30 minutes talking through the steps he'd take, even going out to his own vehicle and comparing wires to mine. When he couldn't help me get positive results on the phone he said "I'm coming over". Over was 2 hours away but he came over and brought a distributor cap off his vehicle. We hooked it up and she fired right up. He would not accept anything in return - pay it forward he said- and the simple thank you we both gave him seems so inadequate. Once again, thank you Johnny!
Nelson Wright
78 Royal rear bath
Orlando Fl.
June 2016
"It was a dark and stormy night..."
Well, no it wasn't, but it certainly felt that way. We were three days into our vacation, 515 miles away from home. As we pulled away from a stop light the coach gave several shudders and slowed to a stop. I had no forward gears at all, only reverse, and backed a quarter mile against traffic to find a safe place to stop. Calls to Jim Kanomata, Manny Traveo and Jim Bounds confirmed that the transmission was toast. ... Time for the Black List.
Mark Kasiewicz was helpful and even offered a loaner pickup, but he sent us to Larry Weidner in Menomonie, 34 miles away. Larry contacted a GMC capable tow truck and a shop capable and willing on short notice to pull our transmission. He supervised the work; loaned the shop his custom GMC engine hoist fixture, provided contact info on Steve Turnquis ta trustworthy GMC capable transmission rebuilder.When we found the final drive to be full of transmission fluid, he called John Biwersi, another Black List member with long experience with GMC final drives and delivered the drive to him on the way to a GMC rally.John diagnosed a seal problem, and immediately called Jim Kanomata who had sold me the final drive and Jim immediately shipped a new one to me in Eau Claire. At the GMC rally, Larry discovered two transmissions, one healthy which had suffered disabling exterior damage, and one which needed immediate rebuilding so he drove both transmissions to Steve, one with parts for my trashed one. Larry round-tripped my dead transmission and final drive 200 miles to Steve/John, and the two other transmissions from St. Cloud to Steve. Just for good measure, Larry loaned us a car to get to my wife's 50th high school reunion over the 4th of July holiday. Larry then supervised and helped with the re-installation,and finally, bid us farewell and safe journeys. I asked whyhe did all this for a stranger who shows up on a cold call? By his own admission-"Because that's what we do on the Black List."
While this is sort of a "it takes a village" story, you need to understand that as a GMC owner, you already have a village. The Black List exemplifies the best part of owning a vintage vehicle-a circle of new friends you haven't met yet, who will help get you out of a scrape. Whether you realize it or not, the list adds quite a lot of value to your coach. You won't see it at resale, but you'll certainly celebrate it when trouble comes. We are all richer because of the Black List and I, for one, could not be more grateful.
Douglas Smith
Lincoln, Nebraska
Date: 6/5/16
The Saturday before Memorial Day in San Antonio, getting ready to leave, turn the key, nothing! Oh yeah, nobody works on Saturday. The Blacklist to the rescue I hope and pray, Ah yes there's a GMCer right here in San Antonio!! And Steve answers my disparate pleas and comes to the park with the right tools (heavy jack and stands) has it up in a jiffy and lo and behold a wire has separated from the starter, fixed with the proper connector and shrink wrap for the wire and Good to GO!
Thank You Steve Hendrickson, you saved my bacon and let us have a good (1700 mile) trip.
Dave Simmons, Pharr, TX 1977 Kingsley
Reply - I'm happy I could help and that you were able to continue on your trip. Someday I may be the one asking for
help. The Blacklist is a great resource.
Steve Hendricks
Date: 4/21/2016
Prior to owning my GMC I knew very little about engines, electrical systems and the like. Two days ago I broke down for the first time driving through GA on my way to the Smokey Mountains. Jenny Cimino, a friend that I met through Instagram who also owns a GMC immediately got on facebook and started looking through the black list to find someone who could help me. Within a few hours I had several phone numbers for GMC experts in my area. Though not a mechanic, Tony Bennett was kind enough to drive an hour to come and see what he could do to help me. It turned out that I wasn't getting gas to my carburetor, we suspected a clogged filter but were able to manually pump gas into the the first chamber and she started right up. The next day I drove about 150 miles to the Smoky Mountains and broke down again. Thanks to the numbers I had collected the day before I had people to reach out to. I called Jim Bounds & Dave Marciando to talk symptoms and possible solutions. Then I called Ken Henderson to learn what I needed to say to Good Sam to convince them to tow me to a qualified GMC mechanic if I was going to need a tow. Ken also gave me Mark Kalinowski's & Chuck Boyd's phone numbers since they were the closest to where I broke down. The general consensus was still a clogged fuel filter so I went to Napa purchased one and attempted to change the filter connected to the carburetor but I was not strong enough to loosen the 5/8" bolt myself. I called Mark Kalinowski and asked him if he would be willing to drive out to me and try to help me change the filter. Mark reached me late in the evening after having worked all day. The first thing we did was change the fuel filter, when we got the housing loose fuel immediately fell out and we took it as a very good sign. After we changed the filter we realized I was getting no power to the engine. It took three trips back to town where we could get cell phone service to call Jim Bounds and talk about troubleshooting problems. We discovered the electric lines leading into the fuse box in my dash were loose and power wasn't drawing past it. We raddled the fuse box just a bit and it started right up. I am so incredibly grateful for the black list, for the people who took the time to talk to me on the phone and for the people who drove out to rescue me. The GMC motorhome community is full of kind and intelligent people, I am proud to be a part of the club.
Date: 12/10/2015
A couple of years ago I destroyed a rear wheel bearing and was not able to read the part number on the race or bearing. I called a gentleman in California who was able to give me the part numbers for bearing, race and seal. I was just South of Springfield,Illinois and had just an hour to access NAPA 17 miles up the road in Stanton, Illinois with my unloaded motorcycle I was back on the road in 2.5 hrs.
Dan Nelson
Ladd, Illinois
12/1/2015
I am a central Canadian from Saskatchewan just back from a road trip to Orlando through Thayer Missouri ( or Misery as they call it). As you know those big windshield of the Gmc offer us a wide panoramic view. We were cruising along trying to decide where to stop for lunch looking for a little stream or lake or tree etc. I found one so we took the exit only to be affronted by a loud grumbling sound .We limped to the local garage to discover the hub had broken! Somehow the cotter pin broke and they wheel nut worked it's way loose. The mechanic was just sick reporting we would never be able to get a hub. But one call to the Coop who got Jeff Sirum and it was shipped to me within 24 working hours! Great circle to be a member of! Thanks Jeff and Jim!
Dennis and Louise Coates,
Saskatoon,
Canada
7/18/2015
On the way home from Colorado thru Iowa I commented to my lovely navigator how well things were going. (note to self, "DO NOT SAY THIS AGAIN"). We hear a strange noise so pull over to investigate and see antifreeze hitting the ground, run inside and shut the engine down. Think we may have blown a rad hose but NOOOOOOOO. Apparently the less than 1 year old Hayden fan clutch has split in two and launched the viscous part of clutch and fan into the aluminum radiator. "Honey we need a tow truck." Check the blacklist and find Karl & Lois Jirgens about 50 miles away and they have a parts coach with needed parts to get us rolling. How about that, get a tow to Laurens where they live and get to work. Hauler drops us off around 4pm and my lovely apprentice and I get to work. Karl says he and Lois will be back at 6.30pm and we will all go to dinner (a nice Mexican restaurant i might add). We get the rad out of parts coach, go for dinner, get rad out of our coach, i have beer (well 3 maybe 4 if you must know), apprentice has wine, go to sleep. Back to work by 6am checking to see if it will all fit as remember making some mods when installing aluminum rad, all checks out. Back together, full of fluids and on the road by 1pm. All not possible without the Blacklist, if you are not on it best be getting on it.
Glenn and Darlene Gregory, Thunder Bay, Ontario
11/26/2012
We purchased our first GMC from an individual in Wisconsin. Flew out of Denver into Minneapolis. Po meet us at the airport and we headed home. 30 miles later the front right brake caliper stuck closed. This was a Monday before Thanksgiving in 2012. Could not find a repair shop to work on it for a week. Than it hit me like a ton of bricks THE BLACK LIST, don't leave home without it. Sure enough there was some one with in 30 miles of us (The Mahowalds of Jordan, Minnesota). They took us in the early afternoon changed out the front calipers, made a call to Jim K and was took that the brake lines will deteriorate on the inside letting fluid to the brakes but would prevent fluid from flowing out of the brakes. No brake lines in immediate area and had have them shipped in overnight. The Mahowalds were gracious enough to loan us a car so we could go out to dinner and find a motel for the night. Up and running at noon the next day.
Bruce Hart, Colorado
9/1/2010
We were so happy to find a friendly face. In less than 10 minutes of my call for help, Terry Boyd came to our rescue just north of Portland, Oregon. After we determined the presence of fuel and spark, the engine finally cranked and cleared flooded fuel.. AAA could take a lesson. A big THANK YOU and many hapy trails.
John & Coral Tripp, Michigan
8/05/2010
...snip... were about forty minutes away from the campsite when That Wobble started up again. Rats. I pulled off the highway onto a spur to the Provincial Park which has a large tarmac rest area next to it. The wobble stopped, but as I turned there was an ominous crunching noise. Not good. I stopped and got out to find five large ball bearings on the road. I looked underneath and saw that a CV joint had broken. We were here for the night.
This is where being a GMC owner has some advantages. There is a network of owners offering tools and mechanical assistance called the Black List, which I have with me, so after a quick call to the invaluable Leigh Harrison back in Woodbridge for some mechanical and parts advice, I called the nearest GMC owners in Antigonish, about forty miles away, and Halifax which is twice as far. ...snip... Link ... Read the whole story
Richard and Phillipa's The Magic Bus Blog
Sat 7/17/2010
I think the Black List is a sacred institution at this point. It was a major part of our decision to buy a 33 year old motorhome and a foundation example of the extraordinary GMC community.
Desmond Crisis
GMCnet
6/2/2010
What conviced us to become more involved in the GMC Community was a breakdown on the road on our first trip with our 1978 Royale.
Southbound on I-5 at Federal Way, WA, we attempted to stop for fuel and when I put on the brakes, not much happened. I pumped the brakes and pulled off the Interstate into the back of a Large Chevron Station. What do we do now?
I had a copy of the Black List that we had downloaded from the GMC Motorhome website. I called a fellow GMCer in Kent, WA, explained our problem and in 20 minutes Bill Guise appeared, tools, jacks, brake fluid and all. He helped me work on the coach, chased parts with his personal car and stayed until we finally arranged for a tow to Tacoma. He also came back the following morning at 8:00 AM to check on us.
I assure you that this was NOT a unique experience. No matter where you travel in this country and Canada, there is a network of similar people, now including me, who will help fellow GMCers with a place to stop, hot or cold beverages and meals, tools, parts, and similar stories to relate. That is what makes the GMC different than SOB (some other brand), and many of these people rank right up there with the most brilliant and inventive individuals that put America on the moon first.
You will not go astray by associating yourselves with this community. Just my personal opinion.
Jim and Mary Hupy
10/16/2006
On a 4,700 mile journey through the Midwest last month, we had serious need of the Black list. Leaving Rock Springs Wy, headed east, I detected a nasty growl coming from somewhere under the co-pilot's seat. By the time I reached Rapid City, SD, I knew we were in serious trouble and I was still unsure of the cause (denial!!).
Jim White was listed in Wakonda SD, only another 400 miles ahead. Jim cautioned me that it might be further than I should go with that noise, but graciously agreed to help if I wanted to drive that far. My wife wanted to attend a conference near Jim's home so it seemed like a great compromise. (She was ready to grab alternate transportation and head back to California.)
By the time we arrived, a second problem had developed. The air bags were airless, not a good thing !! I asked Jim to help with my problems (actually, he fixed, I helped). After fixing the suspension, Jim, a retired airline captain and super technician/mechanic, diagnosed and fixed a destroyed wheel bearing. We spent two days with the Whites, left with great new friends and a roadworthy GMC.
We are back in Santa Rosa, looking forward to a visit from the Whites and any other GMCer passing our way.
PS: Thank You, Roger Black, your list has 'saved my bacon' twice in the short year and a half we've had the General.
Mike Frothinger
Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2006 23:19
From: Mike Frothinger
Subject: [gmclist] Help from the Blacklist - Propane Leak
Had occasion to use the Blacklist last month in Oregon, When I had the propane tank filled it started leaking back out the fill valve. At my wife's suggestion, I looked for help on the list. Rev, Ron Meyer, Springfield, Oregon saved the day. He said the problem was probably an ice crystal in the check valve and suggested I set a dowel rod against the valve and gently tap the dowel with a wooden mallet. I did and it cleared the problem. It was a great feeling to talk to someone who not only knew what a GMC motorhome was, but also knew a fix for my problem. Ron, Thanks Again. -- Mike, The General's driver, Santa Rosa, Ca ---
From: "Terry Skinner"
Subject: [gmclist] Black List/short story
Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2005 08:47
Quite frequently I use the "Black List" to find out where people that are on this net live. Or if I want to call them directly by phone. In fact I think I will go ahead and put my e-mail address on there too. Just in case.
A short story: We were down at Cannon Beach for the Christmas rally. It was 7PM and we had just rolled into town. Stopped in town to get some groceries and the GMC would not restart. While I was under the coach removing the starter the cell phone rings. It is Heinz broken down in Olympia with one of his alternator brackets broken. I call my son in Graham to go to my hangar and find out if I have a bracket and be ready to take it to Heinz. In the mean time I am back under the GMC installing the starter (loose solenoid bolts) and Heinz is driving in a piece of 2x4 to wedge the alternator out far enough to hold the belt tight. Well, my kid didn't get to make the midnight run to help Heinz because he made it home on his own. And I didn't need any parts to repair the starter. Just some loose bolts. But all in all it was really neat to know that help was so accessable even if it was only someone to commiserate with. Thanks for the "Black List".
Terry in Tacoma
Date: 10-19-03 18:29
Follow up on Dr. Bruce & Julia Fogle. Got them back on the John Steinbeck trail on Sunday PM. Required new coach battery, new alternator belt (old belt missing), new negative battery cable, bolt down plastic marine type battery box. Onan took 1.5 qts oil.
Advised him to look at things occasionally. He had seen the alternator belt on the ground way back, but thought it was from someone else’s car. The lord looks out for..................
Great people, great dog, great conversations, left us 2 of his books. Raved about the Black List (kudos to Roger) and said it would have cost him 3 days and probably $1000.00. I feel good.
Al & Carol Scott
75 PB
Franklin, LA
Date: 10-19-03
Got a Black List call from Dr. Bruce Fogle and his lovely wife Julie around dusk Sat. PM. They were stranded about 2 miles east of Franklin, thinking maybe they had water in the gas.
Dr. Bruce is a veterinarian and was quick to say "I don't know anything mechanical - not my talent". We discovered the negative cable on the engine battery had pulled loose at the battery, and had intermittent contact at best.
A quick trip to Walmart for a $1.80 bolt on cable end fixed that, but the real problem was the negative cable was the main thing holding the battery in the coach, and the battery was dead. We tried the boost to no avail, and then jumped, got running, and drove to our place.
Dr. Bruce was born in Ontario, lives in London, and has completed about 12.000 miles through the States composing a book about traveling with Macy, a Golden Retriever. His wife, an actress turned antique dealer, had just joined up with them in Houston earlier that day.
He started the journey in NC after purchasing the GMC from Bethune, and will end up back in NC before returning to London. He has limited GMC knowledge, no knowledge of rear batteries, etc, etc. I don't think we will find any good batteries in the coach, but we shall find out. He has had zero problems to this point and has been through the Rockies, down CA 1 to San Francisco, Sequoia, Mojave, Sante Fe, and all points in between. His goal is to follow John Steinbeck's route.
You meet the most delightful and interesting people when you own a GMC! More to follow when we get them back on the road.
Al & Carol Scott
75 PB
Franklin, LA
"Age doesn't always bring wisdom. Sometimes age comes alone"
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