The Adventures of Me & My Shadow #16 in MD, VA & DE
6/17/98
From Maryland, Hi Everyone! Here it is 6/11/98 and not many adventures
to tell you about. The price of fuel is back down below a buck
a gallon but I'm not burning very much. I am getting some things
done on the motorhome but it is time consuming and going slower
than I would like. The temperature is still below my comfort zone,
with rain off and on. It's getting hard to find good oranges and
the price for them is out of sight, I hope there will be a good
supply in the Headley's neighbors yard when I get down in Florida
this winter. I'll have to ask Dick to bring a bag of them to me
at the Navy reunion next month in Texas, maybe I can find some
in Texas.
I serviced the transmission (changed the fluid & filter) then
road tested it and found and fixed some small oil leaks. Also
added some more heat shields around the headers to lower the engine
compartment temperature a little more. Lubricated the distributor
and some more places that never get the attention needed. Adjusted
the carburetor (I haven't been happy with it since the engine
rebuild) it starts & runs better now. When I first got the
motorhome the fuel selector valve was not working, the new one
lasted about two years and stopped again. Because I had rigged
it so I burned fuel from the front tank first instead of the rear
tank it was not a big problem. When the front tank got low I would
just put the brakes on and that would move fuel from the rear
tank to the front one. When I first got the motorhome back in
89 one of the first things I did to it was, to install a driving
computer that measures fuel flow and tells me how many miles per
gallon I'm getting. I was told that it would not work, it would
cause vapor lock problems with the fuel. Well that was nine years
ago. It still works and I have never had any vapor lock problems.
I have done a lot of things to make sure I never have vapor lock
problems. One of those things I did to prevent vapor lock was
to remove the engine driven fuel pump and install an electric
fuel pump. Now in my 60 years as a mechanic I have installed a
lot of electric fuel pumps but only one pump stands out in my
mind for never failing and needing to be replaced. It just happens
to be a small cheap pump that I ordered from J. C. Whitney. I
ordered two of them for the motorhome as I thought one of them
would not pump enough fuel for the 455 engine. I installed one
of them and it worked fine so I have been hauling the other one
around as a spare for nine years. When I decided to do something
about that bad fuel tank selector valve I said to my self, why
not get that extra electric pump out and install a pump for each
tank and forget the fuel tank selector valve? It works great!
I have a four position switch so I can run the front pump, the
rear pump, both pumps or turn them off. For safety reasons I have
them wired through an oil pressure switch, this will shut them
off if the engine stops for any reason and if I lose oil pressure
it will shut the engine down. A mercury switch will stop the pumps
in the event of a collision or rollover. It also provides an anti
theft device as when I start the engine I have to push a momentary
switch to turn the pump on till I get oil pressure or the engine
will shut down as soon as the carburetor runs out of fuel. For
those of you who drive motorhomes I will work on drawing a diagram
for the system. Let me know if you are interested.
6/13/98 I got tired of working on the motorhome and decided to
take it for a spin. My daughter had sent me an e-mail message
about having more mail to pick up including my new Virginia license
plates that read "MY SHADO", my great grandson Christian
was having a 5th birthday party (just had my granddaughters Rebekah's
12th birthday) and I wanted to test the new fresh air vent I had
just installed in the cockpit floor (a 4" duct that comes
up under the brake pedal) so I headed south. I had made some louvers
for the duct to direct the air to the rear but did not yet have
them fastened down. When I got up to 35 MPH I could feel the air
on my face, it was wonderful. I got on the highway and when I
got up to 50 MPH and the louvers lifted off so I will have to
fasten them down, I'll have to keep my seat belt fastened after
I get the louvers fastened down and get up to 75 MPH or it might
lift me out of the drivers seat. Best of all NO NOISE. I already
have one ready to install on the right hand floorboard so I'll
be able to move a lot of air.
I am also working on an electric parking brake actuator that should
be finished soon. I have a windshield sun visor to install also.
I also want to do some work on the entrance door but it looks
like some things will have to wait. I am studying the day time
head lights and plan to rig some on the GMC, they will have to
be automatic, on and off with the engine. Some stretches of roads
here in Maryland require headlights on in the daytime. I can see
the time coming when they will be required everywhere and I hate
dead batteries. There is just too many other things to do and
I'm just too slow.
I'll soon have to head down to VA Beach and I have some places
to visit on the way to the Navy reunion in Corpus Christi, TX
the last part of July then in August its back to Sioux Falls,
SD to get my defibrillator checked then up to Edmonton, AB Canada
before checking into Hope, BC for the Western States GMC convention.
I'll have some time to kill before the International GMC convention
in NC in October. It sounds like I'll have to look out for hurricanes
this year in Florida.
6/17/98 Time to get this letter off. I now have the electric parking
brake actuator installed, will get an in-line fuse for it today
so I can wire it. Also am just about done with the vent for my
shadow's side. I also stopped by PeP Boys and got a daylight driving
light kit for $30.00, found out how it works. It is a high speed
strobe for the Low beam lights, it cuts the amperage down and
makes the lamps last longer. Instructions say to wire it to the
ignition switch so it comes on as soon as you turn the key, I'm
going to wire it to the alternator out-put so it won't come on
till the engine is running, and if I loose the alternator it won't
be a load on the battery. I'll keep you posted.
Till next time, Dallas, or Dad if it fits.