Fandango made it through trip #2 by ringing in the New Year. Elway and his family were well into their week-long camping trip at Bastrop State Park and I was hoping to camp over New Years Eve. The camp had been sold out for New Year's Eve but Elway swung by the office right when a cancellation came in and we were set for three nights. I find myself, yet again, saying thanks to Elway for his help.
It was great to spend New Years Eve by having the kids watch another movie projected on the side of Fandango. Of course we did put the kids to bed and the adults watched "Blazing Saddles" as midnight truly approached. Happy New Year everyone!
OK, my wonderful, loving wife made me take this picture and said I had to put it on the blog.
OK, my wonderful, loving wife made me take this picture and said I had to put it on the blog.
No, it is not as bad as it looks but when you drag your wife and 3-year old out to pick up the RV and the RV will not start right away...well, you better start doing something. It had been around 3 weeks since I had last tried to start Fandango and like any 1972 engine, it takes some time for a true cold start. The voltmeter did show both batteries to be just a shade below 12V so I figured it wouldn't hurt. I am not sure if it helped but it started when I had the jumper cables hooked up and my wife and kid did not have to keep staring at Dad trying to get the vacation started. It started just fine ever since so I am just writing it off to an old, cold engine which is best off if I swing by and start it at least every two weeks or so.
The first fun part of the trip was that the first day was just Daddy and daughter. Mommy came out the next day so I got to have a lot of quality time with Danielle. Danielle also got to break out her new sleeping bag and Xmas PJ's.
Bastrop State Park is great and there was plenty of things the kids can enjoy. Danielle got to play with friends and perfect her tricycle riding skills.
Yes, kitchen stadium made a second appearance. Marcus was busy replacing the floor of his Airstream over the holidays but Dave got a Xmas present that kept kitchen stadium in good shape. We will just have to look forward to when all of the RV's are back together and Kitchen Stadium can reach even new levels.
Elway also taught me how to set up my canopy to get a wider clearance.
For those keeping track, the brakes are working great. I had no problems during the trip and the fluid level in the master cylinder is holding. I also found the drive to and from Bastrop to be very smooth. It was really windy on the drive out there but even then it held its speed well and everything just worked really well.
I did not take any pictures regarding this but the really fun part, from a new RV user's standpoint was that this was the first time I had an RV spot with full hookups. Having the sewer connection allowed me to really use the sinks and toilet more. This was also the first time I could use my hot water heater which worked great. That set up was a good test for all of the connections. The kitchen sink drain does have a small leak but it leaks into one of the drawers below and I contained it with a towel. That is pretty simple work. I just wished the Pasarrella's could have found a spot with sewer for their week-long stay. I bet that family of six put some stress on their tanks!
The one issue that resurfaced is the breaker for the electrical systems for the rear half of Fandango. I found a loose connection during our first trip which caused the rear lights to come on and off. I tightened it but that lug likely needed to be recrimped. Well the fuse blew this time and I never bothered to throw a few extra fuses in my glove box. It didn't happen until the last full day of camping so it was not that big of a deal. That connection on the terminal block is not mechanically sound anymore but there are unused terminals. It is a pretty quick job where I can just make a new wire, with new lugs crimped and put it on an unused terminal with a new fuse (Which I had lying in my junk drawer at home). I will take some pictures of it when I fix it sometime in the next month or so.
Other than that, things went really well (knock on wood). We invested in a simple electric heater that we set on our kitchen counter top during the cold nights and it oscillates so the front and back beds were comfortable. The whole family had a lot of fun and it made me make sure to start looking early for our future camping spots.
And thanks again to the entire Passarella family. Danielle, of course, loved playing with all of the kids, Denise loved talking with Sharon about the fact they both married camping geeks and I had a blast playing with all of the kids and cooking up a storm with Dave in Kitchen Stadium. We missed not having the Moyers out but we know we will get more folks out soon.
14 comments:
Maybe you should take a road trip with the Moyers in the spring. Come on up and see Washington DC, Virginia and Maryland. Bunch of states in between to see along the road. Even though you have an SOB you will be welcomed right in with that wonderful box on wheels.
Looks like you had a great time, sorry we missed you!
Next time, I'm in. Just a few tiny more details to iron out on my trailer... :)
-Marcus
Frank, that trip sounds interesting but my wife is due to give birth in April so I will not be leaving the state, or likely the city in that timeframe. I think Disch-Falk Field and City Park will be as far as I go in April and May.
Besides, I wouldn't want to start a turf war or find Fandango hit with aluminum spray paint by a gang of Airstream hooligans.
Greg
Hey I'm John liebfred, I live in northern N.Y I'm looking into a '72 indian aswell.
we can pick her up at a good price it needs a transmission build, but no worries I was an auto tech before I went to work at a local papermill. One of my oldtimer friends is a transmission builder and said he would set me up.
I read your brake issue article. When you got the indian did you replace the brake lines? Up here they rot out if the machine sits in the grass(moisture). That truck is 36 years old. If you are not seeing brake fluid pull the vacuume line off the brake booster you might find it's being pulled through the rear seal on the master cylender, if it is the vacuume line will have residue in it. Also check the inside of the drums a leaky wheel cyl. is not a good deal either.
How are you makeing out with the tires? those 7.00 17's arent easy to come by.
well post soon
Johnny
Hello, John. It is nice to meet someone who could end up with another '72 Indian. I hope the purchase and initial maintenance work goes well. I must say I have not found a real following of traditional Winnebago owners. The various Winnie groups tend to be those who own new Itasca motor coaches. Oh well, I guess the Airstream owners can have thier cult and us Winnie owners can just be, well, unique and special!
Anyway, I have not done anything to the brakes because the previous owner did some recent work, including having a professional heavy truck garage overhaul the entire system. The entire brake and fuel system has been either replaced or heavily cleaned and refurbished within the past six years. The previous owners found it in a barn so the interior was pristine but the brakes, exhaust and fuel system needed work. You definitely raise some good points which I will look at but my next challenge is to get one of the exhaust manifold replaced. It is not easy to reach and will be a battle of rusted bolts. I have the parts but I need to carve out time where I can be patient and not screw it up.
I hope to see some pictures of the Winnie you end up purchasing. Be sure to keep me updated on its progress.
Greg
greg
Snap-on tools has a stud extractor for exhaust studs, if you arent going to run her for a while just keep pounding the bolts with pb blaster or other penetrating oil. but igf the studs are really crusty take a die grinder and cut the heads off the bolts and use the snap on tool it grips the stud close to the cyl. head. The motors I have built over the years I have had good luck with pounding a socket on and useing a zip gun on.
johnny
Thanks, Johnny. I am definitely going to empty some bottles of PB blaster on the bolts. I need to crawl around some more and get clear on how much space I have to reach the various bolts. I am afraid I will not be able to get a gun up on some of the bolts but I will pretty much plan on as many weapons as possible. As I was telling a few folks, I really need to pull the engine so I have the vehicle itself in the way to access the bolts but that is not really an option unless I took it to a garage.
Hey Greg,
Nice blog. I found it because I'm also about to buy a 72 Winnebago Indian. I'm looking for specs trying to find out what size the rims are and whether or not they're split rims. I'm told no one will mount tires on split rims any longer, and from the other commentor it looks like 17" tires are going to be hard to find too. Do you know about the rims and tire size?
Thanks,
Jeff in Huntington Beach, CA
Hello, Jeff. I am glad to see there is yet another 1972 Indian which may stay in circulation. I have really enjoyed mine and I hope as many of them as possible can stay on the road for years to come. I used to live in Ventura County way back in the '70's (Westlake Village) and I have had multiple business trips to Newport Beach. I could see an Indian as a really fun RV for that area of So Cal.
As far as tires go, I know my tires have been removed by a professional truck garage in the past five years. The entire brake system was redone by a truck shop. The tires were not replaced at that time and mine still have a lot of tread and these tires are not typical radials for cars so they do not have sidewall stress like a radial would experience.
The wheels are steel disc, split ring rims. The other specs depends on which model you have but yours is likely a M375/M400 (Instead of a M300). The M375/M400's are five stud 17x6.0-Dual rear rims. The M300's are 8 stud and were standard with 16x5.5 (Dual rear) but also came with 16.5x6.0 (Dual rear).
There are a few tires spec'd but again, if you are a M375/M400 chassis, they are standard with the 7.5x17-8 tube tires (50psi, 2090 lbs).
So that is a pretty long-winded way to say that if you need tires mounted, go find a heavy truck garage that works on UPS trucks, milk trucks, taco trucks, etc. and you should be OK. I would call them or stop by and show them the specs just to be sure.
I hope it goes well and be sure to forward some pictures of the RV. I would also suggest you get an independent inspection. The typical car inspectors will look at an Indian (Just the vehicle parts, not the RV parts). The main thing I was interested in was the engine compression but the transmission, fuel, cooling and brake systems were key as well.
Hey Guys!
yet another indian surfaces!
The one I am looking at is identical to gregs but with the green interior. Mine has 7.00 17's um, professional truck shops will do them (swap tires). I dunno I havent checked yet but I think 245 70 17's are the same size you'd have to use a flap and tube in them.
what is powering your indian's the one I am looking at has the 413 chrysler,I am not much of a mopar nut, but nicholville fire dept. had an american la france pioneer that was powered by the 413, that truck was real dependable.
I'm hopeing the money end of things panns out so I can put that truck in the yard, it'll come in handy next waterfoul season!
Johnny
Yes, Johnny, mine is a Dodge 413. I admit the one thing I wish it had was a Chevy engine. My Dodge engine runs great and I do not have any problems so far. The problem is that Chrysler does not stock parts for as long as Chevy does so it will be a bigger challenge to find parts and it only gets worse every year. The exhaust manifold was a pain and I never found a true match for the gasket. I finally just bought a couple sheets of gasket which I will cut to form and use copper RTV to make sure it stays in place.
I figured that given the good compression and overall state of the engine, I can use this engine for as long as it is not a parts or money issue and then I can decide on putting something else in it. That will depend on how long it lasts and whether I am ever going to do a major restoration. I would like to keep this for a long time so I will likely have to replace pretty much everything at some point in time.
Yeah thats what I was thinking too No matter what I end up with I'll run it till it dies then I'll swap out the motor/trans who knows mabe I'll fish up a 2 1/2 ton military and swap the b-series cummins and both axels and end up with a brutal off road camper I could'nt afford to drive!
a set of headers from Jegs might be an option for your exhaust problem. They should be the same as a 426?
johnny
Thanks, Johnny, for the tip on the headers. I have heard a few others mention that. I do have the manifold already so that will likely be plan B if something forces me in that direction.
Hey Greg, so when's Fandango making its next trip? And how are those kitchen countertops coming along?
Post a Comment