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Casper4104
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, May 29, 2006 - 12:07 pm: | |
Casper4104's first family trip report
Fun fun,
Took a small gaggle of teenagers to the rock&roll hall of fame in cleveland this past saturday. It's a good time - worth the $20 at the door. I kinda wish I was from Detroit and could sing, since every single Motown act (plus Barry Gordy) is in the Hall of Fame. If you're a Bob Dylan fan this is the time to go, the top 3 floors of the museum is devoted to him right now. Look here: http://www.rockhall.com/
No problems going up - bus ran well. Spent about 8 hours at the Hall of Fame and a few other Cleveland attractions.
When we came back out to the bus, we noticed a big puddle under the back end.
The pipe running from the water pump up to the top of the engine had cracked just above the water pump, and was weeping nicely. This is not happy news at 8:30pm on a saturday.
I pulled the pipe out (losing a lot more coolant) and cleaned everything up. I found that the last guy that had this apart used Permatex blue instead of a gasket, and he was from the "More is better" school of Permatex application. The crack went about halfway around the pipe just above where it met the water pump.
I covered the crack with black elec tape and a hose clamp, cut new gaskets from stiff cardboard (it looked like Garlock to me), filled her back up with water and brought her 3 hours home, staring at the water temp gage all the way. It dripped a little, and I checked the level regularly and topped off as necessary.
I'm planning to have a pal at work TIG the crack up for me when I get back to the shop Tuesday.
I love this old thing - it's like working on farm equipment. Our first family trip in the bus was a qualified success. Everybody had a good time, and we all agree that driving along, taking a nap, watching tube, playing Playstation2, making a sammitch, using the head as necessary - has got riding on my old sedan beat all up and down. Now we're looking forward to the big run to Tidewater area Virginia for July 4th.
Casper4104 |
DMDave
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, May 29, 2006 - 9:51 pm: | |
How cool to have a road trip with the family in your own coach. Nothing is better as you know. The food, bathroom privacy, and whole sense of togetherness cant be beat. Even better is overcoming a problem yourself and getting back under your own power. You should be proud of yourselves. My kids used to love our coach, then used to roll their eyes and now are back to loving it again. Good luck with your new coach. |
kathy gray
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 30, 2006 - 7:24 am: | |
Casper,glad you all had a good time on your trip,where are you going to be staying in tidewater we are in Va Beach and would like to get together while you are here,we are as of right now hoping to take our bus to koa at the beach for that weekend,it will be the first time out with the bus and we want to do sort of a shakedown on it,my email is mikemerrill71@yahoo.com or #757-362-2721 hope to see you then Mike |
Casper4104
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 30, 2006 - 8:53 am: | |
Hey Dave,
We went through a few years when the young’ns would roll their eyes at anything we did, or didn’t do, or thought about. 13-14 is a tough age, and ours are so close in years we had them both in the thick of it at the same time. Their 16-17 now and they seem to enjoy the bus.
Hi there Mike & Kathy,
I’m actually a native of Poquoson VA. My dad moved the family up here to Ohio back in ’81 and I’ve stayed on, but the entire extended fam is down there. I have a Grandmother, 4 aunts & uncles, a brother, 2 sisters - and about 20 cousins in Poquoson. My mom lives in Ivor (near Smithfield) with her hub.
I’ll be parking the bus at a couple of locations in Poquoson, with an overnight in Ivor. We’re planning on some summer fun with the family, and maybe a trip to the Mariner’s Museum in Newport News. We may be able to meet up with you guys for an afternoon. I’ll shoot you an Email soon.
BTW - do you know what the toll is to bring a 35' RV across the Bridge Tunnel?
Casper4104 |
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