| Author |
Message |
dounan (65.96.83.244)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 - 6:12 pm: | |
1'st THANK YOU , to all of you who responded.
not only did it help ,but it also made me and the children fell like somebody cared.
what happened was , the engine blew an injector tip for some reason. the tip took out a valve seat, gone---dissappeared. also bent the 4 valves and messed up 1 guide.
what was done , we [ myself and Alvin Perdue] took off the head. no fun feat with the engine in the bus. all accessories have to come off the head so that you have the clearance to get it over the studs. i did the bulk -mule - wrenching in this tale, Alvin did ALL finesse work.Alvin remove the damaged parts ,replaced the valve seat with a new one from his own stock , ground all 4 seats. he replaced the 4 valves with 4 of his own and reground them. took out the loose valve guide and replaced it with a new one of his own. we purchased 4 new springs as mine were just a little better than tolerance. while we were going through his stock i came across a new govenor top , mine has been very sloppy for a long time , we put that on.
I bought a new head gasket set, n75 injector,headbolts and springs from coventry detriot diesel of knoxville,tn.
we replaced the head with all bolts , this allowed me to put the cursed water manifold on ahead of time. the head application was not hard. we used a lift to get it into the engine compartment onto blocks under the lift rings -- then used the tapered handles of the mini pry bars ,that you use to pop out the injectors , to align the head to gaskets thru 2 bolt holes. then we slowly worked the head in place by useing smaller blocks of wood until all was in it's proper place. bolted , torqued , then adjusted the valves and injectors.
the engine was finally up and running at 2:30 sat. , on the road at 5:00 sat.
of coarse fresh oil and anti.
a little about Alvin ---he is 82 , retired, hard of hearing ,and does this stuff because he likes to . he's methodical, has a story for everything {and worth listening to everything]
the man is a detriot diesel god. evryone that i've talked to about him ,who know him seem to think the same. if you can get alvin to work on something -then its fixed . period -the way it should be.
he is 100% detriot and gm - those are the only parts you use , he won't have anything to do with "will fit " parts. so don't ask .
alvin re-set my rack , it was way out. i have a stock 6-71 with 4 valve and n75 injectors. From knoxvile,tn. rt 40e to 75e/n to 81n to 84e to 384e to 6e to 295e/n to attleboro, ma. i had to down shift only 4 times 1 gear to make the grade.
this is a whole new experience for me , i used to sweat bullets hoping i would have enough gears to down shift to. when passing on the flats i actually had acceleration. on the flats -foot down - there was no smoke to . on the grades i was burning coal ,but then let off a hair , no loss in power ,just no smoke . lordy it was great.
fyi. i have no working speedo or tach at the moment ,hence some of the vagueness. the tach will be working shortly.
also , Alvin did not hurt me money wise , he was more than fair i wish i could afford to pay him what he is really worth.
all in all it ended up being a positive thing , proof once again everything happens for a reason { whether we understand it or not}. this all reaffirmed my belief that people when given the chance can be good.
THANK YOU ALL
dounan 4104-204 |
James Maxwell (Jmaxwell) (66.81.57.191)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 - 8:30 pm: | |
Nice to run into a guru when u need one; too bad there aren't more Alvins out there. Glad to hear it all turned out good. |
TWO DOGS (65.179.201.194)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 - 9:37 pm: | |
Glad you are back to square one Dounan...it was almost worth it to meet a neat old man like that wasn't it ?? |
dounan (65.96.83.244)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 - 10:05 pm: | |
it was definitely worth it ,to make the aquaintance of Alvin. all the rest was just time and money. they come and go .experiences like this are what makes a vacation into an adventure. |
steve souza (Stevebnut) (24.60.226.230)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 - 10:06 pm: | |
Dounan--
your in attleboro?
I am in new bedford,Ma.
Glad to hear you are all set!
break downs are tough.
Steve |
BrianMCI96A3 (65.160.214.236)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 - 10:58 pm: | |
Hey Dounan, sounds like Alvin is one hell-of-a nice guy, and a goldmine of experience to boot.
Glad to hear you got back in good shape!
Hiya Steve... New Bedford you say!?
My brother lives in New Bedford across from Buttonwood Pahk.
In the 70's I worked in New Bedford in one of the old mills down by the hurricane gate.
My mother was raised North Dartmouth in the 20's and still lives in the house all of us kids were born and raised in across the street from the Country Club of New Bedford.
Small world.
Brian |
mclough (63.235.53.93)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, July 13, 2004 - 11:25 pm: | |
I live in knoxville and need my rack re set on a 6 71 inline. how do i get in touch with alvin?
ps i used to live in melrose, ma and now in TN.
morgan
outreachacrossamerica.com |
Robert Wood (Bobwoodsocal) (4.46.99.46)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 12:07 am: | |
congrats on being back on the road Dounan! all the best, Bob |
Airless in Mississippi (69.92.6.103)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 12:28 am: | |
Mclough Go down middlebrook pike toward western... When you get to the ice company going toward town the next road turn left. His shop/driveway/field is on the right just off Middlebrook. If you get to the railroad tracks you went to far.
I have known him personally for awhile... HE IS the best dd mechanic... HE DOES NOT LIKE DDEC. |
niles (4.4.112.82)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 4:27 am: | |
I remember breaking down outside of jasper tenn 15 years ago (class A)- tow truck took me to local mechanic - also town mayor and constable - it was too late to work on at 7 pm so we hooked up over nite - dangerous scenario at small hick town with me and my sons aged 4 and 8 with a honky tonk bar next door - thought it was blown engine (turned out to be bad distributor rotor (nototrious in 454's)with loose bell housing) instead of totaly ripping me off charged me about 5 times what it should have cost - but i watched them and learned to carry extra $7 rotor w/ me after that - when we finally paid bill I had the boys pose w/ me and 'constable' w/ his service revolver out (partially to verify the characters involved in the rip off if I needed future proof)- but the whole situation became part of our vacation experience and we didn't get hurt (too much in the pocket) they could have taken me down the river on the repairs - was totally ignorant about the mechanics of the RV at the time - but I lived and learned and appreciated the lesson learned - realized they didn't get much traffic and needed to earn a living - but I have certainly learned to appreciate the many kind and honest mechanics and good samaratans who have come to my aid over the last 20 years of RVing across N. America - there are truly more people like alvin than not in this great land - but it is surely more reassuring to read about it on a forum such as this -
Niles |
C. Love-Jones (Gaga) (68.171.107.100)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 12:40 pm: | |
We would very much like to get in touch with Alvin. Has anyone got a business name, name, or telephone number???? THANX! CLJ |
dounan (65.96.83.244)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 8:46 pm: | |
alvin perdue of perdue trucking
think it was 1024 1/2 mingle st. off middlebrook
remember , he doesn't need the work, he's just
A GOOD MAN. |
ChuckMC9 (Chucks) (66.167.142.142)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 10:10 pm: | |
Dounan, thank you very much for sharing your episode. Although I've come a long way in a year in learning about my beast, there's still quite a bit of trepidation that will go with my first many excursions. Reassurance from tales like yours goes a long way helping to know that one way or the other things will be alright. Perhaps even enriched by the seemingly-desparate experience. |