Finally going camping

[Alaskan Itasca]

WellI think the RV is ready fora trial run. My 5 year old son is ready to go somewhere to camp besides our driveway(we are leaving all the girls at home for the first trip) So we are going to Seward,AK for the weekend, which is about 200 miles round trip. I'm going to tanacross at the end of the month wnich is almost 700 miles round trip so I want to make sure it can make a trip unscathed near civilization.

To get ready I have been working on this old rig I picked up for $2500 right before winter. I was told it only worked off 120v power and the water system was winterized before the guy i bought it from owned it, which meant there was now guarntee it even worked. The po didn't even know the rig had ac and didn't know if it worked...

I discovered the 12v didnt work since it did not have coach batteries, and the ac works just fine. The water system is good order as well.

Stuff I fixed:

Replaced the rest room vent
Replaced the toilet with a porcelin toilet
Replaced the shower faucetnwith a new one. The old one leaked allthe time.
Replaced the shower head with a new fancy one.
Replaced the shower curtain.
Installed a new stereo with bluetooth and new speakers.
Installed new latches on most of the outside doors
Replaced broken cabinet latches with new ones
Installed 2 6 volt golf cart batteries
Aired up the tires
Replaced the 30 amp plug
Installed a 27 inch flat screen tv on the wall
Installed a media center in the cabinet above the tv to hide the blue ray player cords, power strip, subwoofer for the speakers hooked to the tv.
Washed all the cusion covers several times. They smell better and most of the stains came out.

Things left to repair:
Windshield wiper motor isn't working
Power center needs to be replaced since it is rigged and is not very safe the way it is rigged. I am guessing it has been rigged for 15 years....
Awning mount has been pulled out of the body of the rv. I need to repair the body and remount the mount. I'll likely use some diamond plate aluminum to fix this since it has already been used on the out side to fix other spots.
The generator is supposed to have been rebuilt but it was not rewired into the rv, so at the moment it does not work.
Lots of bulbs are out on the outside and 2 running lights are missing entirely.
All the blinds are shot so I need t replace them all.
Im sure there is more....

Im looking forwardto getting this thing on the road and going somewhere.

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Have a great trip!

Kev

[Oz]

Super!  Memories in the making...   

[LJ-TJ]

Aaaaw and a GREAT NEW ADVENTURE  begins 

[Lefty]

great!!
Hope you guys have an awesome trip!!

[Alaskan Itasca]

We it to Seward with no problems. I have one happy and tired boy. We started off with a trip to the Sealife center, then walked back to the rv  and had lunch. Then it started to rain (which it does all the time in Seward) So it was movie times. Then dinner and then the rain stopped (more or less) so the scooter came out and we walked to the playground follwed by throwing rocks into the ocean followed by walking to the boat Haber to see where all the boats were going. Then we walked backed to the rv and got about 45 mins into lion king 2 downed a bowl of popcorn and was out cold by 10 pm. All the walking tired me out and my son's legs are a lot shorter. What a great day.
Last night. It is pretty here even when the mountains are covered in clouds.



The view out the front window from camp





my son having fun

[Alaskan Itasca]

With all the rain the roof started leaking in the back. I came prepared with a tub to catch the drip. The next thing on my list is redoing the roof to hopefully fix this. The windshield wiper motor fix is a high priority as well....

[LJ-TJ]

Wow! Now your talk'n. That's what it's all about. My young lad is now a Police Constable it Toronto two hours a way. He's 38 and got a life. Grab every second cause one morning your going to wake up and he'll be 38 and those dad and son times will be gone. Man you guys are going to have a blast with that rig. Fix'n and Camp'n.

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Great pictures!  I go to RV salvage yards on occasion, so I'll keep my eyes open for a front hatch for you.  If I see one I'll let you know...although I've only seen one other 77 Itasca in a junkyard, in Alachua, FL last year...and that one was missing the hatch as well.

Kev

[Wantawinnie]

Awesome! This is exactly what I want to do with my son once our rig is done.

[Alaskan Itasca]

We made it back just fine. My son slept almost the entire trip back, I guess I really wore him out.

The rigdid great, that 454 seems to have more guts than the 460 in the midas. I found myself needing to slow down on some stretches. The engine does idle funny though and the rps hunt a bit, it never seems like it eants to die though which is good.

Now I have 2.5 weeks to redo the roof, figure out the windshield wipers since they don't work(rain-x does work it rained allthe way back to town), and figure out the generator problem(s), and make sure the trailer lights work. My 240 mile trip last weekend was a practice one for my 700 mile round trip on the 23rd and I'll also be towing my car on the next trip...

Did I mention that Alaska is all mountains and curvy roads, towing is fun....

[ClydesdaleKevin]

Glad you had an awesome time!  Since you have 4 wheel disk brakes on that beastie, you'll have plenty of braking power, but since you live in a mountainous area, you might want to consider getting a Brake Buddy for your car...I found mine cheap on Craigslist.  It hits the brakes in the car whenever you hit the brakes in the RV.  It really helps a lot.

The irregular idle can be caused by a lot of things...bad vacuum line somewhere, or even just a simple need for a tune up.  Carb rebuild at the worst case scenario in my opinion...lol!  I don't know how many miles are on your RV, but we are over 100K now, and our timing chain is stretched and needs to be replaces here in the future...according to my mechanics, its whats causing the slight fluctuation in our idle, although its barely noticeable after the tune up and carb rebuild.

Kev