New to list in New Mexico

awatters · June 12, 2011, 01:54 PM

Greetings from the Land of Enchantment or Entrapment, just depends on your point of view.

I go by Al or Pappy and my wife is called KD or Nana. I'm a tech support/computer programmer and KD is a hospice nurse. We have lived in the Albuquerque area for almost 30 years now. We have been tent campers since long before we moved to NM and I've been tenting since my pre-teens as a Boy Scout. We did lots of motorcycle camping before our son was born and then car camping after that and now that it's just the two of us again some more motorcycle camping. Since we now have grandchildren to spoil we figured it was time to look for something a little more comfortable. (KD says she is tired of sleeping on the ground)
With that in mind we just bought our first RV, a 1972 Winnebago Indian in need of some TLC. The previous owner is a gentleman we know through church and he lives about 200 miles from us in Las Cruces, NM. The yet to be named Winnebago has been sitting for at least 4 years, I've been going there as often as possible on the weekends and bringing the old girl back to life. The fuel system was a mess, I ended up replacing the fuel pump, having the carb rebuilt and bypassing the fuel tank switch. On Memorial Day I was able to get her running and moving under her own power. I'm taking the day off from work on Wednesday to go back down to do a tune up and have new tires installed. I figure at that point I'll be ready to go out for a test drive and if all goes well I plan on having her in my driveway by the 4th of July.
Once she is home the real work starts with going through her stem to stern, cleaning, painting, fixing and upgrading. I am definitely looking forward to some weekends in Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado with a fly rod and my young fishing buddies.
Pappy

LJ-TJ · June 12, 2011, 06:31 PM

Hey Al, WELCOME ABOARD D:oH! your are about to embark on one challenging adventure. Trust me we all here know from experience. However now you've found this site while frustrating it is a lot of fun bringing one of these old girls back on stream and there a great bunch of folks here. As said many times before the only stupid question is the one you didn't ask. Don't for get to post pictures. Yes the before as well as the afters. Is she a 318?

DaveVA78Chieftain · June 13, 2011, 04:34 PM

Yes, Welcome aboard. One small question, you have located the tires right? Typically not as simple as a trip to your local tire store with these ole girls.

Dave

awatters · June 13, 2011, 08:13 PM

LJ-TJ She has a 413. I had a '63 Dodge Coronet with a 318 when I was in high school which was before the Indian was built.

awatters · June 13, 2011, 08:16 PM

Dave,
I got lucky. There is a commercial tire shop less than a mile from where she is sitting. Already have the tires ordered and waiting for me.

awatters · June 13, 2011, 08:29 PM

Here is what she looked like when we first saw her. KD liked her right away. Nothing like the "That's the ugliest thing I've ever seen" reaction she had when she first saw the BMW R1100GS motorcycle I bought 4 years ago.

[attachment deleted by admin]

LJ-TJ · June 13, 2011, 08:49 PM

Wow!

Looks like ya got a good start on the out side...looks streight. Fantastic. Got any pic's of the inside?

JDxeper · June 13, 2011, 09:16 PM

Like TJ said good straight clean body line, all the trim looks good, so she don't have much rot, roof line also looks good. Nice find!

awatters · June 13, 2011, 11:26 PM

The curtains definitely have to go.

[attachment deleted by admin]

LJ-TJ · June 13, 2011, 11:29 PM

WINNER

Now the fun begins.

OldEdBrady · June 13, 2011, 11:48 PM

Uh oh! The dreaded "c" word!

Window treatments. Drapes. Anything but that word! It's a l-o-o-o-n-g story, but someone associated with this site HATES that word!

But it looks like you made a GREAT deal! Congratulations.

awatters · June 16, 2011, 12:05 PM

OK. So the drapes have to go.

I went down to Las Cruces yesterday and found out my parts guy used the wrong engine for some of the tune up parts. D:oH! Wrong plugs and the plug wires just did not look right. The existing cap, rotor and points looked good so I opted to wait on replacing. I ended up going over to the local Carquest and getting the correct spark plugs. Installing the new spark plugs helped smooth out the engine.

I drove her over to the tire shop where we discovered that the left front brake was dragging a little due to some fine sand and that one of the rear wheel cylinders is leaking, which explains why the rear brake reservoir was almost empty.

Gotta love PO's. New tires all around are mounted and the front tires were in good shape so one of those is now the spare and the other was saved as a backup. I ended up leaving her at the tire shop so they can fix the wheel cylinder and change the transmission fluid.

If all goes well on the repairs and if I can convince my brother-in-law to get up early Saturday morning to drive my car back I'll be bringing her home.

LJ-TJ · June 16, 2011, 03:38 PM

OK! Sooooo Where's the pictures

awatters · June 16, 2011, 05:53 PM

I attached some photos the other day but they have been deleted. I'm not really sure how to go about it. i??

LJ-TJ · June 16, 2011, 06:52 PM

Nuts!!!!

JDxeper · June 16, 2011, 09:51 PM

Start a album in the gallery. Photos in the thread eat a ton of space.

awatters · June 17, 2011, 09:09 PM

Wooo Hooo. Tires are mounted, brakes are fixed, fresh transmission fluid and a new transmission filter is in. Tire guy mentioned it was not running as smooth today so I may have some crud from the fuel line that made it to the carb, have to deal with that tomorrow. Fuel system plan B is loaded in the car just in case. Worst case would be get it back to the PO's place, remove the carb, have it cleaned out and come back in a couple of weeks. Leaving home at 0430 hrs to be in Las Cruces by 0800 hrs when the tire shop opens. Temps are predicted to be in the high 90's tomorrow so by leaving early we will hopefully beat the heat.

JDxeper · June 17, 2011, 09:31 PM

Extra fuel filters??

LJ-TJ · June 17, 2011, 11:13 PM

Don't forget extra fuel filters. D:oH!

awatters · June 18, 2011, 06:01 AM

I have 2 with me and I'm going to get a couple more once we get to Cruces.

awatters · June 18, 2011, 10:51 PM

Well. She was not meant to come home today.

Picked her up from the tire shop and drove to over to PO's so we could get her ready for the trip home. Fuel problem turned out to be a minor adjustment to the carb. Checked all the fluids and headed out at 1030 hrs. Noticed that she seemed be a little sluggish as we left to go get fuel. When we got to the gas station I could smell hot brakes and both rear brakes were getting really hot while the fronts were cool so we went back to the tire shop.

No mechanic on Saturday so I had to leave her there for them to check on Monday. PO's brother says he will go bring it back to PO's place when it's ready so I won't have to take off work again. I think the problem is with the master cylinder not releasing pressure after I let up on the brake pedal.

awatters · July 05, 2011, 11:42 AM

The rear brake shoes were toasted, so I had to get them to ABQ to be relined and then shipped back to Cruces. The mechanic thinks that the master cylinder is OK and that the problem was caused by the rear wheel cylinders not releasing. I should of had him do all of them when we found that one was leaking. D:oH! I asked him to rebuild the front wheel cylinders just to be safe. All he is waiting on now is a couple of springs for the front brakes and he says he will have it back together this week. PO's brother says the will go pick her up for me and then I can go down this Sunday for a shakedown cruise and to see if I can get the headlights & taillights working.

If all goes well the new bring her home target date is July 15th. Y!

DaveVA78Chieftain · July 05, 2011, 01:52 PM

As frustrating as this has been at least you will feel safer on the roads with the brakes groomed.

You did purchase the Service/Parts manual combo pdf from the site store I hope. You will need the wiring diagram that is in the Service manual (pdf pages 239 & 240; section 8 pages 88/89). That gives you most of the information however it is only up to the point where Winnebago took over. Clearance lights where added by Winnebago. Winnebago typically routed the clearance light wiring to the roof via either the fridge compartment or a floor to ceiling closet.
The 2 four conductor (red and yellow mold) connectors are typically located at the drivers area feet. Fuse panel on later model chassis was mounted to steering column, not sure abut 73 and earlier.
I use the clear Mr. Gasket fuel filters that allow you to clean and/or replace the element. It's nice to be able to see if they are dirty. You can buy 3 packs of elements

Goes without saying, check the hoses and belts for age deteriation and replace if necessary before making the long trip home.

You most likely have a driveshaft mounted emergency brake. Make sure it to is not binding up. Shoes for it may be hard to come by.

Dave

awatters · July 28, 2011, 01:47 PM

The brakes are done, finally. It took a while but they are only charging me for 2 hours of labor plus parts.

The plan is for me to do a turn and burn to Las Cruces early tomorrow morning to get her back over to the PO's place and then get back here around lunchtime to keep work happy. I'll go back down on Sunday to do few minor tweaks such as see if I can get the headlights working, change the wiper blades, get the heater off the hot setting, etc. Once that's done I'll take her out for a shakedown to make sure that all systems are a go. If all goes well the new bring her home day will be the 7th of August.

awatters · August 04, 2011, 11:03 AM

Well, I got to the tire shop Friday morning, got in the driver's seat, started her up and she would not budge.

The mechanic opened one of the bleeders and she started to roll. We were able to get over to the PO's place and park it.

I went back down Sunday morning with a list of things to go through to determine the cause of the brakes not wanting to release. When I got there I noticed that the septic tank (which is right next to where the motorhome is parked) at the PO's was overflowing a little. Talked to the PO and we decided I could move to a different spot. Got in, hit the starter and heard the depressing sound of a bendix gear not engaging. D:oH! Needless to say she was not going to start so I ended up having to pull the starter. Since I could not move her I got to spend the day with the wonderful bouquet coming from the area of the septic tank. Hard to believe but you can get used to almost anything, by the end of the day I hardly noticed the aroma.

On a positive note I may have found the problem with the brakes. While I was removing the starter I happened to notice that the brake pedal return spring was broken and the brake pedal was pressing against the master cylinder plunger all the time. Thanks to the parts manual I downloaded from CW&VRV I was able to find a replacement on line and it is on it's way here.