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marcjs

Posted 2014-01-28 11:45 AM (#2097)
Subject: Newbie purchased #344

(40.130.16.2)

Hi all!

Just wanted to say and introduce myself. I recently purchased FMC #344 from her prior owner in San Marcos CA. I'd been looking around for an FMC, having admired them as a youth when camping with my parents. She'll be undergoing mechanical renovations to brakes, drivetrain, and essential mechanical systems before making her way 2,500 miles to her new home outside of Charlotte NC.

Being a parent of two teens (one of each), as well as slave to a pair of Weimaraner pups (also one of each), I thought it'd make sense to secure a comfortable means of transporting them - along with my better half around the country.

#344 has passed through at least three sets of hands since 2010, but I seek to provide her a stable home we restore and upgrade her in upcoming years.

I'm sure I'll be learning a lot from you as I move along!

Marcel
Mooresville NC

BigRabbitMan

Posted 2014-01-28 2:27 PM (#2098 - in reply to #2097)
Subject: Re: Newbie purchased #344

Location: Cottage Grove, OR
(97.94.224.64)

Marcel,
Welcome to FMC ownership and to the FMC Owners Club website. Are there pictures of #344 located on the web somewhere where we can access them and have a look.

marcjs

Posted 2014-01-28 4:22 PM (#2099 - in reply to #2097)
Subject: Re: Newbie purchased #344

(40.130.16.2)

Hi Stephen!

No pics on the web as of yet...I literally received confirmation of a successful delivery to my repairman in San Diego this afternoon. I had her towed using the approved 'under-lift' method by a firm specializing in heavy vehicle tows (busses/RVs). Now my mechanic will get moving on her.

The coach has front brake issues, as well as the notorious Carter Thermoquad gas-weep, so those will be the main focus early-on. Do you by chance know how readily-available disc-brake retrofit parts for a 2900r? I know the Transits had them...did they use standard Dodge parts like a lot of the coach used? I'd really prefer to at least upgrade the fronts to discs while I'm at it.

Thanks,
Marcel

Otarn

Posted 2014-03-12 9:08 PM (#2151 - in reply to #2099)
Subject: Re: Newbie purchased #344

(66.86.15.155)

Welcome,
I have done some research on the disc brake setup. And Chris over at MCR has some sources on the actual part numbers that where used for the transits. I have bought a lot of parts from him. And he is usually fair on prices. His father had done a lot of research on theses motorhomes, they have a wealth of information. Since the major parts where already used in other trucks, buses, ect.
Good luck, fallow your passion!

BigRabbitMan

Posted 2014-01-28 7:25 PM (#2103 - in reply to #2097)
Subject: Re: Newbie purchased #344

Location: Cottage Grove, OR
(97.94.224.64)

I can understand your desire to switch to disc brakes, but that will probably be a challenge. Yes, the transits had disc brakes, but today there is no readily avilable source for the disc brake parts. They do not appear to be the same as were used on various Dodge units as the brakes were from Bendix. Today, the only source of disc brake parts for FMC's seems to be from transits being parted out.

My advise would be to repair the drum brakes (which work well) and then determine if you want to embark on a change over project or not. That way you can enjoy the coach while gathering up the parts that would be needed from whereever you can find them.

If someone else have better info, hopefully they will add that information.

denshew

Posted 2014-01-29 6:35 PM (#2105 - in reply to #2097)
Subject: Re: Newbie purchased #344

Location: Canton, (Sixes) GA
(24.98.5.46)

Marcel;

Welcome aboard, the FMC is a great coach. The Owners Club can and will provide invaluable information and advice. There are a number of coach's within a few hours of you. I am in Canton GA and Eastern Vice President. Give me a call sometime and we'll chat. Do you have a timeline on having it home? .. Mooresville - that's NASCAR country isn't it? Denny, coach 0890. 678.525.9892

marcjs

Posted 2014-01-29 7:45 PM (#2107 - in reply to #2097)
Subject: Re: Newbie purchased #344

(69.132.61.111)

Hi Denny,

Thanks for the southern hospitality - it's good to establish contact with the local FMC community!

No timetable as of yet, as I've only just taken ownership and today was the first full day at my mechanics yard having been delivered yesterday by the biggest, baddest tow rig I've ever seen! I'll have to get some web picture hosting going for this project soon, but the folks at Alfa Heavy Duty Towing in El Segundo were top-notch. They got #344 there safely with a tow rig literally 2/3 the length of the coach!

I've been doing research and planning the next steps after hours - working in, uh, what sort of country did you Mooresville is? As I stated above the priorities are to underpin the mechanical safety and reliability prior to driving her home. That timing is in the hands of my mechanic and depends on what he uncovers.

The carb is in now good hands, having been delivered to the good folks at San Diego Carburetor and Fuel Injection, who come highly recommended. It would appear the carb is likely original - being a Carter Thermoquad 6518s, the twin of the part number mentioned in the FMC owners manual (6446s). The Carter data sheet specifies it as being used on the industrial Plymouth H440-3, used on 1973-onward motorhomes...that fits the bill!

Brakes come next. All the master-and-slave cylinders and boosters will be removed, rebuilt, and the lines cleaned out using acetone before refreshing the system with silicon fluid for longevity. That is why I was questioning disc brake retrofits. I will also do a preliminary assessment of the possibility of retrofitting a high-quality aftermarket solution such as Willwood, Brembo, etc. while it is apart for future consideration. Stephen pointed out the drum brakes work well, which is good as it takes the pressure off and allows me to focus on the drive train.

The engine was checked during pre-sale and appears very strong in terms of compression (I believe I was quoted fairly near 120 across all cylinders - not bad at all for a 80k 40-year old MOPAR! Tranny shifts well and fluid checked fine. The future may well include a diesel conversion, so for the time-being no major engine mods on the table.

Well, I'm off to watch the 'Rush' film with my wife...I'll keep you posted.

-Marcel

BigRabbitMan

Posted 2014-01-29 8:30 PM (#2108 - in reply to #2107)
Subject: Re: Newbie purchased #344

Location: Cottage Grove, OR
(97.94.224.64)

I'll have to get some web picture hosting going for this project soon,Marcel

The ideal place to post those pictures is right here on this site. Go to the Album or Gallery link and create an album for your coach. Post the pictures and add explanitory captions as desired. If you click the box, others can then comment/ask questions about your pictures. Note that you will need to reduce picture size to less than 200kb but there are lots of free programs that will let you do that easily. You can see some of my albums for examples.

ricogomez

Posted 2014-03-13 11:59 AM (#2155 - in reply to #2097)
Subject: RE: Newbie purchased #344

Location: Houston, Texas
(69.15.202.162)

Hello Marcel, hope you and your family enjoys your FMC as much as we did ours,
my wife and I pickup ours in Los Angeles mid January
and drove it back to Houston Texas, we took the long way around
we drove it around a 2000 miles, our FMC had been park for around 2 years
indoors in a garage, the previous owner kept it in good shape and drove it
around from time to time, the only problem we had was with the lifters and
pushrods, for some reason some of the lifters turn rock solid, on one of them
the bottom of the lifter was damaged and on another one, the push rod
was bent, we almost made it home to Houston, we had it towed for
the last 100 miles to get it home.
However, we were lucky, we find out that we had the Good Sam Service that allowed
us to have the FMC towed home (free up to max of 100 miles)

We have been fixing it since then, we started with the engine lifters and pushrods,
oil, filter, thermostat, plug wires, plugs, etc., we discover that on the good 'ole 440
engine the lifters can be pulled up thru the heads with a magnet or a lifter puller,
camshaft seems to be ok, been running great now, we still have to fix some minor oil leaks.......

Rico
Houston, Tx.

FMC344

Posted 2014-03-17 6:37 PM (#2157 - in reply to #2097)
Subject: Re: Newbie purchased #344

(69.132.61.111)

Hi Rico,

Sorry for the slow reply - I haven't visited this forum for some time...

Wow, it really does sound as though you lucked out with your coach having made it so far and then having Good Sam coverage to get you the rest. Did the lifters/pushrod get progressively worse along the way? What made you eventually stop and order a tow?

Mine has progressed steadily along since I last wrote. My mechanic in San Diego has gone over the engine and also the brakes. The later were in particularly poor shape after someone had attempted some fairly crude remedies to what were probably fairly common issues. I believe they will be well sorted by the time she makes the 2500 mile journey to NC. Just in case I have both Good Sam and AAA RV-cover!

I will post a picture album of her soon.

Thanks,
Marcel

BigRabbitMan

Posted 2014-03-17 7:14 PM (#2159 - in reply to #2157)
Subject: Re: Newbie purchased #344

Location: Cottage Grove, OR
(216.139.57.155)

FMC344 - 2014-03-17 4:37 PM Sorry for the slow reply - I haven't visited this forum for some time... Thanks, Marcel

Marcel, (and anyone else) If you go to the top right of the forum page, you will see where you can adjust your "Settings". Open that up and you can "subscribe" to threads. The easiest way is to do a "mass subscribe". That way you will be notified via email of any new posting whether it is an old thread or if a new thread has been started. That will let you know when to visit the site and when you don't need to visit the site.

FMC344

Posted 2014-03-18 10:10 PM (#2164 - in reply to #2159)
Subject: Re: Newbie purchased #344

(69.132.61.111)

Thanks Stephen...just did that!

ricogomez

Posted 2014-03-19 4:09 PM (#2165 - in reply to #2164)
Subject: Re: Newbie purchased #344

Location: Houston, Texas
(69.15.202.162)

We came down via Las Vegas, Williams AZ, Cortez Co, Pagosa Springs CO,
Taos NM, Santa Rosa NM, Amarillo Tx, Dallas Tx and almost to Houston Tx.
we had to stop in Santa Rosa NM, cause it was missing real bad and that when
we discovered one damaged lifter at that time, mechanic was not able to find
a replacement (not even a used one) we put everything back and did some
minor adjustment to the carburetor and timing, after that we were able to
drive non stop to near Houston Tx (about 12 hrs) and had it towed the rest
of the way, after we got it home, I inspected the engine and that's when I
found several lifters that were not compressing at all not even on my bench vise.
Thanks to all that I learned a lot about troubleshooting Mopars (I'm a Chevy guy)

B. Sitton

Posted 2014-03-19 6:00 PM (#2166 - in reply to #2165)
Subject: Re: Newbie purchased #344

Location: Ignacio Colorado
(99.195.99.56)

Well darn!! You passed within 15 miles of my place in Colorado. I live between Cortez and Pagosa Springs. Too little too late.
Bill Sitton

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