Well another March has passed here at the Sunshine Key Barth Spa and Rejuvenation Resort. After axle work, trans pan and cooler work, new ignition system and some wiring stuff, replaced 3 hall lights with 12V fluorescents, fixed ladder mounts, removed old radio and wiring. Replaced rusty screws in tail lights with stainless steel... yada yada yada.

We're reluctantly headed north on Monday, unless I come up with a good excuse. Had a great time bonding with Barth and a great visit with Tom and Nancy.

I did the preflight walk around/crawl under yesterday. (We left in Feb in a foot of snow so I didn't crawl much then.)

1. Check hoses.. lots of hoses... brake hoses (6), Hydroboost hose, coolant hose, transmission cooler hose, propane hose, fuel line hose, gas tank lines and filler hose, vent hose. Also inspect steel brake and fuel lines. (I have a couple fuel lines to replace soon..)

2. Check/grease front suspension, driveshaft and rear axle.

3. Check brake fluid level/appearance. (Main and tag axle)

4. Check tires, fluids, lights, etc.

I should make it back, (again, I hope!) I will be able to see what my trans pan temp is and I'll be playing with timing on the new distributor.

I'll probably head up the middle of Florida, then wherever..I'm trying not to think about it. Won't be long till Milford!

Made it back OK. Everything I worked on was great (see transmission and HEI upgrade posts.)

This is not to say it was perfect... one of the steel fuel lines I looked at and didn't like bit me in the a##. I must have moved it and disturbed sacred crust. Fine on the way down, leaked fuel as soon as I left the Keys. I noticed the fuel was disappearing at more than the usual rate, checked and found it leaking near the frame above tank 1. I'll replace all lines when I get to Kalkaska.

Good news: tank 2 just fine, ran home. Bad news: generator runs from tank 1 which is now empty... no air!

Another more major PITA. Seems my rear main crankshaft seal has decided to retire. It had been a slow leak in the past. (Last year I used about 1 qt oil in 1500 miles.) By the time I got here yesterday I'm up to 1 qt in 500 miles... as Holmes would say "not acceptable!"

Looks like we'll have some more project photos soon. I'll either have to drop the pan if it is a split seal, or pull the tranny if it is one piece. Either way, this is the first semi major issue I've had with the coach. Records indicate it was replaced once before in 1998. I'll keep you updated on the progress. (It WILL be done by June!)