WELCOME
From the members of the GMC Sunshine Statesmen           
           

Welcome,   This is Jim Bounds, prez this year of your club.   This is a daily blog that I am compiling on the Sunshine Statesmen Pre-rally in Alachua and then our trip to the semi-annual GMCMI convention in Dothan Alabama.  There are already several club members there helping Intl. set up the rally.  We are the main "contingent" heading up to meet up with them for a week full of GMC camaraderie and fun.  Follow our fun, I'll try and make an entry each day if we have internet access.  See, this is what a GMC club is all about-- getting out on the road and showing off what our classic machines can do.  Wish us luck, follow us as we hit the road. 

3.20.09   Day 1  OK, day one of the odyssey and I'm on line at the RV park in Alachua.  The ride up was a good one, remembering why I mess with these old machines-- they are a blast to drive!.  It is a toll road but the Florida Turnpike is just such a nice drive you just don't care.   A beautiful blue sky, smooth road and Larry is running like the champ he is.  Scanning the dash everything is go    Pulled in to the Travelers RV Park in Alachua @ 4PM to find only 2 coaches.  Shortly after 2 more coaches pulled in so tonight we are a rally of 5 coaches .  We have a couple more coming in tomorrow so with the 4 or 5 coaches heading direct to Dothan, the Sunshine Statesmen will have a good showing.  Dinner tonight was pot lock if you can call Spaghetti, cold slaw, bread & glorious butter "pot luck"-- I called it a great meal .  Tomorrow we'll have a great day of checking out coaches and good times with good friends.  I have a punch list of 4 issues:

1.  Alternator--  Voltage was jumping a bit, bet I have a loose connector plug

2.  Timing-- After getting warm, I had a good ping when vacuum dropped under 6".  Need to back off the timing a bit.

3.  Generator-- Pulled in at Wildwood for fuel and found the generator was blowing a bit of smoke.  Hmmm, we'll need to look into that.  I have the Onan power drawer.  We'll have to see what gives.

4.  Air compressor--  Did not hear the air compressor kick in when I pulled out of auto.  That was working when I left the shop!   Hey, we live in an imperfect world, we'll see what we have.

I'm sure everyone else has at least something to check.  Sam said his dash AC compressor locked up.  Stay tuned tomorrow to see how the checkout goes.  I'm beat, it was frantic trying to get away from the shop.  See ya tomorrow.

3.22.09 Day 2  Today was another picture perfect day in Alachua.  Everyone got up late, getting ready for what was coming.  As we watched the day blow past, first one then another member pulled in and pretty soon we had a real flock.    A total of 10 coaches!    Bill, the first coach to get in, had drawn the most comments on his paint job.  Ed and  Buddy, you know that dog that jumps straight up, came in with Pete in his RTS Bus   Pete has had 2 GMC's in the past and then progressed on to the next generation "Big Brother".  The RTS was the next design by the team that brought us the GMC.  Big but still not completely an "SOB" (some other brand) Pete will be doing a seminar about the RTS at the Dothan rally.  The guys did the usual chumming in the afternoon as others checked over their coaches waiting for dinner.  Pot luck again but don't feel bad for us, , there were all sorts of tastes.  As we pulled everyone together for a group picture, you could see the fun everyone was having   Now Sam, Nancy rubbing your shoulders didn't hurt!  Wait for it, wait for it-- and there it is.  The pic to remember, a great group of folks ready for our next step in this journey . 

One note, as we all know as the RV industry tries to reinvent itself looking for a downsize RV savior, we all know about the "bigger is not always better" concept.  GMC owners have always felt that 23 and 26' is plenty and it's about time that the RV industry is catching back up with the real roots of luxury travel.  In the park was a good example of what the RV community is doing.  Nestled in beside us was a Roadtrec 210 with a Smart Car towed .  I personally feel this is a bit too abbreviated, not the Smart Car of course, we'll be dragging Nelson's behind Larry tomorrow but the pair together I have no doubt turns a pile of heads on the road .  If he would have saved all of that money and picked up a nice GMC-- guess he would still be getting the looks that way too!

OK, we're as ready as we can be.  The plan is to line up and bug out together latest 9:30.  Sam has the least amount of fuel so he'll take the lead, I'll pull up the rear as sweeper.  The plan is anyone pulling over will see me on their bumper to figure the problem and the rest of the pack will forge on to the next rest area.  We'll go @ 200 miles, stop for fuel, then look for lunch then continue on to Dothan with the train pulling into the station somewhere before dinner.  Wish us luck, happy trains and all of the fun that all of us are looking forward to. 

3.27.09

I'm writing this in past tense as opposed to real time as I usually like to plunk.  I have just been so involved in all that has been going on there really was not enough time or mental energy to do anything.  There is so much a want to tell you, so much that happened in my life that really, I hope I do a proper job.  Here we go, I'm looking back at a great time, a great rally, a one to be there rally.

So you know we left Alachua Sunday morning with hopes of a smooth ride to Dothan.  As you can probably tell, that was wish full thinking.  Not because of anyone on purpose but because of events, the club came more together.  We didn't go far, Bill pulled over and we had our first event, a flat tire   Nelson jumped out of the coach first thing to Bill left another "road gator" on I-75.  Bill had gone through his coach completely, done an awesome job on his paint, changed out his chassis actually, redesigned his interior -- I mean gone after that critter with gusto but missed one thing, his tires.,  The Dunlops were just a bit over 5 years old-- that's too old and no fault of his the tire blew.  and as usual took out his T skirt.  I am a firm believer there must be a pile of T skirts on the moon cause no one really ever finds them when they blow a tire and this was no different.   There was one thing different here however, Bill had replaced his original air bags with the new Quad bag 4 air bag system.  Today, with the original air bags no longer available, retrofitting your coach to a 4 air bag system is less a factor of an esoteric mod and more of a logical next step. 

While it's true I am involved in the design and roll out of this new feature for the GMC, I could not have written a better real world test for the kit.  I have told folks for a while that you could run on 5 wheels, take off up to 2 back wheels and even 2 air bags and drive to a safe place-- and here we were-- on the side of the road, a flat tire and a need to get going.  The plan was for the rest of the convoy to pull over at the next rest area if one coach fell and now we needed to catch up to them.  First thing was to lock out the damaged air bag and pump up the good one to as much pressure as we had.     Bill had a battery powered air compressor that gave us 180 PSI, yep it took a bit but we made it.  Next we dropped the pressure of the air in the bag holding up the blown tire and removed that tire .  At 180 pounds, the coach was actually close to ride height but I wanted the swing arm with the drum a bit higher off the road so I clamped a vise grip under the arm for it to rest on and we were ready to ride.  We had a trip of @ 10 miles to the rest area where the convoy was waiting.  We got up to 50 MPH and on we went .  I did however, keep Bill right in front of me on watch.  I mean I was the "sweeper"!   Hitting the rest area, the club was waiting and were duly impressed when we pulled in so fast     Ralph had to take a close look at the future .  I tell ya, the 4 bag system worked like a charm.  Bill pulled his spare tire and in short order we were back together and on the road.   We didn't even pull out a jack.  Pulling the wheel on the ground up on a couple of blocks, Bill was able to install his spare right on the spot , pulled off the blocks and we were good to go! He needed to put some air in the tire, it was down to 30 PSI.  Back on the road, we were feeling pretty good.  We had looked at the face of danger and had made it our own.  So the quad bag system works, and we proved it!  And then from the end of the line we saw another coach pull to the side of the road.  What!!! It was Bill again and this time this new GMC owner knew what a bad tire felt and as he pulled over-- his spare tire blew out!  .  Hey, don't laugh, go check the date code on your spare!  His 1990 tire did what it was designed to do, it blew out!  Hey, but now he had experience and connecting his battery powered compressor he got 160 PEI which was enough to get him off the road.  We followed him to the next exit where Sam was waiting with his spare.  We followed him in with Nelson's Smart car in tow  , got Sam's tire and again, we were on the road to catch up with the convoy.  They got used to it by now and were waiting for us

  Doesn't Bills coach look great with no spare on the back?  We now had both of his blown tire with us in Larry and we were keeping a sharp eye on our "problem child".  Maybe he had all the problems he was going to have but we were taking no chances!

Another 10 miles and look at that--- Bill is pulling over.  I called Sam, the convoy leader, and told him once again to pull over that we had an issue.  As we pulled up behind Bills coach, I saw a puff from his exhaust pipe.  Hoping out and walking up to his door, I opened it up and he reported that his motor had just backfired and stopped.  It's a good thing we had not spent the night before in Las Vegas cause Bill would have been broke!  His luck was not with him this day.  Lifting the engine cover I told him to sit in the drivers seat.  "Fuel or fire" what did you loose?  Pumping the gas with the top of the air cleaner off I could see the accelerator pump squirting fuel-- we had that.  We must be loosing fire.  The number one problem lon an original HEI ignition system is the module.  Bill said he had a spare and hoped up to find it.  I opened his dist., pulled out his module and installed his spare.  Replacin the cap, Bill touched the key and the motor fired right up.  Oh, look at that, a bad module and again, we were on the road.    Taking off, Bill was way up front and now we were sucking up the exhaust of Pete's RTS bus.  Hey, it's not bad!  His 2 cycle supercharged turbo diesel makes no smell, great so here we were at the sweeper spot, we did our job and the convoy was together again.

I could tell you about all the rest of the trip but it was about as exciting as the gauges on my dash .  All was good and we pulled in to the Peanut festival grounds all together at the GMCMI convention.

As we pull in, all those familiar faces start to appear and immediately I can see we are surrounded by friends. JR Slaten the GMCMI Prez is there talking with Dave Perry, the Sunshine Statesmen past prez. Ron Teas brought our packet over and we were instantly escorted away to the vendor area and our spot.  Alex Sirum also helped with the check in.  Thanks to all the Sunshine Statesmen members who pitched in and helped, being in our "back yard" we were called upon to help by JR.  John Richardson headed up our volunteer team, thanks John.  The rest of our Sunshine Statesmen convoy were each taken to their respective spots and just like that-- we were all home.

I requested and got set up where I could do work next to Larry.  This was a dream set up, for years I had figured how could the best arrangement be set up at a rally to work as well as offer parts out of a motorhome and this was my chance to make it happen.  We pulled in straight, dropped the back, unfurled both awnings, disconnected Nelsons Smart Car and we were there   One side got the 4 tables with all the parts while the other side got all the tools for the work .  The Manny tranny was taken away almost immediatly by Bob Drews along with the tranny and floor jacks and the motor rack.  He and some buddies were biting at the bit to tear into his motor and I was happy to let them do it!  I started to work almost immediatly, there were many waiting to get signed up for window rubbers and felts .  After that, much of the rally was a blurr for me, one coach after another, removing windows, rebedding them and installing new lock rubbers.  Replacing front window felts , my thumbs were in pain and I was in denial that this was destroying them.  Paul McCreary brought me Aleve each morning to mask the pain.  The day we left Alachua my left heal started tightening up so all during the rally I walked around like Festus on Gun Smoke-- "Comin Mr. Dilon"!  Oh well, we deal with whatever we have! 

The dinners were real events , piles of people all talking GMC having a great time together-- boy was that a good place to be.  So many familiar faces   We had a huge group from our Sunshine Statesmen club, something like 30.  Being this years club prez it really made me feel proud of our involvement.  Man, just how could this be better!   Dave Perry, our past Prez was there of course as was Ralph (our fire guy)  hovering around the ice cream-- hey, I was there too, how do you think I got this pic!   

They did a great job on the food, I heard no complaints but really, there was no place for whining, everyone was doing their best so what else could you expect.  Really, the GMCMI community is a good thing to belong to, gone are the old days of politics and red tape.  Gone is the backbiting, clicks and brown nosing and man was that a refreshing group to be in.  If you have stayed away from GMCMI because of the past issues, don't hold yourself away, get on in there and get involved.  It's not expensive for what you get, JR, Ray and the rest of the board in charge are doing a super job and just like the Sunshine Statesmen club here in Florida, these groups need your support. 

 Was a great night for all.    Each evening the SS club tent was open for business.  Ed went down and picked up a fire pit, Pete Pappas tended the fire and all who came had a fantastic time just sitting around letting the breeze blow through-- if you know what I mean!  

On Monday morning first thing Jim K. & I did a talk on the 4 air bag (Quad bag) system.  We had a great crowd, they made me feel right at home and I felt I made contact with everyone there    

Immediately after that the group followed us over to Larry where Jim K. & I installed one side of a Q Bag system on the spot.  I was "diver down" so after properly supporting the coach on stands, off went the old air bags and down I went     We had a good crowd , being the talk of the rally with Firestone discontinuing our original air bags many were interested in what would soon be their best choice to keep the GMC on the road. and I was happy to have a chance to really show what the system was all about.     

          During the seminar just before, I had given the account of how the system saved us on the convoy in, it was the perfect reason why the system was designed-- it really hit home! 

There were many other seminars both on mechanical as well as other topics.  I was caught up in the mechanical issues, if any other members have pics please get them to me for posting.

Here are a few pics of members and their coaches who attended:

Thursday came and with it came the rain.  The weather had been picture perfect to this point so I guess we can't blame Mother Nature for bringing in some wet stuff.  At that, folks packed up and many fearing they would melt bugged out.  Hey, we had our fun and remember, our coach does not do well in soft ground.   

I bugged out Wednesday night and missed this but maybe if I would have stayed I may not have lost my motor on the drive home-- naaaa, it was probably going to go no matter what.  You can't get mad at an original 35 year old motor developing problems-- the 70,000 miles on the speedometer means less when the motor is that old.  Please remember this fact and maintain your coach accordingly.

I would like to thank all who attended the GMCMI convention as a Sunshine Statesmen Member, we had a very strong showing.  Watch for this month's newsletter for particulars on who was there.  The pre-rally in Alachua was also a great success as was the convoy run to Dothan.  I'm sure Bill was please to have us all tag along and help him in his time of need.  We all should be proud of our club and the help we furnished both in attendance and in volunteer help at the rally.  I hope this will be the beginning of a great club relationship.

Here are some links to the TV coverage and Vendor coverage on Youtube.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Fv-I_QMkZk 

So another rally is in the bag, 2 more left before the end of our season.  Next month's drag race rally in Bothlo should be a good one and the end of the season rally in Jacksonville with Dan & Cat Meyer is always great.  Thanks again for all the support, I was one president who was very proud of his club, thank you.