Letter From the President

Transcription

1 September, 2012 Volume 12, Issue 3 Letter From the President LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT THE CIRCLE OF LIFE For FMC owners the circle of life, has many meanings. The rolling, rolling circle is the 17, 19.5 and 22.5 rim and tire size quandary faced by owners over time. The bigger circle is the transferring of coaches over time to new owners with new and different ideas, needs and travel plans. There are always new owners contacting the club looking for as much information on their new prize as possible. Some have always wanted an FMC, while others just happened upon one and have to have it. We all have some form of the aha! moment when we fell in love with our coach. Since you are reading this newsletter you have had that aha moment and are enjoying, or getting ready to enjoy your prized FMC. Getting to a rally is a great way to meet new friends and see how the other side did the personalizing of their coach. The best advice I have is to use your coach as much as you can while you are in its circle. Take good care of it and hope it takes good care of you. Therein lays another circle. The give and take circle where you give to the coach and it gives back. Since we are an international club it is hard to get all the members together in one place, this means it is important to hold rallies across the country. If you have a good spot for a rally, you should mention it on the club website and see if we can put something together. Your FMC always looks better on the road than parked at your house. Bill Sitton, #902 President, FMC Owners Club Inside this issue: New Pantry 2 Owning an FMC 3 Natchez Trace 5 West Coast Rally 6 Mario to Alaska 7 1

2 New Pantry in A-model FMC One of the joys of owning a FMC -- at least for the Millers -- is fixing it up, fiddling with it, and changing things. No vehicle is perfect and we are happy to do many a DIY project to get ours closer. Our latest project is a great one. We re fixing a comfort issue and adding much needed storage. #708 is an A model interior with the large dining table. The seat nearest the door was never very comfortable. The seat back slipped back at a funny angle and fell forward. Additionally, it was a pretty deep seat and not super comfortable for kids and shorter adults (like my wife, Liza!). We decided to solve that problem by adding a pantry to the back of the seat. As you walk in the door, there are already two doors that go to the outside storage and the water tank. We added another set just above those. We got the doors from RVS along with the right kind of hinges. We cut the holes and added a back to the cabinet -- that s also a new back for the seat. We added two shelves -- melamine on one side for easy cleaning. We matched the paint as best we could and painted the raw wood. It looks like it s been there forever. The last job was to take the bottom cushion for the seat and shorten the foam. We cut about 4 of foam off and pinned the fabric back. Next year we are planning to re-upholster the dinette seats anyway, so pins will work great until then. It s the best of projects. It looks like it s always been there and yet added great functionality. The seat is more comfortable and we ve got a place for cans, boxed food, and cleaning supplies. --- Greg Miller, #708 2

3 Rationalization for Owning an FMC Recently, I was asked why Sandy and I have kept our FMC. This is not the first time we have been asked that question! It is, however, the first time that I have really felt compelled to think about it and come up with a reason that I could commit to in writing. The rhetorical answer has been that we just want to and it is a good back-up for another coach (Some Other Brand) that we live in for 5 to 6 months each year. That one is a 1992 model which, in its day, was considered to be a nice home on wheels and to us, after the just completed 12 th year, it still is. Perhaps, the salient question might be, why would anyone want to keep a 39 year old camper? Ours, #0400, is a 1974 model manufactured in Just to clarify, I won t refer to it again as a camper. We ll leave that, respectfully, to the truckers. Campers, in my opinion, are small cabin like structures built on a bread truck chassis. FMCs definitely are not that! Formally, FMCs are referred to as coaches, or motorcoaches. Only owners and previous owners are permitted to refer to them in pejorative terms. As you can imagine, we have pet names for our coaches ranging from one extreme to another---some downright inflammatory and occasionally something almost endearing. In any case, FMC owners sitting around the campfire talk more about the unique, truly different design and execution for this vehicle. Those people, the campfire and the conversation are, by the way, a huge part of why we continue to own our FMC. Similar design and manufacturing efforts have been made by GMC and in 02 (?) by Newmar s effort called the Newaire---a 29 ft. diesel pusher with similar ground-up design and construction. Newmar discovered, as did FMC, that it was far too costly to produce and market a unique design. We bought #400 in 1991, worked on it for 6 months and drove it over 90,000 miles during the next 9 summers. We must have removed 80 percent of the mechanical components for inspection, service and in some cases replacement. It now has just under 175,000 miles showing on the odometer. It has let us down only once on the road. The secret, by the way, to dependability is a good and comprehensive inspection and maintenance program! In 1993, a cracked tooth on the distributor drive gear ate the cam gear that drives it. Camshaft replacement on the road is not for the faint of heart. We did it----a story for another time. Now, why do we keep the FMC----why do we even want to? The reasons can fit into a number of categories and are as numerous as the people that own and have owned them. People from diverse backgrounds such as TV personalities, famous actors, race car drivers, doctors, lawyers, airline pilots, engineers, NASA, traveling salesmen, architects, humble (sometimes) mechanics like myself-----the list goes on and on. The infatuation usually starts with the pleasing and unique appearance and continues to build as one pursues the history. (Read more at the FMC Owners Club website and the Yahoo FMC site.) 3

4 We can say with little fear of contradiction that this vehicle is like no other in the motorhome industry. We have been from British Columbia to Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia in Canada and to 44 States in the United States. We have universally been asked to share information about the FMC. Thumbs up and smiling faces are the rule of the road. FMC #400 The FMC inspires most owners to improve the 40 year old concept with many kinds of mechanical and modernization changes. Some like me have chosen to retain the original appearance both inside and out. That said, however, there are some mechanical changes to #400 that don t show. The changes to FMCs reflect our own ideas ranging from modest refinement to extreme restoration and conversion. After all, that is what owning an FMC is all about. Harry Day, #400 4

5 A Drive through History We like to visit historic sites and are currently in the planning stages for a spring trip or rolling rally on the Natchez Trace Parkway, basically from Natchez MS to Nashville TN. The Natchez Trace Parkway is a 444-mile drive through exceptional scenery and 10,000 years of North American history. Used by American Indians, "Kaintucks," settlers, and future presidents, the Old Trace played an important role in American history. Today, visitors can enjoy not only a scenic drive but also hiking, biking, horseback riding, and camping. It should be much easier going than the Blue Ridge Parkway rally last year. If you are interested, please let me know. --- Denny Shewmake, Eastern VP, denshew@gmail.com 5

6 West Coast Fall Rally - Nov 10-12, 2012 Yes, Yes, Yes!!!! We are going to have a Fall Rally out here in the West. And since we are in the West, it is going to be held in '49er Gold Rush country where the West is still alive! Specifically, it will be at the Far Horizons 49er Village RV Resort in Plymouth, CA. It is a very nice campground at reasonable rates with good facilities. More information will be coming later, so for now block out those days on your calendar. That is Nov 10-12, 2012 and the time to get here as well. You can come early and stay late if you like. You are welcome with or without your coach. There are rental cabins on site and motels in the area if your coach is being reworked like mine is. There is a lot to do in the area as this is the old Gold Rush area of California with many small towns and interesting things to see and do. Here is the link to the RV park website: Doesn't that look interesting! But that isn't all! It looks like we will have a guest speaker at the rally that really has a unique perspective of our FMC coaches. It seems that he built the original jigs for the coaches down at the FMC facility in Riverside, CA including the prototype, twin engined, 4 wheel drive coach! I think you will enjoy getting a first person account of some of the beginings of our coaches. You can only hear it by being there! I will see you there. Registration information will be coming in the near future so start airing the tires, oiling the hinges and putting fuel in the tank so that you will be ready, willing and able to come join a number of other FMC coach owners having an educational and fun time. See you there! For further information, contact either Greg Miller at gregmiller@pobox.com or Stephen Heinrichs at Stephen@Heinrichs.com 6

7 Mario s Trip to Alaska Mario is a wonderful FMC that resides in Columbus, OH. Mario recently took his people, Jack and Brenda Reall, all the way to Alaska and back. The back part is important as there were a few stumbles along the way. With permission, below are some excerpts from Jack s reports during the trip. The complete trip reports can be read at the Yahoo group: FMCMotorCoach. [Editor s note: I think the last statement is the most important one.] Well, the transmission was toast. The culprit...first shop put the cooler lines on backwards. There is a check valve at the external fluid filter connection, so fluid was not making it past the filter to the cooler. We left Billings on Friday at 230 pm after picking up the motorhome and headed Northwest to Great Falls, MT. We found a nice campground in Great Falls and shopped and spent the evening putting the RV back together. We left Sunday and intended on making it only to Grand Prairie, AB, but we pushed a little and made it to Dawson Creek, BC. This is the start of the Alaskan Highway. Didn't see much wildlife on the trip, but the scenery is pretty amazing. I recommend a stop at Fort McLeod. It has been the only town so far to make me think of the last frontier. From FSJ to Fort Nelson, the roadside is beautiful. You travel from forests to mountains and back down to rivers. It was impressive. We arrived at Fort Nelson around 1:30pm and decided to get out and walk around a bit. The town was nothing special, so we decided to do some grocery shopping and head down the road a little more. The travel from Fort Nelson north is nothing less than spectacular. We traveled some of the most beautiful landscape I have ever seen. We had to stop several times and take pictures. We also had to stop for several small moose in the road, some stone sheep and a couple of other deer. We left Toad River campground this morning and headed north on the Alaska Highway. We stopped at Liard Hot Springs. It was awesome, well worth the $5 Cdn each to participate. Water was about 110 degrees and crystal clear. We stopped in the morning, so it was not busy at all. The campground there looked nice as well. 7

8 We saw several herds of Buffalo today along the highway, several lone moose and lots of great scenery. Our observations have been that the established towns are nothing more than service centers for the area and have no charm or appeal. We have found the campgrounds in between to be much better and cheaper. We stopped after the checkpoint and picked up someone who had a flat tire on their car with no spare. We took him in the last 9 miles to Chicken, AK, where he got it fixed and a ride back to his car. Chicken has 3 businesses, all three have food, 2 are RV campgrounds and 2 have beer. We ate here and shopped at all three gift shops for Made in Alaska merchandise. The town has only 21 residents, mail only comes in twice a week and they have no outside power, water or sewer. They generate their own electricity at each business. The RV parks were nicer than most we have seen with no service issues. A very neat place and worth the trip. We stopped outside of Delta Junction and bought some buffalo and reindeer sausage at the Delta Meat store. Pretty cool little place. It began to sprinkle on us on the trip, but just enough to wet the windshield. Again the views were amazing. We had to make a quick stop at one point to avoid a rather large moose in our lane. There are plenty of state park campgrounds for $10 a night with no services, but they have dump stations and potable water fills. We found the Byers Lake campground to be impressive. The Milepost comments said it is frequented by bears and we found evidence of that during a short walk to a local veteran s memorial wayside. Made it down to Homer today. Went out on the Spit for lunch. Had some great Fish and Chips at the Boardwalk Fish and Chips. The shop called and said the alternator would not be ready till Monday. On the way north we took side trips to Nikolaevsk...a little Russian village with a cafe with Nina. She is a Russian born women who runs a cafe and RV park with a gift shop. She is a hoot and a hard sell. After that we took the Kalifornsky Beach road to Kenai. We stopped and took a little walk around the old town. Then to Soldotna. We had lunch at Buckets sports bar. Pretty good food. We intended on going to the Moose is Loose bakery, but it is closed on Sunday and Monday. IF you go, get the Roadkill, it is highly recommended. We stopped and got Fuel again and found a state park campground just east of Tok. No services, but a beautiful site on a river. We have found that the longer we go on our journey, the more likely we are to boondock or stay with no services. We are living entirely off the FMC, showers, bathrooms and cooking. We have really only had to stay somewhere to get laundry done or when cheaper facilities were not available. We can make it about 3 days without refilling our Fresh Water tank and a little longer on the Septic tanks. We are trying to dump and refill every other day, just to be safe. 8

9 We drove Mario 12,478 miles over the 6 weeks, had 14 down days due to repairs. In spite of the issues, we had a great trip and I would not have traded it for anything. My wife said it best. We spent 6 weeks together, had all kinds of frustrating and stressful issues, we made the best of it and we are still speaking to each other! :) And we got to see some of the most beautiful sights in the world. We are darn lucky! Mario, # The kids enjoyed being at the 2012 Mega Rally in Colorado Springs! 9

10 Newsletter Editor 245 Archer Place Dixon, CA FMC Owners Club Our objectives are to develop camaraderie, pride in owning a unique and wonderful coach, sharing knowledge in an open exchange of technical information on maintaining, upgrading parts and service. We need to be passionate about owning, driving and working on our FMC Motor Coach. A high priority is to keep fun in FMC Motor Coach ownership. We are a fun-loving, family-oriented group and will produce Special and Interest promote events Story that Headline will include the entire family. You can also research articles or find filler articles by accessing the World Wide Web. You can write about a variety of topics but try to keep your articles short. Much of the content you put in your newsletter can also be used for your Web site. Microsoft Word offers a simple way to convert your newsletter to a Web publication. So, when you re finished writing your newsletter, convert it to a Web site and post it. A great way to add useful content to this newsletter is to develop and write your own articles, or include a calendar of upcoming events or a special offer that promotes a new product. This document is the property of the FMC Owners Club. The reproduction of this document, without written permission, is prohibited.