[BusNit]

I thought of just helping Scott out on a part time basis since he is on his way to overload and burnout. The last video I watched had many buses scattered all over his property all waiting for some kind of work to be done. Much of this work is labor intensive than it is technical. I hope he stays with it. Perhaps grow his business with hired help.

[BusNit]

I should be asking questions like this: Since I am going to finalize the deal this Saturday once I give it a better look over and test drive is there anything I need to be specifically looking at? I have read about rivets popping but I believe that is on coaches with slides? This one has a cracked melamine return cabinet on the side of the fridge. Could that be from the refrigerator's weight being tossed about? Anything about the suspension aside from airbags need a good looking at? Airbags look very decent and appear to have been replaced in the last 7 years based on the color of the anodized coating of their mounting plates. Common weaknesses?

Thank you all!

[BusNit]

So the last 3 digits are 312

[Fulltiming]

Thank you Simon.

[Guy]

Good luck Simon. You will find lots of great advice here from the Gurus. After 4 years of ful time rv travel in a "Classsic" 1984 Newell, we still have no squeeks, or rattles, and only one leak the was easily solved by replacing a rear clearance light gasket. Repowering an rv is a time and money consuming project. Labor charges at Newell and other shops make that not a practical idea. 2 or 3 men on a project at 125 dollars or more per hour each can easily ring up several grand in labor charges per day. 

 We have an 8V92 that pulls our 26 ft enclosed trailer and  produces more power than I have courage. Enjoy your adventure.

[MrE]

Simon, definitely take the advice and get something that will monitor the engine functions. Mine is an 86, so it didn't have DDEC to monitor and overheated. The engine was frozen up solid so I decided to repower instead of rebuild. I have made a lot of costly decisions in the meantime, and I still don't have my coach back. In spite of all the hurdles, i still think I made the correct overall decision.

[BusNit]

So would the bluefire system be an easier method seeing it is bluetooth or just go and hardwire something in? I assume the DDEC is in the engine area and I would need to run a cable up front? We will be test driving the coach tomorrow and if it goes well, will finalize the deal
By the way, you guys are really awesome. Already a nice bunch and a great feeling about this community.

[MrE]

BlueFire is your least expensive option, and from everything I've read, totally adequate. You already have a diagnostic port in the drivers area, but it's probably a 12 pin DDEC port, the BlueFire requires a 9 pin J1939 diagnostic port. You can either get an adapter, or buy a J1939 diagnostic port and wire it in yourself. There are only 4 wires necessary, CAN high, CAN low, and 12v positive and a negative. PM me with your email address if you want the options broken down.

[Fulltiming]

VMSpc uses the existing under dash diagnostic port to access the DDEC also.

[BusNit]

So we went back to take the rig for a test drive. No noticeable drivetrain issues. Steering is off center and there is a slight loose knocking sound somewhere on the front end when going over small bumps. I checked under and visually all looked ok. The previous owner installed new air bags on all but the tag axle. They also replaced the ecu last year. Total cost was 15k. Generator has 2412 hours and runs really nice. They did some repairs to it as well for another $1500 in 2020.
Owner spent $500 on having the gold accents reglued to the ceiling amongst some other minor repairs.

Engine will need some new fuel lines as they are original and hardened. Waiting for an issue to happen. The radiator does have some oily caked on debris on maybe 1/6th of it. I could swear I smell coolant but there are no leaks. From the previous oil change receipts, they did use the correct Delo 100 40wt oil.

That’s about all I could do on my own inspection. My local Motorhome inspector was unavailable and will be unavailable for the foreseeable future as he is downright busy at his shop.

I still agreed to buy it. Best price is 50k. Transaction won’t be finalized until Wednesday this week.
What do you guys think?

Some cabinets are delaminating as expected after about 30 years. All electrics seem to work as do the basement AC’s.