Camping at the Cabin in October

It has been a while since I took the Travco out camping... April at the cabin and June at Devil's Den. I took a different route this time, taking Hwy 16 East to Hwy 21 South. I realized a savings of 20 miles taking that route and also because I was driving 45 - 55MPH on the Hwy vs. 65MPH on the interstate, I was able to get 7 MPG over the 180 miles round trip (previously I got 6 MPG on the trip to New Orleans).

I planned on leaving at 5pm on Friday, but was not ready until 6pm. With the engine fired-up and ready to go, I turned on the headlights and NOTHING! Troubleshooted it down to the connector at the dimmer switch not conducting power through. Since I would have to cut-off the old connector, I just cut and stripped the wires for low beam headlights, twisted and taped them together for the trip. OK, so now it is almost 7pm. Started to Fayetteville and fueled-up at Wally world. This was an unfamiliar road the last half of the trip, it was dark and I had no way to change to high-beams to see better.

I arrived at the cabin about 9:15pm and scouted-out the driveway for its condition. Not sure what caused it, but there were many trees down across the drive. So, I decided to park at the gas well for the night and tackle the trees in the morning, before the rest of the crew got there. It was a little cold that night, so I fired-up the furnace (original) and the burner worked fine, but the fan did not come on. I tracked it down to the temperature "disc" inside the furnace that tells the fan when to come on. So, I shut it off. To fix the problem in the future I am going to use a time delay relay, like on newer furnaces, to delay the fan on and fan off and tie it into the coil for the gas valve, so the fan comes on when the burner comes on. Ideally, with money, I would replace the furnace with something modern with forced combustion, as it is more efficient.

The gas well guy showed-up about 7:30am, I bet he was thinking WTF is that? Trey arrived around 8am, before I had all the drive clear, Durry arrived about 9am?

We rode our 4-wheelers and motorbike about 56 miles from lunch time to about 4. We fjord-ed the Mulberry river at Low Gap Springs road (D almost made it across w/o getting his boots wet!), stopped at the Oark Cafe, then found a new route back across the Mulberry with a bridge. On the way back we found a few waterfalls, this trip included many, many puddles for sure! Later that evening I checked the spring near the cabin, it was flowing very freely and was not clear, it was a little cloudy.

We had an OK fire that night, the wood was a little wet from all the rain we've had. (it still managed to melt the soles of my shoes...I threw them out today.) I gave Durry the movie pick and he went for SLINGBLADE as he had never seen it! Very funny, even after so many times. I wish I had Zombieland to show that night! BTW, the Travco works fairly well as a roof platform to get a better cellphone signal.

The drive back on Sunday was nice, I could actually see the fall colors by the road in the daylight!
I stopped at WM and got replacement fluids for the Travco and filled-up the gas tank to determine the fuel un-economy.

Until next time!

Luggage Rack and Steps pictures

Here are some pictures of the luggage rack while removed from the Travco, that will be reinstalled after I get all the primer sanded off (if that ever happens).





The side rails are made of aluminum, the middle ribs are made of stainless steel c-channel and the end rods are made of chromed steel. It was attached with 8 screws with a synthetic rubber gasket between it and the roof. Each rib has a rubber strip on the bottom to prevent damage to the roof. The side rails are are 87.5" long and 51.5" wide and about 4" tall (outside dims.). Usable space is 6' long by 47.25" wide (inside dims). I removed it when I got it from the PO as only 3 screws held it down, the others had no grip and were allowing water to enter.

The pictures that follow are of the folding steps that go to the roof. There are 5 steps with a handle at the top right similar if not the same as the ones beneath the windshields.







The fuel pressure regulator has arrived, I need to install it and a higher flow fuel pump to handle heavy throttle positions for more than about 5 seconds. Pics of that after install. I will need to remove the fuel filter on top of the motor, as it boils-off all the fuel in it on shut-down of the engine and is not needed now that there is a big filter before the electric fuel pump.

Two Different Heads

The morning I was to leave for my last camping trip, a discovery was made as he spark plugs were being changed. The spark plugs on the right side of the 440 engine are different than the left. WHAT? Well, so I must have a least one head that did not come with the motor. The right side has plugs with a compression washer, the left has a beveled edge, much like a lug nut. So, the left side did not receive new plugs. This is not horrible news, just an inconvenience. I wonder what year they changed from one to the other?

Camping trip to Devil's Den and fuel pressure findings.

Last Sunday Ben and I went to Devil's Den in the Travco to visit Gigi and Grandpa Shertzer. This was Ben's first overnight camping trip, now 2 years and 10 months old. Ben had a wonderful time and since Mommy was not there to tell Dad to put him to bed, we stayed-up about 90 minutes past his bedtime to see the fireflies and nightfall. I used the generator to run the air conditioning on the way there and back. That night was the first time I used the A/C overnight while camping, normally I dry camp out in the boondocks without any plug-ins. The RV slot was not all in the shade, so for Ben to take a nap, I put a tarp over the back window to try to block more of the light and heat. I think I need to make a custom foil on foam insert for the windows to block light and heat. I suppose I could use the foil bubble wrap stuff, but I like the idea of a firm insert for the back window. I will try both methods and see which I prefer.

I had installed a fuel pressure gauge as I was still having problems sometimes with it running well. What I found was that on heavy acceleration after a few seconds the fuel pressure would start to drop, and at about 4psi, the engine would start to fumble. So, obviously I need a pump with better flow, but to do so I will definitely need a fuel pressure regulator. I have read that the fuel pressure should be between 5-7psi. VoyageVixen, I want to know how the 6-pack works-out when you get it installed. I need help finding a gas cap, as the PO lost the cap for me. I am using a "test-plug, but it doesn't seem to fit tight anymore. Any suggestions? It has a pipe thread, but I think it is less than 2", but more than 1.5"?

Poor Engine Performance

Ok, so I have an electric fuel pump...now what. Well it builds too much pressure and fuel begins to leak out of the carb. I added an electronic fuel pressure gauge to be able to watch what the pressure was doing, still waiting for the pressure regulator to come in. After reading a post to the Travco digest, I was directed to a link of a site with info on the Carter Thermoquad carb. Good timing as I wanted to see what the correct port for the vacuum advance was. Pretty sure I need to replace the spark plugs, wires and reset the timing. I would like to go faster than 10 MPH up certain hills on the pig trail.

Ditching Over-Priced Cox Cable! Saving $600+/year

Warning: Not a Travco related post.
We have dropped our cable as a cost-saving measure, and WOW, we should have done this long ago. I never had cable for myself, but Amanda had it when we got married, so we kept it. $50+ a month, $600+ dollars a year, for at least 3 years! Digital over-the-air TV is incredible! We still have cable internet of course, and with an antenna, we have ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CW and when I get a bigger antenna and put up the pole and rotor I already have, we should be able to get more.

So save some money and DITCH CABLE! (use the money saved to buy a new flat-screen with digital tuner for your Travco!)

Fuel System Fixes

As the Memorial Day Weekend approaches, I decided that today would be a good day to check and make sure the engine started, as last time I tried to start the 440 for Benjamin, we had no luck. So trying again today, it would try to start with spray start, but not stay running. When triggering the accelerator pump on the carb, I would not see any fuel squirting in. So I checked the filter (I have a big one that is really for a fuel injection set-up) and it had no restrictions. So, with the filter disconnected, I cranked the engine, and still no fuel. The generator would start and run, and the tank has only one pickup line (I could see the fuel flowing in the filter when the generator was running) so I knew that there was enough fuel in the tank and at least the pick-up was not plugged. Calling around for a fuel pump, there were none to be had locally, but I could have one in the morning. Why don't they keep parts in stock for a 30+ year old carb? (LOL) Instead, I decided to purchase an in-stock electric in-line fuel pump and pre-filter. I installed them and bypassed the mechanical pump (to be removed when I can get to it). The engine started and ran fine after fuel filled the carb bowls, so I closed the cover and started clean-up.


Note the filter on the right is the PRE-filter to the pump. (left is toward the front)

After a while I started smelling gasoline in the cabin. Upon opening the engine cover, the problem became apparent. There was A LOT of gasoline leaking out of the gasket on the left side of the carb. If I had taken it out on a test trip, chances are it would have caught fire.

Ok, so it is time to rebuild the carb now! I already had the kit, so I removed the carb (lots of built-up pressure remaining in the lines now, hmm, may need a pressure regulator or better yet, a high pressure cut-out for the pump?)....The carb is clean now, just waiting on the two new carb bowl floats on order to arrive on Thursday morning. Let up hope that the new rebuild can handle the pressure, if not, I will have to resort to the measures listed above.