TheDoverGuppy

Just got The Guppy back from the crew that drove it home from Burning Man in Nevada. Was quite the trip. Somehow, when I bought the thing, I didn't notice that two bolts were missing on the exhaust manifold. This showed itself about 150 miles into the journey, but luckily I was able to stop in Pittsburgh where my brother-in-law, who builds cars, was able to put studs into the place of the bolts and crank them down. 10 miles out of Iowa City, the water pump went out, but amazingly, from stopping on Highway 80, to getting towed, to getting a new water pump, to being back on the highway only took 3 hours. Crazy. There were tons of Toyotas at Burning Man. 99% of them were Dolphins. I didn't see another Coachman, but I did see this one, that I have no idea what it is. Had to be from the 70's. There was a guy sleeping in it, that wasn't the owner, and couldn't tell me a thing about it. (Welcome to Burning Man) Says "Sand Pac" on the front of it. 4 people took it back to the East Coast for me, with all their gear, and they made it without a hitch. Anyone on here have one of these old "Sand Pac's"? Also attaching a photo of ours that was sent from the trip back.

Hi all Have to share my adventures driving our 1985 Coachman ("The Guppy") cross country, from Delaware to Reno, Nevada. The 22R engine is a BEAST and we made the trip with just one mishap... a blown water pump in Iowa City.... total down time, an amazing 3 hours. Saw just one other Toyota along the route, going West on IH-80.... They saw me and waved. There's photos, and a full trip report on our blog: http://thedoverguppy.com (We're also on Facebook: Look for "The Dover Guppy") I made the trip alone... my wife and 2-year-old toddler are flying out to San Francisco, renting an SUV and meeting me in the desert at Burning Man, but we'll be living in The Guppy in the desert for a week. Can't take all the time off work, so there's a crew driving it home for me after Burning Man. http://www.burningman.com/

wow, that sucks. When we insured ours, the difference in price for full coverage vs. liability was pretty cheap, and I asked what the value would be of it, and I was told $8500 For what it's worth.

Greetings After a crazy memorial day weekend, The Guppy (1985 Coachman) is in serious maintenance mode. (Watch for more posts) I've decided that the on-board generator (a Generac DMC-45) is just too loud, and too much trouble to maintain, so I'm removing it in favor of an external. My question is how does the deep cycle battery charge when there's no generator? It doesn't seem to be connected to the truck battery, and I'm not sure it charges on shore power. Can anyone help me out with this. Generator- We are in Dover, DE and I'm looking to unload it. It is operational (most of the time) and when it's not, it's at the point where there's a pretty easy fix for someone who knows what they are doing. These days, it's the fuel pump that's been a bit fickle. If anyone is close and wants to talk about buying it, let me know. Personally I think it's in too good of condition to think of for parts, but if you have another on, between the two, with some knowledge, I think you'd be set.

I just picked up a honeywell 12v thermostat, but now am completely confused about where to put the two wires, as there's places for 6 (two come jumped) UGh. Also, what had happened before was that when I was messing with it, one wire came loose and was blowing a fuse. Wouldn't this happen if I short the wires? As it is, my heater isn't working right anyway (something up with the gas, but I'll deal with it later this summer) so if shorting the wires works, can I just leave them like this. The A/C turns on manually anyway... it's just that it blows cool air unless the compressor comes on. (and the compressor is coming on periodically so I know it works.) Thanks for the help. This should be simple, but I'm horrible at this kind of stuff. http://thedoverguppy.com

That's the issue... the compressor won't stay on. It comes on for a bit and blows cold air, but it doesn't nearly get as cool as it used to because the compressor shuts off. When I screw around with the thermostat, it comes on again. I already messed with it enough to cause one of the two wires to come loose, which caused the fuse that controls the inside lights to blow. Crazy old RV!

I have an 85 Coachman. This year, I'm noticing that the coach A/C is blowing cold air but not cold enough. Doing some reading on the internet, I understand that I can replace this with a battery operated 12v thermostat, but that the wiring is tricky. Has anyone done this, and if so, can they provide some clarity on the wiring? Is there a way to trick the existing thermostat into getting the A/C to blow cold air in the short term. Planning to take it out over the Memorial Day Weekend. Thank you

Greetings I have a 1985 Coachman. Need an exterior light lens, or the whole fixture, that is by the coach entry door. Does anyone have a suggestion on where I can get one? Thanks

You know what, I actually just bought the 16" ones and will cut them and put the caps on, like Bob suggested (Thanks). I don't know what I was (or wasn't) thinking!

Greetings We have an 85 Coachman. Lots of fun, and looking forward to driving it from Dover, DE to Burning Man outside Reno in late August. Am in the process of re-remodeling the interior, (as well as a HUGE overhaul of the truck itself)\ My Question: Does anyone know where I can find the 14" folding/locking legs that you use when you convert the bench seat into a bed (Or does anyone have any left over from a renovation they'd like to sell?) I took out the captain's chairs and built an identical bench to the one on the driver's side, but can't locate any legs for when we convert it to a bed. I know I can just make some out of wood and hinges, but I'd love to find some that lock like the other side. Much google searching only turns up 16" legs. Thanks in advance. (Photo of the progress. Had to build up the floor where the captain's chairs were mounted to match the height of the other side. Going to upholster both benches in white naugahyde (with buttons!). Moved the table mount from between the captain's chairs, to the center of the floor, and am making a longer table. Will make for much more seating inside for hanging out.

So I posted before about my generator cutting out, and we've eliminated everything except a relay that we can't seem to find. Unfortunately, this part isn't available, though I think we can rewire the thing to work with an existing relay. But... in the meantime, I bought an external, and two things started to happen. One is that the deep cycle battery died, and running the engine won't charge it. It does charge on shore power, but only slightly and dies within an hour. The second issue is that when it's hooked up to shore power, there's a metallic click around the heater that happens every 45 seconds or so. So, any ideas on the new issues? And where's a good source for a operating used generator that will fit in that hole? (any idea what model would work) I really want an onboard generator. Don't want to hassle with gas cans, etc. Thanks!

actually tried to insulate the relay switch... but it didn't work. Changed out the plug, new fuel filter, changed the ignition coil, and some other kind of coil thing that I got aftermarket for $60 online. Still won't work, so I'm declaring it dead. I'll start a new thread, but where can I buy a used generator that will work for this beast? Thanks for the help.

Actually, I have some local "whiz" guy looking at it. He's taken it apart, checked the compression, changed the oil (so I know the level is good) and all that stuff. He thinks that when the engine gets hot, it's making the relay fail. My only idea is to totally rig it by literally wrapping insulation around it and seeing how that goes. Only other thing.... just before this happened, I changed the spark plug and air filter, but I would think that it wouldn't start at all if that were an issue. I know the plug is correct and gapped right. Any other ideas?

We have a 1985 Coachmen. It has a Dometic DMC-45 generator in it. It was running fine, then one day it started to stall once it ran for a few minutes. Once it cools down, it will start right up again. Have replaced the coil, checked carb, plugs, etc, etc. The only other culprit I can see is potentially the relay, which I can't find anywhere. Does anyone have suggestions? Thanks.

Through some searching, and a link that was sent to me on this awesome forum, I contacted someone who sent me a PDF of the Dometic DMC-45 manual. If anyone has one in their rig and would like me to send them the PDF, please email me. Thanks for the help!