I arrived at the Belmont plant at 7:00 am and the coach had already been moved to the "final finish" area where the workers were installing the lights and the retractable steps. Next, they installed the "slide toppers" and then the awnings over each window.
At the same time, the rear ladder was attached and the grate over the side radiator installed. By 9:45 all the outside attachments had been installed and the Bus was ready for weighing and then transport to Red Bay for further "final finishing." I went with the driver for the weighing and to my surprise, the rear axle came in at 19,700 pounds - with the tanks empty; and we still haven't added all our "stuff." True, the Powerglide chassis has a 22,000 pound rear axle rating, but the Federal highway limit per axle is 20,000 pounds - I guess we better stay out of Ohio where they have in-motion weighing on the major highways!
When the coach headed to Red Bay, I headed to Belmont to get a battery installed in my watch. Now I know what time it is! By 10:30, I was in Red Bay and found the coach already in one of the "final finish" bays. Workers were all over the coach. They were doing the final install of the outside TV and replacing the 37" inside TV due to a scratched screen. They ran all the systems to make sure they all worked and found a leak in the passenger side rear jack. that turned out to be a loose fitting. Otherwise all systems were "go".
I found the lead person and discussed a couple of items I wanted corrected. The response was virtually immediate. At 11:30 I picked up Suz and we went to lunch at Jack's, her favorite hamburger joint. At 12, we both went to the coach to do a full inspection. We started in the bedroom and examined everything we could see. There was virtually nothing to correct that we could find.
We then sat with the lead person again and reviewed our list (three items) and was told when each would be corrected. Both Suz and I are amazed at what a wonderful job the Tiffin folks have done in building our coach, and we can't say enough about how thorough and responsive they have been. In our view, you can't go wrong with a Tiffin!
From the "final finish" bay, the coach will go to the tile shop where any flaws in the floor tile will be corrected. We didn't see any, but we were told that the inspector would likely find at least one or two flaws. Following the tile work, the coach will go back to Belmont for a complete review of the paint and correction of any flaws. As we were leaving we noticed a piece of blue tape with "run" on it. I had a hard time seeing the run, but it was there and it will be removed. We are thrilled with the Bus as it is, and can't wait to get our hands on it at the Rivers RV dealership in Jacksonville.
I should note that during our stay we have eaten out at the Mexican restaurant, the Chinese restaurant (twice), the Backstreet Barbecue (great ribs - no ambiance), Gill's Grill (not our favorite), the Belmont Cafe (good for lunch), Jack's drive-in (Suz loves their burgers and their chicken burger is good too), the Rattlesnake Saloon (unique and inexpensive, but a bit of a drive), Swamp John's (great catfish, no ambiance), Subway (one of our favorites for lunch), Sonic drive-in (good hot dogs) and McDonald's (a steady choice for lunch). This list about covers all the options in Red Bay/Belmont.
Tomorrow will be our last day in Red Bay and we will follow the Bus as far as we can. Saturday morning we head back to Palm City and await the arrival of the coach in Jacksonville! Until then, Cheers! John, Suz and Dixie the Wonderdog
Again, photos on our Picasa web album.
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