Start Of Our Last Day Before Paint
So day 7 has come and gone. It was a short day for us as we were running a little behind in time. So today was more of a catch up day.
We were supposed to be waiting in the paint queue first thing this morning to head to Belmont, Mississippi (only 6 miles up the road) where the paint factory is. Instead we started off heading to undercoating. which originally was on the schedule for yesterday.
Entering The Undercoating Garage
They first start off on the ground and spray the undercoating all up under the dash. This is a very important step as underneath the dash is all open. So it can get cold.
Then it’s time to go up in the air.
Undercoating Under The Dash
Spraying The Under Side Of The Coach
The team then goes underneath the coach and starts spraying away.
This whole process is not long. Maybe half an hour.
This Is What The Undercoating Looks Like
Entering Mechanics Shop
So after all the undercoating is done, it’s off to the mechanics shop for some alignments and a test drive to see if everything mechanically is working properly.
Aligning Headlights
Aligning Headlights
At the first station they hook up this handy dandy machine and align the headlights.
Remember the days when the mechanics would just shine the lights on the garage doors to align them? Well now they have this interesting looking machine that reads where the headlight is pointing and tells the mechanic what adjustments he needs to made.
When he was done with that part David looked at where the headlights were shining on the garage door and he didn’t think that they looked right. So later on we looked at the paperwork and the notes from the mechanics shop and sure enough, in the headlights section it stated that our drivers side headlight was not adjustable. So when the coach comes back from paint and goes through another inspection they will have to pull that headlight and replace it.
Sometimes technology will only get you so far.
No worries. I’d rather find out now than when we’re driving down the road blinding people with our misaligned headlight.
Alignment Station
Fixing The Alignment thingy To The Wheel
Then it was on to the next garage door station down for an alignment. The mechanic hooks up this thingy (yes, that’s the technical term for it, I’m sure of it) to the wheels and then he climbs underneath the coach to adjust the alignment while another guy is in the driver’s seat turning the wheel and checking the computer. The computer tells him whether it needs to go left or right.
Mechanic Adjusting The Alignment
The Computer For The Alignment
Once the mechanics were certain that they had the alignment right it was time for a test drive.
They asked if we wanted to go for the drive.
Really?
Of course we do!
Quite honestly, this would be the first time that we have ever driven in a Tiffin Motor Home, let alone an Allegro Bus 45LP.
Some people have asked us why we would buy a motor home without driving it first. Well, if you think about it, you only spend about 3% (guess) of the time actually driving the coach. The rest of the time you are parked somewhere enjoying life as you know it. You only drive it from point A to point B. Then it sits again. Not to mention, anything that we get would be a vast improvement over what we have now in our current coach. So comparing the coaches when we were looking around for a new one, we were most interested in floor plan, livability, functionality and the mechanics. How the coach handled was only a small portion of our comparisons. Not to mention, David never wanted to be able to say…Boy did coach X drive nice and have that in his mind.
Test Drive After Alignment
So our impression.
N-I-C-E!
It was smooth, handled the corners without leaning as it has and in motion correcting air ride system in it like buses and the expensive Prevost do. (Same system actually as Prevost.) It was much quieter than what we have now even without any slide seals in it. (Not kidding.)
We can’t wait!!!!
So after passing the test drive, the mechanics were done with it and it was ready to head to the paint shop in Belmont. Finally!
Sitting In The Paint Queue
So there it sits.
In Belmont.
Waiting to start the paint process our 45LP build #96415 sits ready for a make over. (We did not much care for the gray look of the clouds.)
We’re going to have some footage of this process too but I think we’ll save you all from watching a time lapse video of paint drying. But actually, they have this process down so well that they can paint this couch in a day with the help of a small army and some big heat rooms that dry the paint very quickly by more or less baking the coach in a big oven.
Oh…
One last thing…
You know we have to be different and not do the same paint schemes as everyone else out there. No offense, but we like to be different. We don’t want to ever pass ourselves as we are driving down the road or park next to another Bus that looks exactly like ours.
So this is what we came up with.
Introducing “Solar Storm”. A David and Brenda Bott original color mash up. (Click to enlarge)
Our Custom Colors for our 45LP Allegro Bus
(We were not allowed to change the design. Sigh. But we also can understand that they are not a custom paint shop and really can not have delays in the process.)
Note: This is a rendering of the paint, so the colors are not exact. It’s more just to give you an idea of the color connection. We named it Solar Storm as the color changing seems like it would be caused by solar effects…and it is…as three of the paints change color hues based on the sun light.
Something to keep the anticipation up. :)
Here is a quick one minute video from today…
And the photos. Please click Show PicLens for best viewing…
David, in the alignment shop did you ask the alignment mechanic how far “out” (of alignment) the big ones are when they come to him for final alignment? What did he say? That would be interesting.
Hi…Not even sure why I would ask that nor the reason to ask it. It is aligned before the coach is built and then after. From what I had seen on the computer, it was not much it seemed.
Absolutely amazing how quickly this went from a basic framed chassis to an essentially completed motorhome !! I can’t wait to see it “in person” the next time you’re passing through San Antonio !!
Well, my goodness! My husband and I met you at the security office, one cold morning when your coach was just beginning its journey. It sure has come a long way. It probably seems like the time has gone faster for me, than for you! We were going on the tour, but our 37AP was just finished…except for the final touch-ups. As I write this, we are parked just down the line from you, in our new bus! We took delivery 3 days ago and there was a bit of a problem with our in-floor heating – so, we drove back to Red Bay to get that taken care of. But… we are absolutely, totally in love with our coach. It drives like a dream and the interior is lovely. I can’t wait to read more about your coach. Oh… your paint colors are BEAUTIFUL!
The 37AP is one of our favorite floor plans, we just need one on a 45 foot seeing we want the space as we live full time in it. :) We were able to be one of the first to see it when it was a prototype. I told them it would be a winner and it seems it is now one of the top selling new plans. So congrats. Sorry to read about the floors. I would love to know what you find out and would love to see a 37AP again. We should chat. :)
If you catch this comment in time… come on down. We’re on site 32 but will be leaving in the morning. Everything is fixed. They determined the floor problem was a bad sensor. At one point we had 6 technicians/electricians/engineers pondering our floor. Luckily they were able to fit a sensor between tiles, removing the grout, installing the sensor and snaking the wire under the wall.
Hi…It was a pleasure to meet you both last night. Your 37AP coach is as wonderful as we remember seeing one back in July. It is great to see how it looks with someone living in one. Keep safe.
stumbled upon your blog and am finding it interesting watching your rig get built… we have a more modest Allegro Bay FRED but we are totally sold on the Tiffin name brand… happy camping!
What a great experience you are going through! It sure looks like you made the right decision! I sure hope you can get a good video of the Solar Storm reacting to the vagaries of sunlight…would love to see that!!! Oh, and D? Please let me know how many cups of coffee it takes to dry the paint.
Happy packing…and let us know about all the new hidey-holes the kitties find to enjoy in their new home…if and when you find them!
Love and hugs….
Yes, there are some places the kitties can go to have their “private time”. We’ve been crawling around on the floor and just yesterday found another one when the slides were in. I think they won’t know what to do with all the places that they can snuggle and sleep. And maybe we can take back our couch since it’s bigger than what we have now. We can all be on it at once now comfortably. Oh, and I know for a fact that they will love the fireplace and the heated floors! Our tile in our current coach gets very cold in the cold weather and I’m sure their little paws don’t like it.
David My wife have follow you and your wife Bus build fantastic pictures .Would love to know more about the couch .We are in the hunt for a new motor home. The bus we love just a few thing to get changed. Had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Bob Tiffin in Houston 02/07/14 had a discussion about the very same couch. So far they have given us three options not really please but they are work able. would love to know what you done not trying to cause problem love the Bus and Tiffin just trying to solve this minor and I mean minor problem. If you would rather coment off site I sending you my email address (Removed in case of spammers) looking for either way from hearing from you Thanks
All I can say at this time is we did pay for the couch you have seen. It was not given to us to test or anything like that. But it is a couch that I worked with some people on and we would own it regardless if it worked or not or if Tiffin would end up using it later. So, I took the money hit for the test as I was not going to buy the 45LP with the current couch in it only to have to pull it and spend a few thousand on a replacement that would work. It is a win for Tiffin as we more or less paid for the prototype couch test.
So working with some people and the manufacturer, we came up with a new solution that would fit. We ended up having to make some slight mods to the “end table” (really? They have to call it that?) to get it to fit based on the curved arms. But all came out well and the couch fit well. After seeing the couch, we are again working with the manufacturer to made a slight change. (No popup foot rest as it is useless IMHO.)
I was told that Van Tiffin wants to see it when the 45LP is done and so do the inside sales guys. So time will tell on this one if Tiffin will take design suggestion and use it. But I can say, all that have seen it thus far, seem to really like it. :) I think if we can get people to ask for the D&B Couch, hey we should get a little credit, maybe it will become the new couch. (I guess then we will get people who do not like it mad at us. So maybe not. :))