Thursday Day 16

It's a good thing we are here to watch every step. Watching the entire process for 17 working days was a good idea. We have been in Red Bay for almost 4 weeks.

It was tagged as ready for delivery to the dealer BUT we discovered some things were not done that we had requested. These items were on our list but someone took the notes off the windshield and sent it to Belmont for delivery. 

Now we are back at Red Bay for a few more items. We expect those items will be completed on Friday. We plan to leave on Saturday, heading north to Lawrenceburg for our house closing next Friday. Then we head to Sherman RV in Mississippi and we will have our new motor home (our ONLY home) the last week of May.

Mary is writing a list of things that need to be done. Most items are small but we want it corrected before it goes to the dealer. Then the dealer will not need to handle these items that should be done before it leaves the factory.

The ceramic floor tile looks good today. Several scratched tiles were replaced yesterday and that put it one day behind schedule. The tiles are removed with a small jack hammer, making quite a mess. The grout had to dry 24 hours before walking on it. The tile repair guys did a great job. The cleaning crew will finish up a complete wipe down Friday morning to get all the dust off everything inside.

Wednesday Day 15

Nothing to show for the day, no photos. 

They had to replace six ceramic floor tiles that were scratched. Those were completed this morning but it had to sit undisturbed all day so the grout could set up. I was at the plant several times today but did not stay long. I hope it's finished tomorrow. May 12 was scheduled as the last day but today seemed to be a lost day.

Weather was very nice today but Thursday's forecast is more rain. Overall, the weather in Red Bay has been very good compared to our friend and family in Indiana. I can report that there has been no grass to cut for the last four weeks.

Tuesday Day 14

Not too much to show for the day. There was work on it all day. Finish work always goes slower than construction work. We still hope it's finished tomorrow but probably Thursday which is the day that was scheduled for completion.

This is known as the "yellow brick road" where RV's are in line waiting on their next stage of work. The windshields have notes attached to list what needs to be done.

More finish work inside. Sergio is working on a scratch on the wall. The green tape on the cabinet marks another spot that needs attention. There was green tape in several places and now there are only a few left. Late today they found some scratched ceramic tile so they were removing some tile to replace with new. It won't leave until every scratch is repaired.

Monday Day 13

Today was final paint touch up and interior cleaning. We arrived at Belmont MS about 7:00 am and watched while a few things were finished. At 10:30 am it was driven back to Red Bay AL for the interior cleanup. That lasted the rest of the day. Tomorrow will be the final check out and repair of a few more minor interior issues. A final test drive and documentation should be completed by Wednesday. 

Another view of the Belmont MS paint facility.
It's a large building that can hold many motor homes for painting.

Our Phaeton 40ah getting some paint touch up on the door.

In another Tiffin model, we found something we may add to ours.
This is a slide out drawer under the kitchen sink.

Here it is, ready for inside cleaning.

Friday Day 12

Friday was test day again. It went through the"bubble test" that pressurizes the interior and they use the old soapy water sprayed on the exterior to look for air leaking out. Following that it gets the "rain booth" test. High pressure water is spayed at every angle and under the chassis at 500 gallons per minute to look for leaks into the inside. W were invited inside the motor home for the test so no photos were taken. The only leak turned out to be the seal around the entry door. A new seal will be installed on Monday. It looks like a complete motor home now with all exterior items mounted and painted. It's in the final bay at Belmont MS for some paint touch up and minor work like a defective fog lamp. The paint job on such a large vehicle is about as perfect as it could possibly be. The two coats of "super" clear coat really makes it shine.

Every seam and edge is sealed to prevent water leaks.
Two ladies worked on this, one on each side.

Check out the great shine!

Mary is checking things with the "sealing lady".

This is the "bubble test". A high power fan forces air through a window to pressurize the interior then the soapy water is applied to watch for bubbles. They work very hard to prevent water intrusion. A water leak can quickly damage a motor home.

It really is almost 13 feet high. This is the final bay at Belmont MS where all the paint is applied and the famous Phaeton mudfllap, exterior lights, awning toppers and patio awning are installed.

These are in row #1 of the three rows where they are staged for delivery to the dealers. They output 12 motor homes every day (that number includes all models, gas and diesel). That adds up to about 3000 units per year. My wild guess at the total value of these per year is at least $500 million.

Our unit is the 600th Phaeton so far this model year. The Tiffin models are Allegro Open Road, Allegro RED, Phaeton, Allegro Bus and Zephyr. Each model has several floor plans to choose from. The price goes up as you move up the model line. The Zephyr tops out at about $600,000. The Phaeton has been the most popular motor home in the United States out of all manufacturers of motor homes.

I hope ours is in this lineup by next Wednesday May 11.

Thursday Day 11

The work at the main plant in Red Bay is essentially finished. We can see a finished unit and it looks great. More super nice employees that all do great work. Now it's headed back to Belmont Mississippi for some final details. It comes back to Red Bay on Tuesday May 10 and it should be ready to go the our Tiffin dealer in Sherman Mississippi. We met the company owner, Bob Tiffin, this afternoon and made sure he knew how good we were treated and how good his employees are at their jobs.

Work begins again Thursday morning at 6:00 am.

Employees are very helpful and willing to show and tell Mary about what they are doing. If we see an issue we just let them know and it's looked at quickly.

Found out that we really do need the large outdoor TV. 
There are three inside so this is TV number four.

Tiffin employees (two more in the bedroom you can't see) are busy working on  interior finishing.

Diamond Shield is being applied to the front end. 
She did a great job with the invisible protective film.

Bob Tiffin is the owner of the business. He has three sons that also work in management. Bob is famous in the motor home industry. He provides the best service and support of any motor home manufacturer. He started the business in 1972. Watch the highways for lots of Tiffin Motorhomes. They are named Allegro, Allegro Bay, Allegro Open Road, Allegro RED, Phaeton, Allegro Bus and Zephyr.

Wednesday Day 10

Today we are back at the main plant in Red Bay where more work continues. Today and tomorrow will be mostly interior finishing and inspections. The exterior is finished except for a few side marker lights. It goes back to Belmont for a few paint repairs (very few, it really looks good). Belmont will be it's final destination next week before going to Sherman RV in Mississippi.

We had to take each other's picture.

It's back indoors for final finish work on the interior. A nano technology sheet is applied to the front end to protect the paint from rocks and bugs. It's invisible when dry and it works very well. Our current Tiffin 34tga has the same material on it and it looks like new after almost four years of use. The interior is almost complete but gets more inspections and a few touch ups on the wood trim. They do multiple inspections and test everything during construction and re inspect more at this stage.

Tuesday Day 9 - Waiting on Paint to Dry

Nothing to show for the day. We went to the Belmont MS paint facility right before work ended for the day. Ours was painted and clear coated, ready to return to the main plant in Red Bay but we could not locate it. When leaving we saw it behind the ceramic tile building but too late to go back. Here is a photo of the same model and paint colors as ours that we took in February. We will see it tomorrow morning at Red Bay. 

It should look like this one.

Wait a minute, that's not me!
Looks like an impersonator at Mobilcomm stealing my old hard hat. 

Monday Day 8

More rain today but the forecast is good for the next 10 days, mid 70's and sunny. The first clear coat is done and now it gets a very fine sanding. Now it looks dull again. Tomorrow it gets the "super" clear coat and final high temp bake so it will look like the finished product..

Sunday in Red Bay

Red Bay Alabama on a late Sunday afternoon

Friday Day 7 - We Have Paint!

We had a look late today after it went through the first two paint steps. It looks dull now until it gets the two clear coat applications. The clear coat applications start on Monday so by Tuesday afternoon it will really shine. 

It really rained hard here when a storm came through after we left the plant. I should have taken a photo of the storm. Reports were 3 inches of rain in an hour. That provided a real leak test on our current Tiffin 34tga motor home. No leaks to report and it cleaned it better than a hand wash. 

Here it is between paint booths. This place is huge with 12 paint booths and many more work spaces. The motor home is is almost 42 feet long so you can see how big the building is. It's also a very clean plant, using modern paint dust and fume extraction. This was just before quitting time on Friday afternoon so it looked like things were winding down for the week. I would rather have my clear coating started on Monday!

Preparing to touch up the stripe colors was the last step today.

The nose extends out because the 10 KW diesel generator is on slide rails like a big kitchen drawer, making access easier for service work. The generator exhaust pipe is at the lower front corner.

Thursday Day 6

A slow day for us since we could not get into the sanding/paint prep area. We did get a look late this afternoon as they started the masking process. The base coat of paint will be applied tomorrow. It goes into a high temp baking process when painting is finished. Next week it receives two coats of Super Clear Coat and gets baked in the oven again next Tuesday. 

The masking work takes several people. 
They must have a huge bill to pay for all the tape they go through in a day. 

The interior of the external "basement" cabinets are all sealed off with plastic sheeting 
to prevent paint spray and dust from entering the cabinets. 
We saw over a dozen motor homes line up for the paint booths.

They told us that it will look much better by Friday afternoon.

Wednesday Day 5

Our motor home exited the main factory at noon. This morning was mostly interior cleanup and adding the interior doors in the bathroom and bedroom areas. After that it went for some undercoating work and front end alignment. It ready to go to the Belmont MS paint building. We followed it over there (about 4 miles). Tomorrow is paint prep day (sanding) so we will not be there for that work

Leaving the main assembly plant.
It will return to Red Bay for more work after it's great paint job at Belmont MS.
It will look like a real motor home next Wednesday. 

Additional undercoating

My first look from the bottom end. Looks a bit difficult to work on.

Good front end alignment to double check wheel tracking and toe in adjustment.

Modern alignment equipment. Much better that what I used 45 years ago as a GM mechanic.
Back then it was done with mirrors. Now it's a light beam.

Supervisor gives it the first test drive.

We rode along for our first ride in it. Here we are crossing back into Alabama.
Red Bay city limits are on the state border in Alabama.

A short trip and it's at the Belmont MS paint facility.
This is the sanding building where it will be most of the day Thursday.
We will visit later in the afternoon to check on progress so we get a day off to rest!