Birth of a Phaeton - Part 10

8/14 - 9/1

(Want more detail?  Click on image to enlarge)

Final Assembly and the Wait Begins

We didn't see our coach go through getting it's steps, handles, slide toppers, awnings, ladder, etc. but we did take some pictures of others.  When we walked through the area Mary started talking to one of the young women working there.  We found out we could delete our ladder (hadn't thought about it) but couldn't find the person we need to speak to.  We didn't think much about it at the time but later that day Danny Inman tracked us down and we were able to modify the order.  We caught up with her the next day and told her what happened and she told us what she had done - she tracked down the coach while it was in base coat (that was the only thing we had told her along with the model), called Danny with the information and he took it from there.  Unusual to see that level of followup anywhere these days.

Belmont Final Assembly.  

All of the "stuff" on the outside of the coach gets added here.  

Bubble test station.
The big blower adds pressure to the coach and every opening is then checked for leaks.

Some final assembly takes place in Red Bay as well.  Rework/testing/re-testing is also performed in Red Bay.  We caught up with our coach one last time before it went to final inspection.

It's Shiny!  And it looks good without the ladder.

Side view

Diamond Shield install

And this was the last we saw of the coach...  We know that there at least 4 things left to be fixed - 2 windows needed new seals, a surround sound speaker needed to be replaced, and a trim piece around the central ceiling fixture was the wrong wood finish.

After this, it was scheduled to go back to Belmont for final inspection and then they had up to 7 additional days for rework prior to shipping.  And so we wait in Tupelo, MS at The Campground at Barnes Crossing.  Really not a bad place to stay as we are close to everything.  Every store you can imagine is within 2 miles of this location.  And so we wait...