03-04-2013, 11:10 AM
Chappell & Mary welcome to the forum!!!
I moved from a '98 Country Coach to my '99 Newell three years ago. No disappointments. Not many systems left that I haven't been through. The '98s and '99s are as close to identical as possible in the Newell world where "no two Newells are the same". My Guru friend Russ owns the coach that is one number before mine. While there are similarities I think the documented differences are close to a thousand. You have to remember that Newells are a custom coach that will vary way more than a production coach. The basic drivetrain will be the same, but Russ' engine pulley system is configured different than mine. Many alternators differ in power depending on the builder's desire. The chassis should be very close, but even things like shock absorbers could be different. Basement compartments vary with floorplans.
Do battery compartment floors ever totally rust out? I'm sure someones has, but there was one heck of a lot of neglect to get to that point. My battery compartment when I got the coach sounds similar to what you are finding. I took all the batteries out. Repainted the walls, floor and trays. Put new batteries in and haven't done any maintenance since to the compartment. You can now eat lunch in that compartment. I am one of the few dinosaurs around here that are still using wet cell batteries. A battery compartment can be a great gauge of a coach's maintenance. The starting batteries sit in a stainless steel box and I cleaned it up too when I replaced the batteries and that was it.
Good Luck in your search. You are lucky. There has been a abnormal number of '98 & '99 Newells that have gone up for sale this winter. Remember you are looking for a coach that Newell only built between 24 & 30 coaches in each of those years.
I moved from a '98 Country Coach to my '99 Newell three years ago. No disappointments. Not many systems left that I haven't been through. The '98s and '99s are as close to identical as possible in the Newell world where "no two Newells are the same". My Guru friend Russ owns the coach that is one number before mine. While there are similarities I think the documented differences are close to a thousand. You have to remember that Newells are a custom coach that will vary way more than a production coach. The basic drivetrain will be the same, but Russ' engine pulley system is configured different than mine. Many alternators differ in power depending on the builder's desire. The chassis should be very close, but even things like shock absorbers could be different. Basement compartments vary with floorplans.
Do battery compartment floors ever totally rust out? I'm sure someones has, but there was one heck of a lot of neglect to get to that point. My battery compartment when I got the coach sounds similar to what you are finding. I took all the batteries out. Repainted the walls, floor and trays. Put new batteries in and haven't done any maintenance since to the compartment. You can now eat lunch in that compartment. I am one of the few dinosaurs around here that are still using wet cell batteries. A battery compartment can be a great gauge of a coach's maintenance. The starting batteries sit in a stainless steel box and I cleaned it up too when I replaced the batteries and that was it.
Good Luck in your search. You are lucky. There has been a abnormal number of '98 & '99 Newells that have gone up for sale this winter. Remember you are looking for a coach that Newell only built between 24 & 30 coaches in each of those years.
Steve Bare
1999 Newell 2 slide #531