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If anyone removes their dash cover & breaks or has any of the xmas tree retainers missing, here is a replacement source. Mine were white & shaped slightly differently than these, but these fit the dash holes perfectly & snap into the dash cover just like the original ones. They are also the same length. Here is the part info.................

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail...&ppt=C0329

I saw this rather odd '90 on eBay and wondered if anyone had any history on the unit.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1990-Newe...v4exp=true


Mike M.

Late 1960's and early 1970's Newell coaches were most commonly powered by Ford industrial gasoline V-8's (391 and 534 cubic inch displacement) although L.K. Newell would use almost any engine a customer preferred, such as the 460 Lincoln and the 440 Chrysler engines.

By the mid to late 1970's Newells were powered by diesel, typically, Caterpillar 3208's, Cummins V555's (Triple Nickels) and naturally aspirated Detroit Diesel 6V92.

By the early 1980's the primary engines were turbocharged Detroit Diesel 6V92T's and the Cummins V903 turbo. In 1985, Newell began offering the Detroit 8V92T and 1988 models were equipped with the DDEC (Detroit Diesel Electronic Control) 8V92T engines. Still, customer preference was supreme and other engines were installed at owner request.

The next big change occurred in the middle of the 1994 model year when Newell began offering the Detroit Series 60. That engine would remain the primary engine for Newell for over 10 years.

In 2004 and 2005, Newell began offering Caterpillar C12 and C13 engines. These were well received and in 2006, the Caterpillar C15 became the 'standard' Newell engine although the Detroit Series 60 was still available at the customers request.

Emission laws and ownership changes started changing the landscape of over the road diesel engines and in 2010, the use of the Caterpillar C15 was discontinued and replaced with the Cummins ISX650. This remains the current powerplant of choice by Newell.

After purchasing Streamline Travel Homes from Streamline Trailer Company and moving the operation to Oklahoma, L.K. Newell had a health scare in 1973 and sold Newell Coach to Chuck and Letty Goldenberg of Kansas City, MO. Immediately Chuck and Letty moved to Miami, OK to operate the business.

Meanwhile, in Mount Vernon, WA, Karl Blade and his wife Alice owned a Chevrolet dealership and sold Executive and then Blue Bird Wanderlodge motorhomes. In 1979, Karl and Alice Blade and two partners purchased Newell Coach from Chuck and Letty Goldenberg. The Goldenberg's still reside in Miami, immediately next door to their close friends of 30 years, Karl and Alice Blade. In 1985, Karl and Alice bought out their remaining partner's interest. For 33 years, Karl and Alice have been the driving force behind Newell Coach.

With Newells being constructed in Miami, OK (pronounced My-am-uh not like the city in Florida) and placing his name on his coaches in 1967, Newell started looking to the future. In 1969, L.K. Newell purchased a Madsen rear mounted gasoline engine school bus chassis and built the first rear-engine Newell. It was the ONLY Newell built on a Madsen pusher chassis. In 1969, L.K. purchased a 1950 Fitzjohn rear engine bus. When he removed the body, he found a self-supporting 'bird cage' or 'bridge construction' chassis with frame rails. This was a major step in the direction he had wanted to go when he purchased the Streamline Travel Home. In 1970 L.K. built the prototype for Newell's rear engine chassis. The self-supporting feature was the key for Newell. This allowed doors and windows to be located anywhere without the problems resulting from cutting into the sidewalls of a monocoque body that most buses use.

The Newell Chassis utilized welded steel, bridge-truss construction to distribute stresses throughout the coach and chassis. It was the first motorhome with a basement. It eliminated frame rails between front and rear axles. L.K. probably couldn't fully appreciate the ease with which his chassis design would allow the integration of slide-outs over 25 years later.

In 1972, Newell built his first rear engine diesel powered motorhome. In the tradition of giving his customers what they wanted, that coach was a special order by customer Al White. L.K. originally objected to installing a dirty, smelly diesel engine but Mr. White insisted. The combination of diesel power and rear engine placement was unique to Newell for several years and put Newell on the motorhome map. Newell continued to sell front engine coaches until 1976 but the die was cast for rear diesel power.

This link was recently posted as an example of a coach that would be within our budget: http://www.rvt.com/rvdetail5014717.htm

While we can't buy anything (yet) I'm trying to learn all I can. As I understand things, Newells of this vintage generally use the air bags to level the coach at the camp site (Foretravel does, too), rather than jacks ('Birds). I prefer the Newell/Foretravel system.

Questions:

1. Is there an air compressor that periodically runs to keep the bags inflated when parked?

2. When leveling at the campsite, is all of the air dumped, and then bags inflated to level the coach, or is air let out of bags to level the coach? It would seem to be that the former would put the entry step closer to the ground.

3. What sort of safety device do you use when replacing the bags or working on the air system? Some of the Foretravel guys have made brackets that will take the weight of the coach (one bracket by each bag) which keeps the coach from suddenly dropping. The 'Bird guys have a different air system, and they use some really heavy jacks.

4. This summer I saw a fairly new coach (didn't catch a brand) with a tag axle in Sam's. When the driver wanted to make a sharp turn he was able to raise the tag axle. Would a Newell such as the one above have that feature?

Here's another one in Tom's hood. Looks like the original owner may have been a Florida Gators fan. Lots of 10-15 year old Newells currently for sale.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Newell-Di...617wt_1165

Looks very clean in the pictures and lots of very nice options.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Newell-Tr...088wt_1165

This April will be busy with the list of "to do's" we have on our coach as it comes out of storage. I can't believe that I am going to add to the list..but here goes. We bought two new captains chairs, recovered the couch in the same material and have purchased a booth dinette in place of the two free standing lounge type chairs and the flip up table that folds into the wall.

The reason we did this was for appearance (the cloth was hideous) as well as function since the dinette gives us one more sleeping bed as well. We only have lap belts in our captains chairs and I would feel much more comfortable to have belts in the couch as well as the dinette. We are militant about belts in the car so it just feels odd and insecure to not have everyone belted in. I am looking at replacement belts and securing them thru the floor as we reinstall things after we get our floor in. The jackknife couch is about 6'. There is e webbing connecting the back of it to the seat so I think one could simply make an opening in that and run the belts up. I coud probably get then 2-3 pair of belts on the couch. They can probably be hidden well then when not needed.

The dinette is a booth. It faces the couch and the section on the side facing the couch is made so that the seat cushion comes out to store things. So I think running one pair of belts there would work.

So guys I am looking for advice and suggestions from what I have told you.

I was reading over on Roger Berke's forum(he's a guru member). He was explaining how the AquaHot unit heats the water and the coach interior that I found interesting. The water is heated by sending the water through copper coils that wind through the coolant tank and then routed out to the faucets. In contrast the coach is heated by routing the heated coolant from the coolant tank through the heat exchangers and then blown into the coach using fans.

Hope this clears up any confusion......................