86' Chieftain Acquisition

I will be following your progress on your motorhome...
I picked up my '87 Honey 2 years ago and got a steal.
enjoying it so much!
Im over in NC and get up to Sevierville, TN about 2 times a year.
You can click the link in my signature if you want to check it out.

Good advice on the brakes. My plan is to go ahead and change both calipers, pads, and hoses on the front. Plus a fluid flush. Safety first on brakes. Luckily, brake components from the 80's are cheap.

On the locked up brake check the rubber break line the swell up with age and won't let the fluid go back to the master cylinder there by locking up the brake. I blew two front tires because of this.

Bill

I had an 85' pace w/ 454 for 17 years and never once smelled gas out of the engine. 454's don't leave anything behind, just ask my wallet.

In my experience, there is no such thing as an inexpensive throttle body kit (that has just been my experience). Although, I've known people can find a bargain at anything. That being said, I have known people who found a later model vehicle with the same engine and transfer the parts over. But either way it's a ton of work. In my opinion it's just easier and cheaper to rebuild the carb. A rebuild kit is around 25 bucks and in this case qjets can be picked up at junkyards for 30 bucks all day long. I've never had much of a problem with fuel smell from qjets. Or possibly I'm just very used to it. I don't think there be any real benefits swapping to throttle body. Q-jets are very fuel efficient thanks to the small primaries and large secondaries. That's the beauty of them, it will run less fuel when your not dogging it, and when you want to the secondaries open up and act like a true 4 barrel. I've had a qjet on a built 350 that ran just as strong as a Holley double pumper, but I had better "getting around" gas mileage. That's just my opinion. I just like these carbs. Plenty of people hate them, I just don't think they have had a good tune.

I always hear owners of these carbed coaches complaining about gasoline smell. Is there an inexpensive throtle body injection kit for this engine?

Alright gents (and the lovely ladies), I think I'm gonna move my future posts on this to rig to vintage and resto's (is 1986 old enough to be "vintage"?). For anyone interested on my progress you will be able to follow it there..I'm headed down in the morning so I should have some updates this weekend.

Sidebar: I'm planning on rebuilding my Q-Jet this weekend which ignited my little light bulb. I did a search within the forum for Quadrajet carbs and didn't find much. If the community is interested, I can post a walkthrough/tutorial on rebuilding these carbs. Unlike a lot of people out there, I believe it was one of the best carburetors ever made if tuned and built properly (if, if, if!!).

Maybe it can prove beneficial for people who pick up an older Chevy chassis (and want to get some hands dirty).

My dad had this same Chieftian 22'. Bought it new. Very maneuverable coach

Sorry, it took me so long to reply, I work night shift so I'm happily snoozing during the morning hours...

Here is a link to the pictures I've taken thus far.

http://imgur.com/a/WsWH2

Please excuse the poor quality, I was in a rush to share my bounty when I took those pictures.

Yeah, I absolutely had a moment where when I checked it out where I wasn't too concerned with every small detail...although I suspect I probably looked at it more thoroughly than most first time buyers (I checked on all sides of it for soft spots, floor soft spots and roof soft spots)
And then about a day into working on it, I had that oh **** moment, like what did I just get into.
I had to calmly remind myself that I've been doing mechanic work for the better part of 10 years and general construction for about the same.

I need to take some better pictures specifically of problem areas so I can see what you guys think.

I thought they were made of steel with fiberglass shell? not 2x2
ref: https://winnebagoind.com/resources/brochure/1986/86-Chieftain-bro.pdf
Even so, I feel confident I can handle it.

Overall, I'm not too concerned about repair or cost of repair. I have no lien against it and have only roughly 600$ invested at this point. I suspect to spend another 150$ to have her road worthy and then time will tell all. I like my projects, I always have. I suspect I will gradually restore it.

Yes, it is an ASME tank...not subject to the same rules as dot cylinders..that seems to be something confused often in the RV community...Took quite a bit of research to learn the distinction. A lot of conflicting information out there. The whole tank is coated in rust though, I haven't had enough time under it to say whether its serious (i.e. pitting, etc.). But I wouldn't mind suggestions for a chemical to remove rust so I can have it inspected and enjoy greater peace of mind.

Thanks for the info on tire codes, to be quite honest, I hadn't even considered that. I just made sure they held air, weren't dry rotted, and checked tread wear.

Eternabond every seam and joint on the roof as soon as possible. Water is the enemy.