Forum Discussion

ajriding's avatar
ajriding
Explorer II
May 25, 2020

Mini Winnie needs major work

A friend has class C rv. Tryton V-10, less than 30k miles I think. Late 90's model year.
He has not cranked it in over ten years. It did run and work perfect when he parked it.

He said I can have it, he wants it gone.

Major delamination on the drivers side, but I have experience doing those repairs. Probably a little in the roof, but it looked good. Some general cleaning up. The entire side panel will have to come off.

it has a nice 2 cylinder Onan, that has not been cranked, but I am more confident in getting that back to life.

Im sure the gas is all varnish.

The interior is not bad.

Im torn wether to take all the valuable RV stuff out to resell and try to sell the motor for parts with the chasis, or to get it running and sell for a little profit.
Class C
  • Matt_Colie's avatar
    Matt_Colie
    Explorer II
    May 25, 2020
    AJ,

    If you can get it home for little cash out of pocket, go for it. Fuel injected engines don't varnish as badly as carburetors do because the fuel system has no exposure to air. The generator will need the carburetor cleaned, that is a given.

    The remark above about replacing all the rubber parts is optimistic. The good thing is that replacing all the hoses and flushing the coolant and brake system is a DIY job that is usually less than 1K$us out of pocket. Tires are toast, plan on that.

    I have mentored three of these programs and two were complete successes the third was only not because the owner was not willing to tear a wall open.

    Matt
  • RetiredRealtorR's avatar
    RetiredRealtorR
    Explorer
    May 25, 2020
    If it hasn't been started in over 10 years, you can count on every single seal, gasket, and hose on that engine needing replacement --- a major undertaking in and of itself, and that's just the engine.
  • DrewE's avatar
    DrewE
    Explorer II
    May 25, 2020
    garyemunson wrote:
    The Class Cs never had the "real" Triton engine. The cramped engine bay meant they all got the 2 valve head lower powered V10. Not a desirable motor power wise. So bulletproof and long lasting (300K+ miles) most vehicles with them go to the junkyard with a perfectly good engine ruining the motor's resale value. Easy visual check: 2 valve, plastic valve cover, 3 valve, aluminum cover.


    The three valve variant was introduced in 2005, so before that year all vehicles--not just the E series chassis--had the two valve version. To my mind both versions are real Triton engines (and so Ford calls both versions).

    They're good dependable engines, as you say, but quite common and so not valuable in terms of money.
  • garyemunson's avatar
    garyemunson
    Explorer II
    May 25, 2020
    The Class Cs never had the "real" Triton engine. The cramped engine bay meant they all got the 2 valve head lower powered V10. Not a desirable motor power wise. So bulletproof and long lasting (300K+ miles) most vehicles with them go to the junkyard with a perfectly good engine ruining the motor's resale value. Easy visual check: 2 valve, plastic valve cover, 3 valve, aluminum cover.
  • Nv_Guy's avatar
    Nv_Guy
    Explorer III
    May 25, 2020
    In a late 1990's Class C there is no "valuable RV stuff to resell". If you want a hobby project, get it and have fun. I seriously doubt you can repair / rebuild and make any sort of profit.
  • DrewE's avatar
    DrewE
    Explorer II
    May 25, 2020
    It will be a whole lot of work to rebuild, though you presumably already know that. For most people, I think the best advice would be to walk away; but if you're looking for a large project to work on, maybe it would be reasonable. I doubt you'd make much money off the venture in either case, especially once you factor in what your labor is worth; a 20+ year old class C, even if it's in pristine condition (which of course this one isn't), is not especially valuable. Likewise 20 year old RV appliances do not command particularly high prices.

    Water damage, as you probably already know, is quite often more extensive than it first appears.

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