1975 Dodge Sportsman "c"

ladydb24 wrote:
Thank you all so much for the info! Although I am new to Pre-Modern, when I saw it, I knew it was the one for me. It's 21ft length is perfect! It has been well maintained, and does have a new carb. Luckily I have a mechanic who rebuilds old cars for himself and has a lot of good old Georgia boys to help him. I have ordered the service and owners manual. I knew going in I would spend some $ getting it right.
I may not know a lot about it now..this time next year, I Will!!:)
I printed out all your info to give to him, so he will have a heads up for what to pay attention to. Interior wise it is in good shape....Coverings/curtains all fairly new just not my taste so that will be my winter project. Is there anything special to do to winterize it..I'm an antique too LOL so do remember what we had to do to cars back then. Where do you go to get new mattresses and seat cushions? I will post a picture after I detail it this week. Thanks again, I am so glad to have found this site!

Wow Lady,

It is good to see that you have your arms around this. That can make for many happy times but hopefully boring hours of driving. As you can guess from the sigfile, we are in kind of the same position - age wise.

Having a mechanic friend and the manuals will be a thing that will save you a great deal of trouble. When you talk to anybody working on this, say two things: Ask him to tell you what he notices. And ask him to do the job like it was supposed to last forever and if the cost will increase, you would like to get to make that choice. (This is the reason I do most of my own work, I want it done the best it can be.)

As for cushions, find a place that does things like this for boats. They know how to do this. If your existing cushions can be recovered, that will be easier.

As to a mattress, we tried air mattresses and foam toppers but finally bought a mattress for a futon. You might see if that will fit. When you get near 60, a mattress matters more. (Too bad we aren't getting closer to 60.)

About winterizing, Most places in Georgia do get at least one hard freeze, so that is what you have to be ready for. The water system is the big concern. You have to either empty it completely by blowing all the water out with air or fill the system with RV (sort of potable) anti-freeze. Unfortunately, I don't know your coach real well, so I can't advise which is better. Just be sure it gets done and done right.

You also need to work GasBuddy. Fuel prices often change with states and this is the best way to know in advance.

I wish you fair weather and smooth roads.

Matt

Thank you all so much for the info! Although I am new to Pre-Modern, when I saw it, I knew it was the one for me. It's 21ft length is perfect! It has been well maintained, and does have a new carb. Luckily I have a mechanic who rebuilds old cars for himself and has a lot of good old Georgia boys to help him. I have ordered the service and owners manual. I knew going in I would spend some $ getting it right.
I may not know a lot about it now..this time next year, I Will!!:)
I printed out all your info to give to him, so he will have a heads up for what to pay attention to. Interior wise it is in good shape....Coverings/curtains all fairly new just not my taste so that will be my winter project. Is there anything special to do to winterize it..I'm an antique too LOL so do remember what we had to do to cars back then. Where do you go to get new mattresses and seat cushions? I will post a picture after I detail it this week. Thanks again, I am so glad to have found this site!

Grit dog wrote:
Yes, but $22500 would get you something built in this century and unless the OP is into retro restorations, doing all that stuff just to have an old @ss camper with an old @ss chassis and drivetrain is silly.
May be what she's after, but takes a LOT of tinkering and $ to get a 40 year old camper anywhere near the standards and features of the last 15 years or so.
Not being a dik, just helping her analyze what she just bought as my hunch is she really has no idea.

I don't think you're being a dik, but I don't think it's necessarily silly to buy an old rig. I didn't restore my clipper - I got it in good working order. I did a few mods to make it mine. Other than that, it's the way I bought it. I LOVE my old @ss camper with an old @ss chassis and drivetrain (I love my clipper too).

Knowing what you're getting into is important, but knowing both sides of the arguments is the best way to know if you will be happy with your decision (whatever that decision may be). There are many folks on this board with old Dodge motorhomes (there's a years' long thread in the Class C forum dedicated to these old beasts) and they are quite happy with their rigs. Others want something new. What's right for one is wrong for another and visa versa.

Yes, but $22500 would get you something built in this century and unless the OP is into retro restorations, doing all that stuff just to have an old @ss camper with an old @ss chassis and drivetrain is silly.
May be what she's after, but takes a LOT of tinkering and $ to get a 40 year old camper anywhere near the standards and features of the last 15 years or so.
Not being a dik, just helping her analyze what she just bought as my hunch is she really has no idea.

Congratulations! - from another 1975 Dodge Sportsman class C owner.

First, Matt_Colie has given you some great advice. Especially the fuel lines - when I got my clipper, my mechanic did a smoke test on the fuel lines. He said they couldn't find a single leak... because smoke was pouring out of little pinholes from every inch of line. We replaced all the lines and were good to go.

Also, check your tire dates - RV tires will rot before they wear out. You don't want a tire blowing up your underneath.

As for the model, there are many many different types of class C motorhomes built on the Dodge Sportsman van chassis. Best bet is to post a photo of it. Mine is an American Clipper - it is all fiberglass, 21ft. Most others were standard aluminum siding. The "Sportsman" name is simply the van chassis - it should be a Sportsman B300 360 2bbl when you're looking for parts. The 2bbl is the carburetor - the 360 only came with a 2 barrel carburetor that year.

Check your VIN using this vin decoder it will tell you what year your chassis is for sure (many RVs will be X model year, but the actual chassis and engine will be a year earlier - mine are both 1975).

The 360 is a great little engine. It's just enough to handle the RV, but not so much that it overheats.

As for cost of maintenance/repair/getting it back in shape, I heard a lot of the same arguments - it's not worth putting in more than you paid for it, you'll never get your money back out, you'll be lucky to sell it for what you paid for it, and so on. Here's my take:

Even if you paid $2,500 and spent an additional $20,000 fixing it up, you've only spent $22,500 on your class C. Any newer class C you buy for $22,500 will need work and repairs and maintenance, so you're still going to put out more money. So why not put the money in your retro RV and enjoy it to the fullest? Personally, I wouldn't trade my clipper in for any new RV out there today - it's a great little RV, well built, bright and light (they actually had windows back in those days - not these dark and dismal dungeons they make now), and it's so nostalgic and fun to be in.

"Only 44,000 miles"... It's possible, but I would be skeptical. Those odometers only read up to 99,999 miles, right? The odometer could have rolled over one or more times and it wouldn't show up.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_Ram_Van

The model should be a "B" something or other

our 72 3/4 ton Power Wagon is a W25

Congrats.
But be prepared for plenty of repairs as mentioned above, plus primary stuff like engine and trans.
You may get lucky with many parts but a 40year old vehicle is suspect in every way, unless someone has done a lot of work to it. But my guess is the 40kmi was put on early in life and it's sat idle for a long time since.
Before spending a dime on it Id suggest getting someone very qualified to analyze the whole rig.
You could spend more than you paid for it easily in repairs.....if you do them yourself, or much more at a mechanic shop.
Just something to consider.
If you spent $2500 on it and have to drop $5-7k in maint and repairs you may be better off going another route.

My neighbor had one - don't remember anything very unusual except that he had hard time finding someone nearby who knew how to tune something that old. He took it down to a commercial propane outfit who recommended welding on a bracket to protect the propane tank which was hanging kinda low. Some of the electrical needed replacing/upgrading - installed battery isolator and upgraded light fixtures to LED's.

Welcome to the Vintage Motorhome family.

While what you have is a good base, be ready to deal with two types of issues you may not have expected. These can be managed (trust me) and must be to have a reliable coach.

First is that you have a very Pre-Modern Vehicle. This means it will need a great deal more maintenance than a newer vehicle. This comes in two phases. The first of those is it will have to be lubricated much more other. Grease is WAY cheaper than parts. Get it to a shop that can repack the wheel bearings (all four) and the rear may take special care as it is probably a truck rear axle (my Cayo Motorvator was). I do not recall is that has a permanently lubricated front end, but if it does not, put that in you schedule for every 3~5K miles. It will still need frequent engine oil changes. Next of these is a real PITA, but it is a "do it once". That is that all the rubber is probably aged out. This means all the belts and hoses may need replacing. The includes the rubber brake lines and the coolant hoses.

The second is also a rubber issue, but is coupled with other parts. This vehicle was not made for lead-free fuel with alcohol added. The is a double edged gotcha. The lack of lead in the fuel may cause the exhaust valves to wear. If this happens, get a valve job done, but have them install insert valve seats and you will not have that problem ever again. The alcohol is a more more serious problem than the EPA wants to admit. It will cause the failure of all the rubber parts in the fuel system. This may require that the carburetor (If it has, I forget what years) wil need to be rebuilt with alcohol proof parts and fuel pump will need to be replaced. All of the rubber fuel lines under the vehicle may also need to be replaced if they have not been in the last few years.

But, if you pay attention to those, you can have a wonderful and memorable time on the road. We sure do and we have both years and miles on your coach.

Matt