Got a 1970 Explorer class A on 1969 Dodge M300 chassis with a 318 cu. in. engine. (It's a "split year" vehicle, which explains the chassis vs body date difference.)
It was running well when I bought it in 1995 and we used it quite a bit, including living in it for the summer after I retired from the Air Force. For reasons too lengthy to go into here, I left it sit in a field for eight years. After replacing the starter and rebuilding the carb I was able to move eighteen miles to my new home.
Interestingly, the battery, a new Sears DieHard, was in good condition and only needed a little recharging, even though it sat through seven Fairbanks winters, with our usual spells of 40 & 50 below zero temperatures.
I again left it sit for a year and a half before I tried starting it again. After replacing a rotted fuel line it start right up, although the torque converter appears to be slipping due to age and neglect.
It's worth noting that, out of six vehicles, it was our only operational means of transportation. (The others are a mid-70s Mustang II, 1980 Bronco, 1987 F-150, 1990 van, and early 90s Escort.) The reason for the abundance of non-functioning vehicles is another vvveeerrryyy lllooonnnggg story and has nothing to do with the fact that they're all Fords.
Anyhow, the fact that the motorhome pulled through for us has caused my wife to decide she likes the old beast and wants to keep it. Even better, she said I can tear it apart and do a complete restoration and rebuild, something I've wanted to do to a motorhome/camper/whatever since I was in high school.
Currently, I've started tearing it apart and planning the rebuild, working around our lovely spring weather. (It snowed several inches over the weekend and then hit 50 degrees today.)
Oh yeah, the van is running and I'm working on the F-150. The Mustang II and Escort belong to my daughter and I'm leaving those to her to fix. (She's an okay shadetree mechanic for her age.) The Bronco is a jealous and vengeful thing and I'm afraid of what it's going to do because I'm spending all this time on other vehicles. (It's fits of revenge are lengendary and everybody's afraid to ride in it, let alone drive it.)
I'm hoping to write some magazine articles as an outgrowth of my research and experiences on the motorhome project.
Gotta run. It's 2:00 a.m. and I've spend most of the day banging around the Internet looking for info for this project.
Griff
