How many of us are there? Owners of Dodge based RV's?

[whiteknight001]

I'm new here, and curious.

How many of us in Class C own Dodge B300 incomplete
cab/chassis based RV's? I know two others- Steve aka
Ripsaw, with a 1977 Brougham, and Leroy aka 1978_Dodge
_Delta who owns a 440V8 powered sharp looking 1978
Delta RV. I would like to ask, and offer, help, idea
swapping and comparing notes on our particular RV's
which are based on the Dodge B300 van chassis.

Yeah, I know. These are low tech, podgy old RV's that
would be considered "entry level" for folks like me,
but I have a deep and abiding respect for the quality
of these old "monsters of the open road". And anyone
wanting to pick brains, joke about, share notes or just
brag about our old A- Dodge-io's are certainly welcome
to PM or email me. Between all of us we can form a real
good support group, and help each other with problems
we know we'll encounter with an older vehicle.

Sure. I'd love a new RV. But I'd rather have an older
one already paid for, and a lotta great memories. Call
me frugal, an old hippie, or whatever you will. I'm proud
of my old land yacht.

Mopar Madness Manifest in the flesh,

Mark aka White Knight

P.S. Mine's a '72. Is there an older one out there someone's
motorvating in? Maybe even a Travco? W/K

[Goatmaiden]

Thank you all for the advice. I couldn't believe something that catastrophic happened as fast as it did either. Will investigate further. I gotta get her towed back to the farm (where they don't care if I supidly tear it apart on the lawn!) Problem is, my Knight is currently in Wisconsin for another 2 weeks.

I actually found a place that has a remanufactured 440 MH engine with a 3 year warrenty (1 year parts and labor). What do you think?

[79powerwagon]

Motor drops out from below on the vans. You can pull it out the front if needed (that's what I'd do since I don't want that heavy tank balancing precariously on really high jack stands with me under it). You can also remove your seats and pull it through the dog house opening. Don't forget to support the tranny so it's not dangling by the only mount...

I still think you don't have a serious problem. It started ticking, then stalled, and now it's supposedly froze. I'd have thought it'd have made a LOT more noise before giving up the ghost than you described.

Heck, a friend of mine had an old Scamp with a /6 in it, blew a hole through the side of the block, down through the pan, and part of the valve cover disappeared. Now THAT was a BANG! :B

Best part? He still drove for the rest of the summer! He simply poured free drain oil over the top of the open engine, and drove it until it over-heated, let it cool down enough to start up again, and continue on!

Not the best thing for the environment, but that darned car kept working, even broken that badly!

[Leeann]

Sorta off topic: Hey, eyeteeth - how long did it take you to pull that '94 Vortec?

I have to pull a '93 vortec from a Bravada, a '93 vortec from an Astro, then put the Bravada's vortec into the Astro. It'll be two of us, though (which hopefully will help rather than hurt 😉 )

[eyeteeth]

I had a 94 Vortec Engine pulled from my truck... sent off to be rebuilt, and put back into the truck in a week.

It might be a little more difficult to pull a motor from a van... but not THAT much harder.

BTW... be careful where you do it... you don't the neighbors getting mad about an "inopperable RV" being parked on your property. (Not sure if that a sarcasm joke... or frustration yet) Haven't back from the city guy yet.

[Leeann]

79powerwagon wrote:
Before you crawl too far under your bed, find out WHY the engine seized. Is it hydro-locked? Did the timing chain break and is jambed up in the housing? Did your push rods pop off and cause a jam? Did your oil pump shaft break? Did your cam break?

I've never seen an engine that couldn't be un-seized! 😉

And, no way does it take 40 hours (one full-time week????) to change out an engine! I did it by myself (stupidly with no help at all) in one afternoon, maybe 8 hours max.

Time to find a local hero to assist you, or to scrap that rig and find another...

Exactly! 40 hours to swap an engine??? No stinkin' way - especially in a shop with all the goodies (tools). Seriously.

Find out the reason for the seize, then figure out if it's cheaper to fix than to swap. If it's cheaper to swap, buy the engine and do the swap yourself with friends. You can rent an engine hoist/crane from the local tool rental place.

[Trish_Davis]

Go here:
http://portland.craigslist.org/search/rvs?query=Dodge&minAsk=min&maxAsk

Find a donor for a lot less than what a "new" engine would cost.
Keep the best of both C's and junk the rest.

okay... that didn't work.
Go to Portland craiglist under "RV's" and type in "Dodge."


And see the $9000. Travco....
I love my Travco, but 9grand!?

Oh hey, I got laminate flooring --free from PGH Craigslist.
It's not as nice as Leeann's floor, but there's lots of it and the price was right.

[79powerwagon]

Before you crawl too far under your bed, find out WHY the engine seized. Is it hydro-locked? Did the timing chain break and is jambed up in the housing? Did your push rods pop off and cause a jam? Did your oil pump shaft break? Did your cam break?

I've never seen an engine that couldn't be un-seized! 😉

And, no way does it take 40 hours (one full-time week????) to change out an engine! I did it by myself (stupidly with no help at all) in one afternoon, maybe 8 hours max.

Time to find a local hero to assist you, or to scrap that rig and find another...

[Goatmaiden]

Worse case scenario peeps.

Engine seized.

So far I have found a 440 on Craigslist from an Apollo MH for $400. And a guy who said it's about 40 hrs. of work, so he thinks like $1500 for labor.

Or I get a new longblock installed at the Dodge dealership for $6500.

I'm gonna go hide under my bed now.

[Goatmaiden]

79powerwagon wrote:
Goatmaiden, don't jump to conclusions just yet.

First things first!

Can the (bone-headed) mechanic actually turn the engine with a wrench? (Bone headed because this should have been the second thing he tried after realizing that no power was getting to the starter)

We're all self-proclaimed Mopar gods-of-sorts, we'll be able to help you through this!

...I hope!

I know! I am trying to get myself into the "worst case scenario" frame of mind just so I am ready for whatever comes down the way. The mechanic I met this a.m. pretty much admitted he didn't know much about something this old. The guy I just got off the phone with sounded more together. And actually, I was tempted to sneak back in after hours and try the wrench thing, but thought they might sic the dogs on me (and I don't even know if I'd be strong enough!)

Leeanne, I hope it does end up just being something electrical (so does my pocketbook, because y'know I can't shoot the old dog yet!)

[hearseangel]

Leeann,

Thank you very much for the lead. I have not found any additional info as far as tags or anything, but right now I'm about 250 miles away from the rv, so unfortunately I can't run out and look again. But I will in 2 short weeks!

The main difference I've noticed is that mine has a perfectly flat nose, while the pictures of Champions I've seen have a slant to the windshield. But it might have been a different line or something. I'll keep looking.

[Leeann]

79powerwagon wrote:
Goatmaiden, don't jump to conclusions just yet.

First things first!

Can the (bone-headed) mechanic actually turn the engine with a wrench? (Bone headed because this should have been the second thing he tried after realizing that no power was getting to the starter)

We're all self-proclaimed Mopar gods-of-sorts, we'll be able to help you through this!

...I hope!

Oops - sorry, Goatmaiden - missed that one 😮

Yep, have him check that the engine turns over - by hand. It might just be a power issue - battery, starter, ground, coil....something electrical.

[79powerwagon]

Goatmaiden, don't jump to conclusions just yet.

First things first!

Can the (bone-headed) mechanic actually turn the engine with a wrench? (Bone headed because this should have been the second thing he tried after realizing that no power was getting to the starter)

We're all self-proclaimed Mopar gods-of-sorts, we'll be able to help you through this!

...I hope!

[Leeann]

Lara, that looks awfully like something built by Champion Motor Homes, but I'm not familiar with the Presidente model (my Concord was made by Champion, see my profile pic).

Is there a tag somewhere near the driver's seat with typed info on it, in addition to the Dodge/Fargo VIN plate?

For more info on the Champion brands, go here: http://www.championfleetowners.com/

The admins are really knowledgeable on all the brands (and have sales literature that hasn't been uploaded yet, too).

[hearseangel]

This is quite a thread! Normally I'm a lurker, but this convinced me to join. Well, that and I have a few questions for the collective MoparMind. I'm going to be moving out of my 1976 B700 school bus conversion and into my newly acquired 1969 M300 as soon as we repair the water damage. I'm hoping you guys (and gals) can help me find some info on the camper end of things. First, apparently the model was 'President' but I'm not having any luck locating more information. I would like to know more about its history and what it originally looked like. It has had people full-time in it before, and has had some alterations. I have a shop manual for the chassis, and that work is progressing nicely. We got it started this weekend and it sounds just like every other '69 Dodge with a bad muffler - beautiful! As soon as we (my guy has been roped in to help) bleed the brakes and get the lenses operational I'll be driving it 90 miles or so to shakedown the mechanics and then start doing some interior demolition. The roof has sagged and the ceiling and upper cabinets are pretty much a write-off, but I've never cared much for particle board anyway. The floors and all but the back wall are solid though. The parts that have me befuddled are which tanks/wiring/plumbing is supposed to go where. Lots of wiring is hanging loose. Sounds crazy I know, but the general layout and look of the rv are perfect for me, and I have plenty of elbow grease.

This is the closest I've been able to find as a comparable rv, but it has no real info! Just a picture...
http://www.kwyjibo.com/rv/view.asp?i=amh1980presidente.jpg

And this is my new baby...


Any information or advice would be most welcome. And I am planning on a good cleaning before I start anything else (just realized how bad the barnacles look in that picture) 😉

TIA,

Lara

[Goatmaiden]

79powerwagon wrote:

Leeann wrote:
It might have spun a bearing... 😞

Might just be low on oil or running too hot... I'm hoping it's not a spun bearing.

My fingers are crossed for you!

Thank you! Oil was low, but still registered on the dip stick so I too am crossing my fingers.

Update: Just stopped by the Dodge dealership. The mechanic can't even figure out why power is not working (hooked it to jumper box and still not working) 😞

Has anyone ever dropped a new engine into their old RV?