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

[The_Boodles]

Thank you all for the warm welcome. I feel great about my purchase now. Not only is it in pretty good shape, it came with a built in network of technical support. 😉
Thanks for the great idea Leeann. It looks great! I'm definitely going to look into that. It's the sheathing, but only right in the middle. The rest seems solid but your idea seems so cheap and easy that we may go that route. By the way, you figured it out that quick? You're good!
Mark, will do on the christening, but may use beer lol. I DO live in Wisconsin. I will for sure put up some pics.
Well, counting down the hours... Got a big day tomorrow. Not only do we get to pick up our new addition to the family, but I also get to see Aaron Rodgers and the Packers beat up on Barrett Faver (sic??) or whatever his name is 😉 and the Viqueens. It's like X-mas eve.
Well have a good night, and we will keep you updated, plus I'm sure we'll have questions. Mark, that DOES have a nice ring to it... Mine's paid for... is yours?
The Boodles (Red Wheel Dude and his wonderful wife)

[eyeteeth]

Well... here's the big news for the weekend. The Rambler moved under it's own power today! She's finally parked back in my driveway tonight. Which I guess is ironic since I'll fill the LP and drive it back out to the campground next weekend. Got it running in the nick of time too... since we were just about out of Propane. made it last all summer.

Now I can finally get back to fixing some the the little things and get back to work on the remodel.

And to the Boodles... that had me just about rolling off the sofa. Too funny. Waaaaay too funny.

[TreeSeeker]

Cricket&Sam,

Go here for info on Refers: http://www.rvmobile.com/Tech/Technical.htm

In RVs of this age, the generator doesn't really charge the battery. Mine puts out only 3 amps to the battery. It would take days to charge the battery at this rate. You can plug in a regular portable battery charger and use that to charge the house battery or you can replace the converter with one that also charges.

For info on batteries:
BATTERIES--AND OTHER ELECTRIC STUFF

The 12v Side of Life

[Cricket_Sam]

Hey all, been a few days since I last posted anything. Just wanted to give out an update and a question.

I have checked out everything now, learned how they all operate. No A/C and the refer doesnt seem to be working. I can get the pilot light on it to work but no cooling at all. Could it need a charge? Anyone have any ideas?

The question I have is the genny isnt charging my house battery. My manual says I should have a circuit breaker switch located in the genny compartment but I can not seem to find it any where. Does anyone have a clue to where it could be or why the genny wont charge the battery?

76 Coachman Leprechaun, for those that dont know what I have.

[Trish_Davis]

The Boodles wrote:
HAHA Just realized the guy I bought my rig from is 79powerwagon.
LOL holy crap.

Red Wheel Dude-- You did good.

Red Wheel Dude is your new name, just thought I'd let you know that. ;0)


Small, strange world.

[Leeann]

Welcome to the insanity! Since we intimately know the details of the apple-green with red rims rig, I can honestly say you got a good deal (by the way, I had figured out you'd bought it from Eric in your first sentence).

Correct, most of these '70s rigs did not come with grey tanks. The biggest Class As might have had a grey tank. The earlier rigs actually were set up to dump the grey water on the ground, if you can believe that. My '73 dumps both grey and black into the black tank, as I'm sure yours does as well. Actually works out well as long as you take shorter trips as it keeps the black tank from, well, gunking up too much...*cough*

Are you talking about your ceiling liner or the actual roof sheathing? We just redid our ceiling as the nasty masonite had to go (it was trying on its own) and put in the plastic soffit/porch ceiling stuff that the bf's brother gave us for free. Looks great and will never get waterlogged, stained or moldy. Pics of that and more are here.

[whiteknight001]

Almost forgot, guys...

What do we just LOVE to say to all those folk who
are paying a mortgage on a real MOBILE HOME?!?

This is part of the indoctrination into the faith, y'all...
the cult of Dodge, hee hee...

"Mine's PAID FOR... is yours?"

Happy trails, buckaroos!!

Marky:B

[whiteknight001]

The Boodles wrote:
HAHA Just realized the guy I bought my rig from is 79powerwagon.
LOL holy crap.
Well she made it fine, and I'm picking it up from the shop on MON.

Welcome friends!!

This tends to be almost a family-like thang, and you are continuing
a wee bit of history with your rig, may God bless her and the both of
you. Stick around and pick through the posts here, ask questions and never worry about your posts being too long- I hold the record for verbal wandering, so you're good. For some weird reason the folks here continue to put up with an old fart like me. Now, you both have to post some pic's of the christening!! Save a bit of the bubbly and
pour it in the radiator lol! That not only beats the daylights outta smashing the bottle on the bumper, it also gives a blessing to your cooling system and those trips ahead!!

Godspeed- I hope I see you out there one fine day!


the lunatic in the lane next to ya...!

Mark "whiteknight001"

the one who started all this mess...:S

[The_Boodles]

HAHA Just realized the guy I bought my rig from is 79powerwagon.
LOL holy crap.
Well she made it fine, and I'm picking it up from the shop on MON.

[The_Boodles]

My wife of 14 months 🙂 and I just bought our first rv, and its a 73 C class Tioga. Was looking up info and found this forum. I love that this thread is still going strong 5 years after its inception. I didn't realize the strong love of these great little rigs.
Ok, so our rig will be ready to roll on Mon after the new tires and rims are put on (definitely needed them, were thrown in). We are so excited, we camp and travel all the time and found what seems to be shaping up to be good deal. I am having new lifters, plugs, timing chain and cam put in. It drove 70 miles home, slowly on county roads, but made it none the less, no new problems. All the parts were thrown in except the plugs. The guy who sold it to me is an old mopar guy, straight shooter. The few things he said were wrong, indeed were wrong. The cam wasn't necessary but if the rest need changing why not throw it in?
Now the outside is ROUGH, not too much damage, just filthy, faded, chipped paint on the front cab, but we are going to slowly do some work on that.
I am the son of an old car guy and feel i know a bit??? Did I get a decent deal you think? Here's the breakdown...(again the only thing not thrown-in/pre-installed were plugs)

360 75,000 miles, new cam, lifters, timing chain, rotor, plugs
everything else is strong; ie no broken springs, doesn't burn oil, starts INSTANTLY, even before fixing the timing, which impressed me, etc...
New fuel pump.
New master cylinder, lines, rotors, pads.
All running lights/signals etc. work.
all interior electric works (needs new battery, the guy before put the original MONSTER blue thing in there... of which does anyone have any info on those? Just curious.)
All appliances work, except for maybe the water heater, which just isn't hooked up for some reason. Otherwise furnace, fridge, water pump, toilet, shower, and stove work fine.
Water system clean and sealed.
New flooring put in, strong floor still.
The junky roof particle board is not great in one spot, but it is freshly sealed, no leaks. Plan on tearing all that old dtuff off and tacking up new wood.
Newly upholstered cushions. Is missing some curtains, etc, but threw in more of the fabric they used.
NO generator.
NO gray water tank, guess they didn't come with them? Is that true?
Again, new tires with newer rims. He had trouble finding 16 1/2" tires, so hence the new rims.
Again, the outside is dirty and faded, one rough corner near wheel well, but structurely in good shape. You can see in this pic:
http://picpaste.com/hotrodRV001.jpg
Long list I know, sorry 😛
So total investment when picked up Monday from this laid off mechanic that I found on craigslist who knew a bit about old Dodges:
$1000
I think I just found the right rig at the right time. Does anyone agree? Just kind of wanted some current and previous owners' opinions.
We think we did ok on this one, but wanted a little reassurance. We are still a younger couple, her going back to college. We don't have a TON of disposable income, so we want to make sure we didn't buy a slug.
Again, thank you for this forum, and we are excited to get her out next weekend to christen it!!!
The Boodles

[Trish_Davis]

hey, Errricc!
http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/rvs/1398769760.html

Good on you, Mark.
Yes, pictures when you get them. But I hope you're faster than I am...

[ALnCORY]

Good luck Mark,,, hope it works out.....

[overdrive75]

Yeah Chop Chop post some pictures.

[Leeann]

^ neither can I...hurry up, Mark!

[eyeteeth]

Ohhh can't wait to see the Film at Eleven unfold. 🙂