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

[LadyCat1947]

Thanks for the welcome new'vr:-) I tried to thank you the other day but the website was giving me fits..

Cat

[LadyCat1947]

Dear FrizzleFried:-) My galley in on the side of the RV so that doesn't work.lol thanks for responding though:-)

Cat

[FrizzleFried]

I was poking around the motorhome last night when I decided to pull all the camping gear out of the back storage area next to the toilet just to take inventory (the guy I bought it from at last minute decided to leave all the camping equipment with the RV!)...low and behold, besides the wealth of camping equipment (2 propane lanters, propane stove, lantern mounts, etc.), which I knew about, was a box of papers...including:

Many mechanical receipts up to 2001...it appears that the owner prior to the guy I bought it from was maticulous about keeping receipts...from oil changes, to parts replaced...unfortunately, it seems that the guy I got the RV from wasn't so meticulous (or didn't buy much) as I have nothing from 2001 on.

Many "coach" receipts, also up to 2001...including purchase of my stove in 1995, refrigerator in the late 1980s...the two captains chars in 1995...etc....more good stuff indeed.

Also included, to my surprise, was the ORIGINAL OWNERS MANUAL for my 1977 Diamond RV. It surely is flimsy and doesn't provide much specific information, but it is just damn cool to have the original owners manual. I also have the original owners manual for the 2.7kw Onan generator (not sure how old it is...but the manual looks old), air conditioning, etc.

All in all it was one helluva find! This being my birthday, I couldn't ask for more!

[new_v_er]

Welcome YukonDoug.

There must have been some industry standard practices back in the mid '70s. That's why we stop by here frome time to time. We have many of the same issues which may or may not be resolved. Putting our heads together seems like the RAM kind of thing to do.:B

Keep us informed on how you worked out the heater issues. Remember, it could be a silent killer.

[YukonDoug]

I have an old 1975 Fireball on a Dodge chassis. It's a 24 footer and has needed some TLC. We bought it to give me a place to live while building a house. I'ts only been on one trip (Labor Day weekend to Kusawa Lake, Yukon), but my wife tells me I was camping all summer.

I did have to reframe the sleeper because of a leaking front window. I gave it the proverbial lick and a promise because of time constraints but am planning to finish the job later. I do have a few things left to take care of, including a blocked furnace pilot orfice and blocked gas tube in the oven, a leaky intake filler line to the water tank, and some serious doubts about the integrity of my transmission. It's only showing 68,000 miles (it's a US model so no kilometers) but, hey, who knows how many times it's gone around.

[new_v_er]

LadyCat 1947, Welcome. I meant to reply to you but FrizleFried got caught in the crossfire.:W

Have fun with the rig.

[new_v_er]

Pugmaster,
Thanks for the tips. Did you paint indoors? Did you tape off parts or remove them first. What was the sanding and prep process?
I know the temptation at the graphics. Been there with two boats.

FrizzleFried,
Welcome. We kind of went through the same process except I had to tear out the entire roof/ceiling. We installed FRP(the white bumpy fiberglass)paneling on the walls and ceiling. Gluing the stuff to the ceiling nearly lost me my religion.:R While I had the rig tied up Laurie painted all of the cabinets with a cranberry paint and stensiled and painted Loons in one corner of each of the doors and drawers. We then applied satin waterbase polyurethane for duability.

The whole color scheme resulted from some fleece material with loons.
While the rig was topless we installed new carpet and dropped in a sleeper sofa to replace the jacknife sofa.

Best wished to you both.

[FrizzleFried]

If your "kitchen" is in the rear, I would bet that RG means "Rear Galley"....being that "Galley" is a common word used in the boating community (and perhaps the RV community?)

[LadyCat1947]

We just bought a 1976 Minnnie Winnie 20RG (don't know what the RG stands for) Right now we are fixing it up, making it our own:-) Dan is in charge of the mechanics and I am in charge of decorating.. Dan says the emgine and transmission etc are in great shape, so that is very good news:-) The inside isn't bad just very dreary with all the dark paneling and brown curtians. The cushions are ugly so my first order of business is to get them reupholstered:-)

This is our very first RV (I am 57 Dan is 62) and we just love it (it hasn't even left the driveway yet.lol)

Cat and Dan in Ohio:-)

[pugmaster]

We bought an automotive spraygun set with a the 1gt sprayer, 1pt touchup gun and an airbrush. Already had an air compressor. Been looking often at that airbrush, considering attempting a little fancy decorative work on the sides and back end. Gotta practice on some scrap sheet metal first. Never tried airbrush work. Be glad to offer advice on your painting project. Took a while to get up the nerve to
attempt it, but once I got started I really enjoyed it.

[new_v_er]

Odd and Pug
Thanks for sharing the tips on painting. I'm toying with the idea as well. Any things to watch for in the process? Did you use spray guns?

[pugmaster]

We painted our "76 dodge ourselves. She has a aluminum skin that had lost most of the paint. As you did, we did a lot of light sanding, but we used a industrial grade primer and then painted her with 3 coats of Rustoleum high gloss paint. We applied each coat very lightly allowing plenty of drying time between coats.We got a beautiful smooth finish and very easy to clean and wax. Been almost 3 yrs and she still looks like a she was just painted.

[new_v_er]

Hi Truckerger,
These two sites may have what you are looking for. You may need to sit down when you see the price the fenders command.:E

http://www.all-rite.com
http://www.edmontonrv.com/

Good Luck

[Odd_Couple]

Just a note on our 1972 "Melmar" on a 300B chassis. I'm wondering if anyone else has an aluminum exterior. Ours is basically coated siding that had oxydized to the point that it was showing patches of bare metal. We finally decided to try painting it ourselves rather than pay the price of a professional job. After sanding the surface to remove any loose or chalky material, we used the Original Kilz (alcohol based) and then painted it with high quality Behr house paint. It turned out great and has held up perfectly for over 2 years and several thousand miles. Anyone else tried painting their rig?

[truckerger]

Mine is a '73 B300 Monaco. It was in bad shape when I got it but the interior and all the appliances now look good and work. Its a bit ugly on the outside and I was wondering if anyone out there knew where to get new fender skirts? Thats the only thing I need other than paint to complete this awesome coach. Thanks TG