Older Class C with 350 Chevy Engine?

[Ballenxj]

Hi folks, I have found an older (1979) C class Midas 23 ft motorhome that I can get for a reasonable price that has a 350 Chevy engine in it.
If there are any of you that have experience with this rig I would like to hear you input on it. It has around 60k miles on it.
Anything in particular to watch out for?
Thanks in advance.

[Ballenxj]

Thank You Patrick. I have put it on the back burner for now, but will look again.
If the Chevy class C is still available when my friend gets back I may have him go back for another look. I am currently out of state, and that is the reason I have been relying on my friends opinion. Plus, He's pretty sharp too. 🙂

[PatJ]

I currently have a mid-80's Chevy C with a 350, and my previous rig was an early 70's with a Chevy 350. I have had excellent service from both of them. I had well over 100k mi on my last rig and about 10k on my current rig (current rig has 66k total.)

The early 70's engines had slightly more power, but there was the issue of valve seats with unleaded gas. By 1975 all Chevy truck engines could take unleaded gas and had HEI distributors so no more points. Any Chevy 350 1975 or later would be a fine C engine. They are not the most powerful engine on the road by any means but are easy to service, reliable, and have very inexpensive parts. Likewise the TH400 is an excellent transmission. Not the most efficient but very reliable and inexpensive to repair/replace. 4.10 gearing is perfect for a small C with that engine combo.

By the early 1980's the SBC was pretty down on power. My current rig with CA emissions is probably the lowest power SBC truck engine they ever made. They are very sensitive to timing. A couple degrees retarded timing or a sloppy timing chain makes a huge difference in power so make sure the engine is tuned up well. Easy to do since good quality parts are cheap. My C still goes down the highway fine, I usually do 60-65 on the flat 50-55 in the hills unless hills are very steep. I could probably go a little faster if I felt the need. I tow a small horse trailer and a couple horses or a flatbed with some quads and a RZR often, either totaling 4-5k lbs. Even with that it does fine.

I could probably see 10 MPG if I were on an easy flat 55 MPH backroad. >60 or 65 MPH Interstate really hits the MPG's hard. There are more efficient combos out there to be sure, but for the price of my rig vs a newer more efficient rig, I can buy A LOT of gas.

IMO the Chevy van chassis has better engine service access than Dodge of similar years, no experience with Ford. I know the Chevy has the Dana 70 rear axle which is common and reliable with inexpensive brake parts. I am not sure about the other brands. Chevy's also use hydroboost brakes which work VERY well, not sure about the other brands.

Your tire sizes leave you two good choices. 1) Upgrade all seven to 8.75R16.5 Firestone Transforce for ~$1200 and repeat every 5 years, or replace all 7 wheels with used (~$500) or new (~$700) and then buy your choice of seven 16" LRE radial (~$1200) and repeat every 5 years. The 16" advantage is ease of finding a replacement while out on the road. 16.5 is getting to be extremely rare.

My rig currently has 2009 Goodyear Workhorse on it that will get replaced in the spring with 16.5 Transforce - the GY aren't available anymore. The Firestone Transorce is the only reputable American 16.5 tire I have been able to find still in production, but it is a highly rated tire. I can't justify replacing wheels at this point since the Transforce are the same price as 16", but I do watch Craigslist for a deal on used wheels for use someday. 8.00x16.5 is even more rare than 8.75x16.5 and the 8.75 have higher weight capacity so no reason not to upgrade if you stay 16.5 (they are almost exactly the same actual size.) Make sure your wheels are suitable for radials if there are bias ply on there now, every Chevy wheel I have seen from the early 70's up are (usually Accuride brand.) You want radials.

Like everyone else said inspect the box portion closely that is definitely a make or break deal. I think the Chevy C chassis from that era is a very good platform. If the box is in good shape I say go for it. Joe B above definitely had some bad experiences, but I hope my many miles of good Chevy experiences balances it out 🙂 I have not had overheating issues, and don't use any more oil than any of my other Chevys including my wife's new Tahoe (about 1 qt per oil change.)

[Ballenxj]

Thanks again guys. I truly appreciate all your input and advice. 🙂

Dakzuki wrote:

...we got rid of her then to a friend, after nearly 30 years. Early 70s Chev Trucks had rust issues and ours was no different.

Are you guys still friends? Haha, just kidding.
I do remember working on cars of that vintage. I've changed a few timing chains too, and always wondered why they would sell a car with plastic lined gears? I know it was for noise, but really?
About that rear seal on the transmission, if a tranny leaked, I always hoped it was only the rear seal as that was only a ten minute job after the drive line was removed. My biggest problem now days is I have to realize I ain't as young as I used to be. All the work on cars I mentioned was done in the early seventies and all through the eighties.
By the way, my friend waved me off. He said there were just too many little things about it that worried him.

[Dakzuki]

tpi wrote:
Completely from experience-I have a theory called the tip of the iceberg effect. It applies to older automotive stuff and a lot more.

Tip of the iceberg effect: Anything you notice on test drive and inspections, multiply it by about 10 and that will be the service required to bring it up to par. Actually maybe not quite that bad but close. Don't count on any real honesty from the seller-count on him seeing it through rose colored glasses.

Not trying to discourage-just give a realistic base. You just can't see everything on typical buyer inspection. And lots of intermittent stuff doesn't show up.

This stuff can be fun to fix, and I learned a ton that way over the years. Just don't expect easy or cheap.

On a motorhome, the house can be more problematic than the driveline.

What Tpi said.

The 350 on a Turbo 400 is a pretty good machine. We had that setup on a 72 Chinook in the family. Ours had the nylon gears for the chain go bad but that was an age thing and the standard fix was a new chain with all steel sprockets. Other than that the Quadratoilet needed a rebuild but that was about it until the rear seal on the tranny started leaking...we got rid of her then to a friend, after nearly 30 years. Early 70s Chev Trucks had rust issues and ours was no different.

[Ballenxj]

Thanks joe_b and Klutchdust. Those are some serious points to consider.
I was also looking at a Dodge of the same vintage. Do they have the same problems?

[klutchdust]

I priced Michelins for my C from an online seller,

$161 per tire x6 966
tax 67.
shipping 94
installation at my home including balancing 25x6 150
total. 1277 divided by 6 $212.00 Where does the 300 dollar comment keep coming from. Am I missing something? Michelin LTX M/S LT 225/75/16 "E"

[joe_b_]

We had an early 80s model Mobil Traveler (MT) with a 350 Chevy engine in it. As I remember it was about 25 ft in length with bunk beds. We had two young daughters at the time so the house layout was great. However, even though it was and probably still is our favorite RV we have ever owned, it was a maintenance nightmare.

The seller, shall we say was less than honest. He was an Alaskan snowbird that wintered in Arizona and summered in Fairbanks. He would fly outside to Arizona, buy a used RV, live in it for the winter and drive it back to Fairbanks the next summer. Told me he had done this for a number of years. When I asked him if it used any oil on the trip up, he told me, some like most RVs do. Yeah, the first time I checked oil consumption it was a quart per 100 miles. Rather than buy oil by the 5 gallon buckets I had it checked out and found 3 of the 8 cylinders had cracks in the heads. So the first head change occurred in the fist few months of ownership.

The engine in our rig did not have good cooling for either the engine or the accessories mounted on the engine. We had to replace the alternator three times, the power steering pump, etc. but the big cost item was having to replace the heads (3) three different times. The rig had just over 20K miles on it when we purchased and finally got it to over 100K when we traded it in. Either the front clip had to be removed or the engine dropped down out of the frame to be able to change out the heads. The labor cost was very high but it wasn't a job I wanted to take on. We had to replace the Quadrajet carburetor once at a cost of over $650, back then. The heads were cracking between the valves and we were lucky a chunk of head metal didn't drop down in the piston hole while the engine was running. also had to have the transmission rebuilt twice, had to replace the furnace, the AC roof unit and the fridge. The fridge was obviously put in place prior to the roof being added so the dealer had to remove the passenger seat and front door to get the ole one out and new one in.

Plus the floor and the dog house got too hot to even have your feet on the floor when driving in warmer weather. I had to build an elevated insulated platform on the passenger side for my wife to put her feet. Never did solve the heat transfer problem.

The rig we had used a 4KW Generac and the low hours on it when we purchased it was a factor we liked. However after a few years of dealing with that generator, I could see why it was low hours as I wasn't able to keep it running any better than the first owner. LOL It was still under 200 hours when the odometer on the RV rolled over the 100K figure. Basically if there was a part on that MT that moved, I had to replace it, sometimes once and sometimes multiple times during the 80K miles we put on it.

Take a look at how you plan to use any older RV. If a 100 mile trip to the lake or favorite campground a dozen times in a summer is about it, then older ones are often a good buy. But if you plan to put lots of miles and nights on/in the RV, a newrer one, even if high mileage may be a better buy in the long run.

The memories we have of the old MT are great, as we made 6 round trips to/from Alaska to the lower 48 with it and I knew where some of the best and worst Chevy repair shops in the country, were located. LOL If the owner is a good handyman or woman, then the older ones can be a good hobby as well. But if you have to hire most of the repair work done at a shop, probably not a good buy for most people. My wife told me one time she thought we had probably spent $4,000 or more a year, for maintenance, on the MT the years we owned it and I suspect her figure, of costs, is low, but the family enjoyed the rig and the trips.

The odd size of wheel is also a problem and was becomming such by the time we got rid of the MT. Just a few shops stock a tire to fit a 16.5 in wheel, and the ones they still make are about double in cost and often have to be special ordered. So if the old rig still has the 16.5 inch wheels on it, be ready to spend about $2,000 to replace then with an appropriate sized 16 inch tire and wheel.

[tpi]

Completely from experience-I have a theory called the tip of the iceberg effect. It applies to older automotive stuff and a lot more.

Tip of the iceberg effect: Anything you notice on test drive and inspections, multiply it by about 10 and that will be the service required to bring it up to par. Actually maybe not quite that bad but close. Don't count on any real honesty from the seller-count on him seeing it through rose colored glasses.

Not trying to discourage-just give a realistic base. You just can't see everything on typical buyer inspection. And lots of intermittent stuff doesn't show up.

This stuff can be fun to fix, and I learned a ton that way over the years. Just don't expect easy or cheap.

On a motorhome, the house can be more problematic than the driveline.

[Bordercollie]

As newbies, we bought a heavy old 79 Delta Chevy powered "nightmarish" 23-footer with carburetor engine, points, inadequate engine cooling, and lacking in power at high altitudes,struggled pulling grades, inadequate brakes,RV generator and old roof AC needed overhaul, dash AC didn't work, engine heat through floor and dog house were excessive, furnace needed replacement. We payed too much and invested another $8K in overhauls, replacements and upgrades the first year. Never did repair the leaky roof and get rid of mold smell.Racing fans often sit on roof with lawn chairs causing leaky roof. Unless your prospective rig was maintained very well, is cheap enough, and you have the time, skills and tools , work space and money to spend, I would recommend saving your money and buying a much newer rig. Whatever you buy, for safety sake, it will need six new $300 tires right away if tires are 4 or more years old by date codes regardless of appearance or tread depth.
depth.

[Ballenxj]

klutchdust wrote:
What type of carburetor does it have or is it throttle body?

I think it's a Quadrajet 4 barrel carburetor.

[Ballenxj]

Thanks Fred, good to know about the tire and rim interchangeability. Also my friend looked the roof over pretty good from the inside, and reported no visible damage from leaks.
About the EPDM two part roof coating, do you mix the two parts before application? Or is it applied in two parts?
Thanks for your replies.

[klutchdust]

What type of carburetor does it have or is it throttle body?

[Golden_HVAC]

The rims should be easy to replace with 16" rims from a more recent van. Not a new one, but anything from the mid 80's should be fine.

400" engine is the same as the 350, with a little more power. Three speed auto, and it will rev up pretty high at 65 MPH, might not get 10 MPG at 65, but should at 55.

I had one, and put in a digital transmission gauge in it, and it read kinda high temps. I installed a larger transmission cooler, and it was fine after that. Check the fluid. If it is red, then the prior owner probably changed it already, and it should be good for about 10,000 miles. If dark red, then change it soon!.

Check the roof. If it needs repair, or replacement, consider a two part EPDM roof coating. Don't trust single part roof coating, as they can dissolve when under water for a long time (mine did).

Fred.

[Ballenxj]

rjstractor wrote:
IMO you should be more concerned with the condition of the house portion. While the engine, transmission and chassis condition are important, in that vintage parts should be readily available and not too expensive. On the other hand, leakage and rot in the house portion can quickly add up to a basket-case money pit.

Thanks for that advice.
My friend that is checking it out says he's going to check the plumbing by pressurizing it with a hose, but it does need a house water pump.
Also, there seems to be an issue with the heater. The fridge, oven, and range top all work.
The engine is actually a 400 inch small block and not a 350, which may, or may not be a good thing. It has 4:10 gears, which sound about right.
It needs two front tires, and they are 800 16.5's. There is something about that size tire that I think is not good, but I can't remember why.
The guy says he gets about 10 mpg with it. That sounds about right?
I told my friend to hold off for the moment, and he is going to try to price every thing out before I shoot him an offer.