Rebuild ideas and thoughts
I am going to do a custom rebuild of my motorhome as I got it fairly cheap, probably paid way too much for it. I like to customize things and finding out what works and didn't work. Below are some ide...
Forum Discussion
So to answer some of the questions first ??
- More details on the Motorhome, it is roughly about a 40-foot class A. Has/Had a 1990 7.4L, Carb, and TH400 (need to verify this one though)
- The TBI I thought about it, but then I thought that for the price and workability as far as keeping it somewhat ease to work on, I am going to be sticking with the carburetor. I want to try and keep as much computer stuff out of the engine, powertrain system.
- Spray foam is my ideal on the way I am thinking about going, I also plan on doing a very thin layer before the spray foam just for the airtight water proofing idea. I don’t mind the cold or heat too much, it’s the drafts that get me. As far as the electrical I will probably be leaving it on the outside in a bulkhead type system. I don’t want to rip into the walls if I have to go chasing electrical shorts or running something new.
- This is a project that I do plan on taking out as soon as I get the power train system redone. I will post pictures of the reasons why I had to pull the engine at a certain point. But I am a mechanic by trade and usually people tell me that what I am thinking isn’t going to work, only makes me put it into play just to see if they are right. Usually I can figure something out.
- The house side I am pushing as a second priority, I am doing the engine work myself as this will save lots of money. I like to touch everything and try and give it a once over, sometimes can mean trouble but often I just want to make sure it is up to my standard. The house side I am fairly confident in that rebuild part as I got some people that owe me favors and usually, I can find items for really cheap or free.
- The weight side is a worried factor as I have thoughts of adding a pusher axle but then again, I would have to find this on a really good deal.
- I know I will not recover what I put into this, I enjoy doing projects like this, regardless if I had a new one compared to this one, I am not too confident with the quality of mass production. If I could find just a chassis, I would like to do one of them. I want to do the rebuild to my customization in trying to make this last forever. Hell, if all else fails I’ll just rip the home part off and turn it into a really big pickup truck. ??
- Punishment…lol…just like putting a cherry picker on loose gravel and dirt. NOTE: have rubber wheel replacement and maybe motorized boom. That became interesting, but it got done. I enjoy the blood sweat and tears. My timeline is roughly 6-8 months, with 2 months for powertrain system. I’m retired military and do have access to junkyard for military vehicle and parts.
- Camshaft I am going to upgrade this. The exhaust manifold is going to be gone and done, along with those stupid air pipes. But I do need to look into what bolt to use for the manifold.
So today I finally ripped the engine out, was a big project, probably broke some stuff but it came through the front, sort of easily. Just the conditions I was working in wasn’t really idea for the situation. I will be posting pics of the engine and reasons why I had to go this way first. The transmission will be next on my to do list, I will probably just replace seals and gaskets on that part as it isn’t a hard project to take out. One of the things that is boggling me is that I don’t remember removing the trans mount or any bolts, it looks like it is there but when I pulled the engine the transmission was not attached to anything. I will be looking into this later.
- More details on the Motorhome, it is roughly about a 40-foot class A. Has/Had a 1990 7.4L, Carb, and TH400 (need to verify this one though)
- The TBI I thought about it, but then I thought that for the price and workability as far as keeping it somewhat ease to work on, I am going to be sticking with the carburetor. I want to try and keep as much computer stuff out of the engine, powertrain system.
- Spray foam is my ideal on the way I am thinking about going, I also plan on doing a very thin layer before the spray foam just for the airtight water proofing idea. I don’t mind the cold or heat too much, it’s the drafts that get me. As far as the electrical I will probably be leaving it on the outside in a bulkhead type system. I don’t want to rip into the walls if I have to go chasing electrical shorts or running something new.
- This is a project that I do plan on taking out as soon as I get the power train system redone. I will post pictures of the reasons why I had to pull the engine at a certain point. But I am a mechanic by trade and usually people tell me that what I am thinking isn’t going to work, only makes me put it into play just to see if they are right. Usually I can figure something out.
- The house side I am pushing as a second priority, I am doing the engine work myself as this will save lots of money. I like to touch everything and try and give it a once over, sometimes can mean trouble but often I just want to make sure it is up to my standard. The house side I am fairly confident in that rebuild part as I got some people that owe me favors and usually, I can find items for really cheap or free.
- The weight side is a worried factor as I have thoughts of adding a pusher axle but then again, I would have to find this on a really good deal.
- I know I will not recover what I put into this, I enjoy doing projects like this, regardless if I had a new one compared to this one, I am not too confident with the quality of mass production. If I could find just a chassis, I would like to do one of them. I want to do the rebuild to my customization in trying to make this last forever. Hell, if all else fails I’ll just rip the home part off and turn it into a really big pickup truck. ??
- Punishment…lol…just like putting a cherry picker on loose gravel and dirt. NOTE: have rubber wheel replacement and maybe motorized boom. That became interesting, but it got done. I enjoy the blood sweat and tears. My timeline is roughly 6-8 months, with 2 months for powertrain system. I’m retired military and do have access to junkyard for military vehicle and parts.
- Camshaft I am going to upgrade this. The exhaust manifold is going to be gone and done, along with those stupid air pipes. But I do need to look into what bolt to use for the manifold.
So today I finally ripped the engine out, was a big project, probably broke some stuff but it came through the front, sort of easily. Just the conditions I was working in wasn’t really idea for the situation. I will be posting pics of the engine and reasons why I had to go this way first. The transmission will be next on my to do list, I will probably just replace seals and gaskets on that part as it isn’t a hard project to take out. One of the things that is boggling me is that I don’t remember removing the trans mount or any bolts, it looks like it is there but when I pulled the engine the transmission was not attached to anything. I will be looking into this later.
