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1985 P30 Southwind Fresh water leaks
So I finally took my 1985 p30 27" southwind on a trip this weekend. she did ok overall. The main issue I am dealing with is lots of fresh water leaks. Some are inside and some underneath. I plan to run new pvc lines from the fresh water tank all the way to the kitchen and bathroom. I cannot find the location of the tank. I assume its above the black and grey water tanks. Will also check all the drains.. all simple plumbing stuff. Real issue is access under the RIg for the water tank. Also have a dreaded exhaust leak on the left side. I used the earls graphite gaskets. I am thinking that disconnecting the air smog pump and going to a copper gasket might work better based on what i have read. It could be the pipe to manifold thats leaking have not checked yet. any thoughts?1.1KViews0likes5CommentsRe: 1985 Southwind P30 Header options
Well I finally got most things done on the rig. I had a bad sway bar bushing and it was very unstable driving. FIrst drive was in a major cross wind down I5. Easy 30-45mph wind. Was white knuckle. Driving back to the storage yard from my shop made all the diff, was tracking nice and strait and seemed very smooth even at 70mph for a short while. I ended up bending the oil dip stick when I took it out to replace the manifold on that side. Tried to bend it back but its very hard getting it in. I may just get a standard short style dip stick and check from the dog house. I put in 7qts of oil. Seems to be on full mark. Here is what I did this weekend. 1. Installed new fresh water pump. 2. New Sway bar bushings. 3. New low pressure Hydra boost hoses (was major pain reaching them) 4. Full service to the Onan, new points, plugs, adjusted Carb and Gov. 5. Removed Axle shafts and inspected the rear brakes, new diff oil and gasket. 6. adjusted the parking brake. 7. lubed front suspension. Everything seems to work well. Roof air etc. I did notice that the hot water heater seemed to stay on. Water was very hot. Was nervous to let it get much hotter. I guess I can just turn it on when we need it but seems to not be kicking off. I did not see any adjustment. MIght need a new temp sensor. Would think there is a safety shut off. Plan to take it on a trip after all this work. Next weekend. The Dorman replacement manifolds seems to be doing well. I used the earls heavy duty gaskets and have retorqued them a a few times407Views0likes0CommentsRe: 1985 Southwind P30 Header options
SO update. Finally got everything done on the Rig. With new Manifolds on both sides and air injection tubes runs perfect. Sounds super quiet. For the amount of money I have in this Rig I dont mind changing the manifolds at $75 per side on Summit every now and then. Passed CA smog with flying colors. Now onto a few cosmetic fixes. But all systems seem to work, Heater, water heater, Roof ac, Fridge, microwave, and the onan all doing well. There is a dryer tube hook up on the outside, is this the stove hood vent tube? or for the external furnace?408Views0likes0CommentsRe: 1985 Southwind P30 Header options
yea I did check out the body this last time. I did not see any abnormal issues. I went up on the roof it all seemed very strong, no cracks, I ran a hose up there and did not see any leaks. This rig only has 50k miles and was store in a barn for 10 years. Its also a CA Rig. It terms of fitment. I really cannot see how these headers would not fit. There is far more room there than in a Car or truck. The pipe hook up may need a exhaust shop to cut and reflare the pipes to fit. The pipes can move around a lot. the real issue is going to be can they handle the heat. I am going to remove the radiator, May replace water pump, and go to a cooler thermostat. This is a carbed motor so I find they run better with a 165-170F thermostat. It also would not be hard to run some ducting from the grill to each manifold to provide more cooler air. I am 90% sure I am going to run with the stock manifold and the earls gaskets. At $70 a pop, if I have to change them 1 time per year I am ok with that. I am using high quality bolts and anti sieze so getting them on off should not be a major deal. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/rnb-674-161/overview/407Views0likes0CommentsRe: 1985 Southwind P30 Header options
yea. I am going to take some precautions, Building some heat shields, and I will wrap plug wires with longer heat tubes. I dont plan on any real long trips with this rig. It may go up to tahoe and I think the key is stopping every now an then to let the exhaust cool off a little. I have a Saab 9-3 modified with 400HP and the turbo an the manifold get cherry red when you run it on the dyno. a 7.4L engine I am sure is making some crazy heat when under a near full load. I only have $2500 in this rig and its hard to justify $1000 headers for it. I need to get some miles and trips in without a lot of issues before I invest a lot of money.408Views0likes0CommentsRe: 1985 Southwind P30 Header options
here was the link I found. these look like 4:1 http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-g9011/overview/ but the price is very nice. Noise is not a major issue for me. I was thinking of adding some heat shielding. I can just put a stock manifold on the other side for $70. So really more thinking of this long term. With any of these headers its going to cost me a $100 easy to have air injection bungs welded into the headers. I used Freeze Off spray on the bolts on the other side. They all came out without breaking. It did take a lot of torque to break them loose. The trick with the freeze off is to shoot the bolt head for 1 min a couple of times. The idea being you drop the temp to -4F and it shrinks the bolt just enough to get the penetrating oil in the threads. The other goo news is the passenger side I still have to do has way more room an should be more simple. I also used the earls performance gaskets that I hear are the best way to go on these.407Views0likes0Comments1985 Southwind P30 Header options
I have a P30 1985 Southwind with a 454. I replaced one of the exhaust manifolds on one side. The other side has to be done. I know everyone recommends to upgrade to the Banks or Doug Thorley headers. I am trying to spend very little on this RV. I know you get what you pay for but has anyone tried to just install a set of $150 cheapo headres from Summit on a P30. For the price I am ok if they only last a year or 2. I would have to have the air injection bungs welded in. A good coating and gasket I have a hard time believing they would not work. Is there a major fitment inssue. there is a lot of room in my Rig so I doubt that a Big block header for a A body or Fbody Gm would not work. Thoughts.6.9KViews0likes17CommentsRe: 1985 P30 SouthWind New motor engine/trans Options
Yes After some thought I concur with just getting a beefy TH400 and fix the basic engine issues. Can you push out a rear main seal on a 4 bolt 454? Its not leaking bad, jut hate leaks. ALso the TH400 in this I assume is the short tail with a fixed yoke? As far as I know the unit does not have any leaks I put a hose on the roof and sprayed around all the windows. Plus this is really a CA only RV. Most of the time I plan to use it there is no rain in CA. It was stored inside for the past 7 years. I will check more but the only thing I might do is replace the rubber weather stripping around the windows.871Views0likes0Comments
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