Gale Hawkins
Murray, KY
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Joined: 07/22/2007
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This post is long so if you are not Paul and do not like long post then this is one you will want to skip to save you the time to post that it is not well written which is factual. ![[emoticon]](http://www.coastresorts.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/smile.gif "smile")
Paul that is a touching post of how your grandparents planted the positive motor home experience in your mind as a child. I did not catch your state but the place you go get your car tags would be the place to start to get it titled again. Sometime people turn in the title to keep from paying taxes.
From your post I gather you go in the MH from time to time and it has stayed dry inside assuming it has been setting outside so you know you do not have water damage over the past 5 years. DO NOT worry about the tires at this point if they look so so and have the minimum air pressure stated somewhere around the driver’s door and if they are the 19.5 wheels that will be around 65 pounds most likely for that generation. Just do not get out and run it hard with those tires but slipping around to get service and checking it out if the MH is worth fixing up should be OK. 20-30 mile local trips do not require the best of tires and if the cracks are less than 3/32 deep Michelin states they are not show stoppers in and of themselves. You can deal with the tires before you put it over the road. Defer all like expenses until you know you are going to put it on the road and have the paper work in order.
Getting the gas out would be a good idea but you may be able to do that with the electric fuel pump by defeating the safety feature at the oil pressure sending unit. The safety device prevents 12 volts from reaching the fuel pump if there is no oil pressure and I assume that an 87 would be set up that way but I think you also have a mechanical fuel pump at the engine as well. There should be a fuel filter ( rather large) in the fuel line near the tank and most likely mounted on the frame. I think yours also has a fuel filter in the carburetor when the fuel line screws in at you can remove after you remove the fuel line. However I would not get concerned about the gas supply just yet because it is not required to get it at least to start and run a few minutes.
If it was parked with clean oil some would start it up with the current oil if it was clear but there could be moisture in the bottom that would get picked up if started so just draining it out and replacing it and the filter would cost less than $20 for both from like Wal-Mart. I would just go with 10 W 30 or 10 W 40 or even 30 weight because you will want to change in most likely in a few hundred miles any way or I would.
Ideally I would remove the plugs and put a couple 50/50 mixture of like motor oil and diesel in each cylinder and leave out the plugs so you can bring up the oil pressure with the starter but first I would turn it over by hand (socket on the crankshaft pulley bolt) just to make sure it has not frozen up (stuck piston). The junk yards will take an engine that has been frozen up for years and start doing the soaking with the 50/50 mixture and working with the engine to get it freed up over a period of a days. A lot of people do not know it but if moisture does not get built up on the crankcase (and most often they do not) the sitting does not really hurt an engine in a mechanical sense. I have seen old trucks, tractors, dozers, etc sit for 10-20 years and fire up and be OK. You could dry start it by putting squirting a little gas into the carburetor but since you may want the MH for a long while I would pull the plugs because you may want to replace them anyway since I think new plugs for my 454 was only like $12-$15. For $3 you can get a spark plug boot puller and can save you hours and tearing up your old wires which should be fine to test start it. With no plugs in it will take little battery power to turn it over and bring up the oil pressure but I would not turn it for more than 30 seconds at a time because starters when not designed to turn under a load for very long.
Assuming the engine turns over fine you could then install the plugs (check the gap and I would guess .035 would be about right based on what it would be in a Chevy). Just to get it started I would squirt about an ounce of gas into the carburetor and turn it over to see if it will try to start. If it does you can keep it running by squirting (I have used a catsup bottle) a little gas at a time into the carburetor. I have seen one backfire and catch fire so I would make sure I had an old coat or something to put over it carburetor just in case. If the engine starts and kind of runs for a few minutes you should be OK on having a functional engine.
Then you could look at removing as much fuel as possible either with the electric fuel pump or taking it out the filler opening if there is not plate designed to keep people from stealing your gas by preventing a hose going down the tube. Those tubes are very long also. If you do it by the electric fuel pump that is in the tank then you have tested and proven the electric fuel pump to be functional but it would take a long time to pump our 40-60 gallons of gas. If the tank has a drain plug then you are good to go with out messing with all of the other stuff. Remember a spark could be one too many so make sure not to bang the wrench against metal when removing it. Diaphragms in the mechanical fuel pump (if you have one with your engine) can dry out but fuel pumps are easy to replace (if you have access). I would only get concerned about the fuel filters at this point if you can not get the smell of gas when starting the engine.
Check for fuel line leaks if it does start and run. Later you will want to look at all hoses and belts (any and all rubber stuff). Ideally you would drop the transmission pan and replace and refill it to bring it backup to full but I would first move it around the place a little which will be all you can do until you get it tagged for the road. Then you can start on brakes, etc but if they stop it OK for now then you can turn your attention to other issues like the AC units, Generator, convert, etc. I would get one engine and one coach battery initially. After that you could turn your focus on the appliances, etc.
Best of luck but go slow on spending cash because if either the engine or transmission is bad you can get great running units for a fraction of what may cost you to get the Grand parents MH on to the road again.
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mcewena
Canada
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Joined: 02/20/2006
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Gale Hawkins wrote:Ideally I would remove the plugs and put a couple 50/50 mixture of like motor oil and diesel in each cylinder
I don't know anything about RVs but for old cars I'd add:
While that's soaking I'd have a look at the cooling system as well, looking for cracked hoses etc.. Drain the rad and flushing the cooling system with a garden hose will loosen sediment that's gathered over the years. Probably a proper flush at a shop would be in order after it's on the road.
Some would advocate doing a flush of the brake lines as well.
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Ice-Man
United Kingdom
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Joined: 11/22/2007
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Johnny T
Fantastic - I have been looking into rv's for about 6months as I am planning a 4 year trip in one - starting in New York or Boston(depends who offers the price at the time) Your information has taken some time to read and re-read, but I have read with great interest and the points you raise, some I had already considered, but others I had not. I have visited a few centres here in England and looked at quiet a few already, but not in the detail you have pointed out and of course for me, it will be like buying a home so things do need to be in the right place.
Thanks for your pointers and if you have any specifics that could help, I would be much obliged to you and anyone else out there. In brief, my partner and I will be buying an rv in about 5 yrs time in America and driving it all across the States and Canada then through Europe and Eastern Europe then back into the UK.
Once again, thanks and I look forward to the day I collect my final decission!!
Icey
Brighton, England.
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off2glamis
Tucson-Yuma AZ
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Joined: 12/13/2007
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Johnny T.
Excellent post but I do have to disagree with you on one point.
Buying new for your first RV may be a mistake. Even it you have done all your home work.
The financial hit you will take on a new unit if you find that you bought the wrong RV for you, will be in the thousands or tens of thousands or more depending on what you purchased.
Follow Johnny T's advice to the tee. Except in my opinion buy a used RV first just to make sure you keep your losses to a minimum if what you thought was right for you ends up not being what you expected or it just flat out does not fit your needs.
You can plan and research for years and until you own that RV and hit the road there is no way to tell if all that planning and research paid off.
Worst case depending on how you look at it is after hitting the road and your homework paid off and you did get the RV that fits all your needs then upgrade to a new unit if you even need too.
It's your money do what you think is right for you. I am talking from experience. With all the choices out there it is very hard to pick what works best not just for this year but all the years to come.
Best case again depending on how you look at it is that you bought an RV that does not work out like you had planed after all your planning and research. In this case you saved yourself some big bucks and then go get the new RV that will work for you.
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Mr.Mark
Out West and Mid South
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Joined: 09/24/2006
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Ice-Man, what type of RV were you and your partner considering? Since you will be taking it back to Europe, I guess size would matter as anything over 38-40 ft. would be a little cumbersome to maneuver in downtown London!
I read about RV's for 7 years before I made my purchase, we rented 3 RV's before the purchase, one class-C (31 ft.) and two class-A's that were both 38 ft. long.
I felt buying new was the only way to go since I couldn't even find an existing new unit equipped like I wanted. So, I contracted for a factory order and have been 100% pleased with my decision. I got all the options that I thought we would use and need while traveling. One was getting two Euro recliners across from the sofa rather than having two sofa's. I think this configuration is much more flexible. I did not want a booth dinette, I wanted free standing chairs with a legless table. I wanted an ALL tile living area because the carpet in the rental units got dirty pretty quick.
MM.
Mr.Mark
2021.5 Pleasure Way Plateau FL Class-B on the Sprinter Chassis
2018 Mini Cooper Hardtop Coupe, 2 dr., 6-speed manual
(SOLD) 2015 Prevost Liberty Coach, 45 ft, 500 hp Volvo
(SOLD) 2008 Monaco Dynasty, 42 ft, 425 hp Cummins
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MagillaGorilla
Central Mass
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Joined: 08/14/2007
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Here’s a thought on buying your first RV with a different twist on it. For years now I have been telling my wife that I want to retire into an RV and spend our retirement seeing the country. I’ve been telling her this for 20 years now and she aint buying. We once had a TT in York Beach Maine and she liked that because it was more like hoteling than it was camping. In the 20 years I have been pitching the RV idea she has always had it in her head that it meant we would be camping and she is a hotel girl.
Recently we road tripped in our car. We did 17 states on the eastern seaboard. During this trip we stayed in many hotels. As you can imagine some were nicer than others. The not so nice ones worked out very nice for me. After the trip I convinced her that if we had an RV we would never have to stay in another dirty hotel. I explained that she would always have her own bed linens and her own bathroom. She was now nibbling at the bait.
I took her to look at some RV’s while in Florida. I’ve been trying o get her in one for years and she wanted no part of it. Now that she looked inside one she liked what she saw. We looked at quite a few but could not buy one because it meant she would have to drive our car back to New England while I drove the RV. No sale!
When we got home I new I had to reel her in quickly or I would loose her again. I also knew that if I went to look at new RV’s she would never bite. The price was to high for something that she was only mildly interested in. So I started to look for a nice used RV. Sounds easy but its really not. There is a lot of junk out there. There are also some nice rigs but the prices were to high. I needed something for a moderate price if I was going to make this happen.
After much shopping I found two mid 90s class A motor homes. I new I needed clean, roomy, inexpensive and well lit. These were the things that were important to her. For me I knew I needed an on board gen, a decent galley and a bathroom that was bigger than a postage stamp. The two rigs I found both fit the bill.
After much negotiating I was able to use cash as a motivator and bought a 95 Damon Daybreak for short money. Once we got it home and cleaned up the wife was starting to get excited about it. I knew we needed to use it before winter set in or she might loose interest. So we took it out and I brought her to the seafood festival in New Hampshire. She had a ball. After that we went to the Big E in Massachusetts. Once again she had a great time. She loved having her own bed and hew own bathroom.
Right now its winter here in New England and other than going to the last two Patriots Playoff games the camper sits dormant. For 20 plus years I have been trying to get the wife to go to a local RV show and the wants no part of it. Yesterday I mentioned in to her and she could not wait to go. Next weekend we will be at the RV show at Gillette stadium and we will be looking at new RV’s. Now she has the bug.
So the moral of this story is that if you want to catch a big fish, sometimes you have to start small and work your way up. For Me I had to lead her to the water, reel in a minnow and then use the minnow for bait in order to catch the big one.
Magilla
Magilla
2005 Holiday Rambler Admiral 37' Gasser
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FLTravelman
Florida
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Joined: 02/12/2008
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Hi,
I really liked your post. It certainly covered a lot of the questions and many I did not even think of. The one down side for me is that I am nor do I ever plan to buy a new coach. My budget and lifestyle does not allow me to ever buy new. Most of what you wrote applies to buying a NEW MH. What can you tell those of us that are not buying a new one but plan on buying 5. 10 or 15 years old?
Thanks
Randy
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Gale Hawkins
Murray, KY
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Joined: 07/22/2007
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Randy seldom will you find a worn out MH at least from the chassis side of the coin. If the running gear (chassis) is solid then getting new rubber an important thing to consider. Next is the roof. If you like the floor plan OK and the chassis is in good shape then you can coat the roof (depending on roofing type) and get more years out of it or you have have to do some roof repairs if a leak as occurred. Even a 15 year MH could provide another 10 years of good service after you addresses the needs that will pop up in the first couple years of ownership. Just look at some of the rigs owned by rv.net posters. If you are putting 15-30K miles a year on one then that is another story but for the 5-10K miles per year user a 15 year old unit can be just as dependable as a new unit. Motor homes are more like trucks and tractors. With reasonable service and repairs they can just keep on going and going. Personally I like to buy solid used vehicles and get the issues like belts, hoses, brakes, bearings out of the way when the engine and transmission seem to perform as expected. Of course with an RV you have to have a solid roof (non leakier) or you can loose the house in short order just like with a stick built house. I hope these thoughts are in line with what you were asking.
I think for $15K you can have a motor home as dependable as one selling for $300K but putting $30K can buy one maybe 15 years of good service instead of 10 years as mentioned above. I really do not see knowing my needs beyond 10 years for a MH so buying one to last 25 years just does not seem best in my case. You hit the nail on the head about life style. That varies from person to person and it seems to me happiness is more a state of mind vs. state of one's toys.
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safarilover
conyers, georgia
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Joined: 03/06/2008
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Hi, I have a 2001 Safari Panther and I was just wondering if anyone out there is having a problem stopping. Do I always have to have my jake brake on? Please respond. From concerned
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Mr.Mark
Out West and Mid South
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Joined: 09/24/2006
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Safarilover, it doesn't matter what kind of motorhome that you have, it MUST be able to stop without the jake brake. Take it in the shop to be evaluated!
My Dynasty will stop just fine without the 'engine brake'...but, I just have to press harder on the pedal.
MM.
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