Coast Resorts Open Roads Forum: How many of us are there? Owners of Dodge based RV's?

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Topic: How many of us are there? Owners of Dodge based RV's?

Posted By: Big_John on 08/06/07 04:20pm

I'd pull the spark plugs just for laughs. If the screw heads went through the cylinders, they might have beat up the plug electrodes.

Most likely, they've already passed through the engine. Being small and brass, you've got a decent chance they didn't do any harm.

Posted By: Trish Davis on 08/06/07 10:40pm

Real quick, a couple-three things:

I am new to this forum. Not to camping, just to being the parent this time around.

What a thread! Found it the other day, read 3/4 of it. Skipped those pesky 40 pages or so in the middle. Lots of experience and tips. Much appreciated.

I am looking at a '73 Dodge /Avion chassis cab, has the 360 in it, 55thousand.
Now, I need specific information. All early 70's 360 Class C's run with 4-bbl's?

I believe it has the .410 rr end w/ the limited slip, but am not sure. What does that particular differential look like? I got a Columbia in an old Mercury which doesn't look anything like a "normal" differential, so I am gonna assume neither does this. Yes /No /I'm full of it?
(No, really, it IS a Columbia 2-spd. Works off a vacuum rod on the dash, neat.)

The pictures I have of the rig, the trans is a 3-spd auto. Okay with me, I'm tired of shifting gears. BUT a a 3-spd auto in front of a .410 is gonna eat travelling money.
Is there any year Dodge OD trans that's compatible? Driveshaft shortening is not a problem. Lengthening would suck.

And what is this intake crossover/ Precisely, WHERE is it? Never had a van before, can I find this with the hood open and the air cleaner off or I gotta take the inner engine panel off?

Going to look at it Friday; 7-hr drive from here, but worth it for the right rig.

Thanks for this thread, by the way. Even though that was four-five things.
Trish

Posted By: 79powerwagon on 08/07/07 05:24am

Hi Trish, and welcome aboard!

In the early 70's, the 360 came with a 2v or 4v carb, depending on application. The 4v carbs tended to be Carter Thermo-quads (unmistakable enormous black units), and the 2v carbs were either Carter BBD (only good use for them is fish habitat at the bottom of the ocean) or the Holley (not much of an improvement!).

The Dana rear end is under the truck, if it's a chassis cab unit. If you look at it from the rear of the truck, it'll have a lop-sided octagonal shape to it. It'll be plenty strong.

The Dodges all had 3 speed 727's in them. There is a difference between the small block and big block tranny's, but that's pretty much only the exterior casting. The innards are the same (basically).

Later Dodge OD tranny's can be retrofitted without too much grief, but since they're made out of styrofoam, why bother? A better choice would be to shorten your drive shaft and add a seperate OD unit after the tranny (Gear Vendors comes to mind, among others). However, you may be surprised that the old rig may actually get competitive milage as it sits right now! My uncle had a Shasta Class C on a Ford chassis, it was a 1971 I think. He swears he got 17mpg with it. I fully expect about 8mpg with mine, which is no worse than my pick-up truck anyway! [emoticon]

One thing to look CLOSELY at when you examine your "new" rig is the chassis battery area. That's where most of the rot will be, and these vans have welded in battery trays, so repair/replacement is not an easy thing. At one point, the battery fried in mmine, leaving a big mess that rotted most everything away! I'm just going to hack-weld it all back together, it's no show queen by any means! But look carefully there.

Otherwise, just expect what you'ld expect from a 30+ year old truck!

Keep us posted!

Eric

EDIT: PS- the cross-over is a heat channel cast into the intake manifold to get the cold running of the engine to be a bit more civilized. You cannot check it without removing the intake manifold. Just expect it to be plugged. Not the end of the world, just a nuisence in my book! [emoticon]

She ain't purdy, but at least she's slow!

Posted By: eyeteeth on 08/07/07 06:49am

It's probably in this thread somewhere... but I'll fess up. I'm going to be lazy and ask as I never have much luck with the search feature.

What's a good chassis/engine manual for these older units, and where on earth would I find one?

Posted By: 79powerwagon on 08/07/07 06:56am

I just went to AutoZone and picked up the 70's Van book from Haynes. It'll cover enough to get you through whatever you encounter, and it has full wiring diagrams. Since I have owned many Dodge trucks over the years, I have many truck manuals, so things like engine specific and tranny specific are covered in those.

The BEST you can do is an actual Factory Service Manual, which is a crap-shoot in finding. There are some companies now reproducing them on CD ROM, but I do not know if they have the B300 or not.

Just get the Haynes, it'll do just fine!

Eric

Posted By: Leeann on 08/07/07 07:00am

For '74s:
74 Dodge Compact

'75s (supplement to '74):
75 Dodge Compact

'76s:
76 Dodge Compact

'77s:
77 Dodge Compact

'78s:
'78 Dodge Compact

* This post was edited 08/07/07 07:11am by Leeann *

'73 Concord 20' Class A w/Dodge 440 - see profile for photo

Posted By: eyeteeth on 08/07/07 01:06pm

Thanks for the links... need a '79 though. [emoticon]

I'll check at the auto stores. I was in one for lunch looking for new seal material for the doghouse... they looked at me funny. lol.

Posted By: mkpj1 on 08/07/07 01:10pm

Sorry Eric, I only got pics of the engine bay for you. My computer cord was "hacked" in half by the little beast in the pic. The beast taking the picture ran the batteries down in the digital camara so i didn't have it sunday to pull the front tire. that will have to wait till next weekend. As you can see we have "two" new camping buddies. this is one of them giving me the tongue as he is confronted for chewing my computer chord in half. Sorry about the carb man!

[image]

Posted By: Leeann on 08/07/07 01:23pm

Okey-dokey, none on eBay right now, but it is available here

I take it the beast is only still alive 'cause it's so cute??? [emoticon]

Posted By: 79powerwagon on 08/07/07 01:41pm

Thanks Ken, that's what I was looking for. I clearly have the wrong bottles (that were harvested by a friend), but I may be able to make them work. I also seem to have the wrong radiator in there, but it's a big one, so I'll not worry about it until I have to.
[image]

The carb is all rebuilt now, so need to be sorry about that! I see some kind of braces under your battery. Is it as bad as mine? Looks like a battery over-charged and burst on mine!
[image]

Eric

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