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: 79powerwagon on 12/15/07 06:08pm

Leeann wrote:

79powerwagon wrote:

Me three!

Oh, did I mention she is a MOPAR girl, too? [emoticon]

You lucky boy [emoticon]

Damn straight! [emoticon]

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

Posted By: Trish Davis on 12/16/07 08:18am

MasterBoondocker wrote:

Griff in Fairbanks wrote:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/69-70-71-........076QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

And the seller calls that a SERVICE manual. That parts catlog is kind of useLESS - none of the #'s are any good anymore.

True in Auto Zone or Advance. NAPA, however, can cross reference them.
Whether they will or not is another question....

Welcome, Biggerhammer.
We don't always squabble this much. Not always.... *g*

Eric, NO. No purple.
No No No

Posted By: Dr Rob on 12/16/07 09:06am

heads up on Ebay
item #110205957009 - Travco 413 High Performance RV

Posted By: Biggerhammer on 12/16/07 11:02am

OK....I spent yesterday puttering with the new Fleetwing with an eye towards getting it running. Here's what I found.
The motor is a Dodge 360 V8. The DPO (damn previous owner) used the unit last year to go to Disney World for two weeks. Hasn't been moved or started since. No coolant visible in the radiator. Engine oil is waaay up high on the dipstick. Appears to be a couple of quarts overfull. Smells OK...it's engine oil. No water or gasoline in there. Transmission fluid registers about right on the dipstick, looks OK, no burned smell. What else? Ahhh...the air injection pump is completely missing, no bolts or brackets. Just the poor lonely air line to the manifold dangling down. There's a trip to the junkyard in my future. DPO has installed shorter fan belts, bypassing the air injector pump and the air conditioning compressor. Need to check out the air conditioner compressor clutch, too. One belt is rubbing on something, it has a groove worn down the center. Ah, its rubbing on the bottom of the water pump pulley. OK, an EXPENSIVE trip to the junkyard. Umm...gas tank cap is missing. Gas is probably at least a year old and mostly sludge. Can't see underneath, the rig has sunk into the sand past the rims.... can't get the jack under the axle to raise it. Back to the house for more tools...
Dug out room for the jack with my trusty, rusty shovel. Raised the front of the rig enough to get jackstands under the frame rails. Bottom side of everything looks OK. Bottom side of the front tires are flat. Used my little compressor to air up the tires enough to roll. Drained the oil. Comes out to right at two gallons...just a tad overfull. Replaced the filter, put in new oil. Removed the jackstands. Installed battery. The dual battery relay cycles OK when the battery is connected. Turning the ignition key gives me a click. Click, click, click. That's not good. Hmmmmmm.
Used a jumper wire to bypass the starter relay...motor cranks. Dang, I'd forgotten how these old Dodge reduction gear starters sounded... Unplugged the wires from the starter relay and cleaned the terminals. Plugged everything back in. Key now cranks the motor. Good, good...
Removed the doghouse and air cleaner and inspected the spaghetti on top of the engine. Need an air filter and a 2 inch heat riser tube. All hoses and wires look OK. I'm surprised. Even the small vacuum lines are still soft, no signs of leaks or cracks. Has an old Carter Thermoquad carb. I'll reserve judgement on that till I see how it goes. Ok. Got my fire extinguisher out of the van and put it close by. Cranked the motor for about 10 seconds or so. Looked down past the choke vane, it's wet in there, so the fuel pump is pumping something. Smells a little like old gas. Pulled the coil tower wire and cranked for a second...lots and lots of spark. Glad I didn't have my finger down there. Pumped the throttle once, manually held open the choke and cranked again. Start, you buzzard...
Pop. Pop. Chug. Wheeeeeze....
Pop. PopvrooooooOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM.....
Uh. The throttle linkage is stuck about halfway open. Sounded like a dang jet turbine spooling up.... Grabbed my can of carb cleaner and soaked the throttle linkage to free it up. A little better, but not quite right. I can track it down later. Manually set the throttle and choke, cranked away. Motor starts instantly. A little roughness till the choke unloader gets vacuum, then the idle steadies and smooths out to where I can let go of the linkage. Sounds good. I hear an exhaust manifold gasket leak tsssking away. No biggie, its easy to get to. Let it idle for a minute, feel the top and bottom heater hoses. Both are heating up, so there is water in the radiator, it's just too low to see. Cycle the transmission. Reverse and forward gears grab instantly, no slipping evident. Drive forward a couple feet. Shut everything off. Grab the trusty, rusty shovel again and fill in the holes where the tires were. Put down four slabs of one inch plywood to park on and back the unit up onto them. Shut everything off, reinstall air cleaner and doghouse, pack up tools and grab my notepad to make a parts run list. OK. One clamp on the upper radiator hose is rusted away. Get new clamps. The bypass hose looks raggedy. New hose. Oh, yeah, new exhaust gaskets, air filter and heat riser tube. There's a puddle of sticky goop on top of the air conditioner compressor. It's running down the side and has puddled around the bypass hose and heater hose. Looks like really thick maple syrup. Where did it come from? Hmmm...its on the bottom of the electronic ignition module, too. Removed the electronic ignition module. The potting compound has dissolved, running down the firewall and dripping down onto the motor. Never seen this before. This module works, but drips. New module. Think I'll also replace the fuel pump with an electric one. I like electrics better, no chance of filling the crankcase with raw gas from a torn pump diaphram. So, get a new electric fuel pump, a block-off plate for the old pump, and an oil pressure safety switch, and a new gas cap. New, correct fan belts. Ok... also list a trip to the junkyard in Daytona for an air pump and brackets and bolts. Might as well look for a new hood while I'm there, too. This one is rusting out underneath. Ummm. Get a can of wasp spray for the wasp nests under the front bumper, too.
That will do for the present. It runs really well, considering. I think my $500 is justified.
Sorry, no pics yet, my hands were greasy.... Besides, I'm wedged in between an old Greyhound bus conversion and the remains of a speedboat. Really bad camera angles. I'll get pics posted once I get the unit moved to a clear area....
Now, it's off to ebay to check on some parts, then a local patrs run to spend more money....

If it doesn't fit, get a Biggerhammer.

Posted By: Trish Davis on 12/16/07 11:31am

Dr Rob wrote:

heads up on Ebay
item #110205957009 - Travco 413 High Performance RV

yeah, Doc, we know. How come you never bled the brakes, easy fix. Same thing mine did. Yes, I'd bet on it.
You tried selling it here a couple months ago, remember?
I offered to double your money on it, but pushing a grand --no way.

Posted By: MasterBoondocker on 12/16/07 11:55am

Trish Davis wrote:

Dr Rob wrote:

heads up on Ebay
item #110205957009 - Travco 413 High Performance RV

Wasssupy T D ? .... am I missing something ?

A HP 413 ??... !!! ..... how do you figure ??

Posted By: Dr Rob on 12/16/07 05:18pm

yes..and i figured its worth a grand at least..so i said no..
just because i got a deal,doesnt mean i could replace it with another deal..
ive been looking around,these travcos arent common anymore..
but,at least i gave you first shot,right?

Posted By: Trish Davis on 12/16/07 06:58pm

MasterBoondocker wrote:

Wasssupy T D ? .... am I missing something ?
A HP 413 ??... !!! ..... how do you figure ??

What's up, Master BD, is I don't like being a targeted buying demographic. Not just me, all of us.
Fella got an awesome deal, showed up here, we welcomed him. Gave him a ton of links and tips. Must've included finding out Travcos aren't 'common' anymore. Well, yeah... since no new ones were built after the Chrysler bail-out.
Week later, he tried to flog it off (on any one of us).

When my dad was running his rods, folks would come over and yammer on the cars. 2 weeks later, they'd be trying to flog something they "said" Andy Davis had built /rebuilt. Or claimed to have one of his carbs on it....
Irked me then, irks me now.

HP = BB?

Posted By: glw on 12/16/07 08:01pm

Biggerhammer wrote:

Gas is probably at least a year old and mostly sludge.

Biggerhammer, this could be a problem starting this with all that old gas? [emoticon]

I hope the DPO...LOL, had stabil or something in the gas? I'd start by cleaning that out, hassle, but will save you TONS of problems down the road.

I have the 360 chassis on my Chinook, 1977. Not sure if you have a manual, but if you need some pics of pages for an aide, let me know, I can scan and send to you for those missing brackets and stuff.

Funny how you mentioned that transmission banging right into gear, mine does the same, not a hair of slippage. I thought PO had put a shift kit in it or something when he rebuilt it? Sounds like ya got a good handle on it, and a $500 well spent.
[emoticon]

Clean that Gas tank out............I don't think you'll be sorry.

Gary Webb
Phoenix, AZ

Posted By: Trish Davis on 12/16/07 09:46pm

Biggerhammer wrote:

There's a trip to the junkyard in my future.
OK, an EXPENSIVE trip to the junkyard.
Now, to ebay to check on parts, then a local patrs run to spend more money....

Yep, you're in the right place, Biggerhammer... No doubt about it.

While you're on eBay, search for a T-Quad rebuild kit.
I saw one there about a week ago.

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