Dang, 12.0 makes me really jealous….
'73 Concord 20' Class A w/Dodge 440 - see profile for photo
VintageMopar wrote:
OK, I have been slogging my way through this thread for over a month now and finally reached the end so I can post and comment.
OK, I have been slogging my way through this thread for over a month now and finally reached the end so I can post and comment.
Whatcha take that long for? I dived in here with one dumb question. Don't wait- lol!
VintageMopar wrote:
Having been a journeyman auto mechanic (in a previous life)for a total of 36 years, spent 23 of those at various Chrysler dealerships I have been chomping my teeth when someone posted a question 1-5 years ago and I had the solution.../sigh
Having been a journeyman auto mechanic (in a previous life)for a total of 36 years, spent 23 of those at various Chrysler dealerships I have been chomping my teeth when someone posted a question 1-5 years ago and I had the solution.../sigh
All the more reason to dive in and "share the joy". I'm always learning something in here!
VintageMopar wrote:
My wife and I have a 1973 Dodge B300 sportsman 20 footer. It was in fair condition a month ago when we first got it, but it's getting better every day. We are literally in love with it.
My wife and I have a 1973 Dodge B300 sportsman 20 footer. It was in fair condition a month ago when we first got it, but it's getting better every day. We are literally in love with it.
Nothing like the old Dodges. Bulletproof reliability, military-grade durability, infinite personalizatability, and best of all, being able to look the other fella in the eyes and say: "Mine's paid for. Is yours?" Priceless. Or as Charlie Sheen would say: "WINNING!"
VintageMopar wrote:
I have to thank everyone in this thread, especially Trish, Leanne, whiteknight001, goreds, oldman and others that have helped me and others with our mopar rvs. This thread has been invaluable. Hope the best for everyone that started and kept this going over the years. I will try and help out and carry the torch with my dodge and automotive experience.
I have to thank everyone in this thread, especially Trish, Leanne, whiteknight001, goreds, oldman and others that have helped me and others with our mopar rvs. This thread has been invaluable. Hope the best for everyone that started and kept this going over the years. I will try and help out and carry the torch with my dodge and automotive experience.
Thank you most kindly, sir! But I owe all this thread to the folk you mentioned besides me, and so many more. Trish (let us know watz goin on wit you girl, love you, miss you and your acid wit, let us know how you are!! Today!!) and Leeann have been like our "Den Mothers", and they have kept us playing nice, washing our hands and flushing lol. We'd be sorely lost without them, and the rest of the folks who post here and keep this thread alive, and greet new folk who wander in here. They are the ones who really deserve the credit. Not me.
VintageMopar wrote:
Now my story of our first outing. We went to a Mo. State campground about 100 miles away. Filled up before going to campground, (gas gauge is inop at this time). Figured out we got 6.4 MPG....We had a great time, camper performed perfectly, got down to low 30s at night, but little 1500 watt electric heater kept it warm. Day before we were leaving, I pulled the doghouse, zipped off the top of the Holley 2bbl, lowered the float level about 3/8 inch,(not recommended for the faint of heart), lengthened pump stroke and advanced the distributor about 10 degrees. Now I had set all these to specs before hand, but I was so mad about the MPG, I was not gonna accept that. End of story, got 12.0 on the way home, no pinging on hills, no lean pop taking off from a stop and a lot more power. Btw drove 50-55 MPH each way. Try doing that with a fuel injected, sensor covered engine!
Now my story of our first outing. We went to a Mo. State campground about 100 miles away. Filled up before going to campground, (gas gauge is inop at this time). Figured out we got 6.4 MPG....We had a great time, camper performed perfectly, got down to low 30s at night, but little 1500 watt electric heater kept it warm. Day before we were leaving, I pulled the doghouse, zipped off the top of the Holley 2bbl, lowered the float level about 3/8 inch,(not recommended for the faint of heart), lengthened pump stroke and advanced the distributor about 10 degrees. Now I had set all these to specs before hand, but I was so mad about the MPG, I was not gonna accept that. End of story, got 12.0 on the way home, no pinging on hills, no lean pop taking off from a stop and a lot more power. Btw drove 50-55 MPH each way. Try doing that with a fuel injected, sensor covered engine!
Ain't no way a sensor-laden rig of today could keep up. I think of a "Scotty" quote from "The Search for Spock" when he says of the new transwarp drive on the new "Excelsior" and her captain's reply of how he will love to break the "Enterprise" records...
"Ay! Th' more ye tax the plumbin', th' easier it 'tis to stop up the drain!"
The 360 and 440 represent two of the best powerplants on the planet. Backed with the venerable, solid performing "Loadflite" automatic, they'll outrun and outlive anything made today. I did the same to the "Kobayashi Maru" and I got 11 mpg, so what you're saying is SPOT ON.
Please, feel welcome to post things here. We all need this, because things we work on don't rely on no stinkin' computers. They all are from a better, vanished time when engines were engines, and mechanics knew what they were doing, with hand tools, not probes and keyboards.
And ears and eyes were the best sensors in use.
Welcome to you and your Mrs., VintageMopar! And happy holidays!! Thanks to all the good folk here too, and happy holidays to y'all too!
And may God bless and keep us all, this day, and in the days to come.
your pudgy old friend,
Mark "whiteknight"
tilter with windmills par excellance...
1972 Mobile Traveler 20' Dodge B300 Class C
"The Kobayashi Maru" Trans- Prarie Land Craft
"Requiescat in pace et in amore..."
Thanks
Bill
2017 Sunlight V-1
Ram Promaster Van
wohtex wrote:
I have been looking at older Class C's with the idea of getting something for short trips fishing etc., I have a 35ft FW and Diesel P/Up for full-timing but we have been off the road for the last year due to frequent medical appointments. Any way I have found one with the Dodge 318 (1979) and another with the Cheve 350 (1981), from what I find on the web the 318 is about 230HP/320 torque, the 350 is 160HP/250 torque, does this sound right? If so given the same size MH would the 318 be more capable than the 350? My trips would be in and around Colorado.
Thanks
Bill
I have been looking at older Class C's with the idea of getting something for short trips fishing etc., I have a 35ft FW and Diesel P/Up for full-timing but we have been off the road for the last year due to frequent medical appointments. Any way I have found one with the Dodge 318 (1979) and another with the Cheve 350 (1981), from what I find on the web the 318 is about 230HP/320 torque, the 350 is 160HP/250 torque, does this sound right? If so given the same size MH would the 318 be more capable than the 350? My trips would be in and around Colorado.
Thanks
Bill
My '69/'70 Explorer (Class A) had a 318-3 with a 4.10 rear axle. Passed a lot of (newer) cars & trucks going up Turnagain Pass & didn't have to down shift until almost to the top. Also drove it from Anchorage to Fairbanks, past Denali (aka Mount McKinley). Speedometer was broke so I asked a buddy following me to Homer how fast I was going ... he said, "Sometimes you slowed to 70." Properly tuned and kept around the speed limit, gas mileage is great for a motorhome ... around 14 mpg. (This engine is a key element in my attempt to build a Class A custom that gets over 20 mpg.)
Also had a '77 Dodge B200 with a 318. Towed a fairly heavy white-water jet boat all over south-central Alaska for several years. Eight and a half years and 170,000 miles (when I traded it off) and it was still going strong.
IMHO, the 318 is one of the beast engines ever built ... better than the 360 and better in a (real) truck than the 340. In a small to mid-size motorhome, it's very good, unless you regularly pull a heavy trailer like Leeann does. (Also, in my not-so-humble opinion, most motorhomes with 440s, 454s, etc. are overpowered.)
Some hints:
Carry a spare ballast resistor. Two wires and one screw to replace but will drive you nuts and stop you dead when yours fails.
Advance the timing a few degrees over spec's. If it doesn't ping, you'll get better mileage.
If it uses oil, look at replacing the valve stem seals. They're known to fail, allowing the pistons to suck oil past the valve stems. (A lot of people -- like I did once on the '77 -- do valve jobs or ring jobs when all they needed was new valve stem seals. They can be replaced in a few hours with a few special tools and without dismantling the engine.)
Avoid yellow Heet and gasoline containing alcohol ... either will eat up the seals in the two-barrel Carter BBD carburetors. (Took me three carb rebuilds to learn to stop using Heet.)
1970 Explorer Class A on a 1969 Dodge M300 chassis with 318 cu. in. (split year)
1972 Executive Class A on a Dodge M375 chassis with 413 cu. in.
1973 Explorer Class A on a Dodge RM350 (R4) chassis with 318 engine & tranny from 1970 Explorer Class A
Bill
wohtex wrote:
Thanks for your input Griff, the 318 is in a 1979 Lazy Daze with a rebuilt transmission and solar panels, have not got in touch with seller yet to see about how many miles on it but the add indicated it had recent emissions certificate.
Bill
Thanks for your input Griff, the 318 is in a 1979 Lazy Daze with a rebuilt transmission and solar panels, have not got in touch with seller yet to see about how many miles on it but the add indicated it had recent emissions certificate.
Bill
Hello Bill, and welcome here! Hope it's to where you can get the Lazy Daze for a great price. With the rebuilt trans and the emissions cert out of the way, the rest should be pretty sweet! Happy Holidays!!
Thanka muches Griff for your reply. I have to agree with you on the 318.
I'd take one over a 340 or 360. Great engine.
Mark "whiteknight"
My experience is the 318 stands up to abuse better, the chev 350 would sludge up and clattering lifters with lack of oil changes, burn valves easier with a small vacuum leak etc. That said a maintained 350 4bbl pulled pretty good, better than the 318 which was almost always 2bbl.
Everyone take care and those that can get out and go camping GO..........
Bill
In reference to your Kobayashi Maru, my rig is the Serenity from Firefly, yeah we are a real geeky couple.
From now2013
The quotes from the show that inspired us.
"No, she ain't gonna win any beauty contests"... and
"You buy this ship, treat her proper, she'll be with you the rest of your life."
" Sir, that's because its a deathtrap."
btw, i will be amazed if this works, been trying to figure out how to imbed images for days now
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