I bought an RV

[DrewSTNY]

That's just my aspie sensibilities. And it's kinda funny that I didn't realize that at first. What he was saying was basically "a good way to damage the engine is by running it."

You're not too far up the aspie curve. I've known a few as there are a lot of people on the "spectrum" up here. It really pisses me off that people pass autism off as some random occurrence and won't even consider that all the vaccines and drugs we pump into our kids when they are young MIGHT actually be causing a lot of it.

So take the carb and battery off, put a bag around the distributor, and pressure wash it. I'm immensely happy about not having to deal with sensors and sensitive electronics on this old engine. Should I cover the starter too?

You can just take the air cleaner off and put a bag over the carb or stuff rags down the throat, or both. Just trying to keep water out of the engine and ignition.

If we were going to drop the engine out anyway, how much extra time would it take to replace the clutch, do a ring job, replace any burnt valves and check clearances? Maybe even polish the crank, but I don't know how involved any of this is. My guess is that with 112k the cylinders only need to be honed and it doesn't need professional machining, right?

While sending the engine off to a machine shop and having it rebuilt would be great peace of mind, I've read around and it seems the turnaround would be months, and I called a shop today and they quoted me a range of $1300-2600 which is pretty 'ouch' compared to the cost of rings, a couple of valves, gasket set etc, plus some good food, good scotch and labor But then, I don't know if that's something that can be banged out in an afternoon, or if it's such a meticulous process that it would take a week to do. I watched a machinist do his thing on youtube last night and saw him play with 0.1mm clearances on thrust washers. That was a racing engine though, for a car probably designed to hit >150mph.

Lol. You are ambitious! My body is aching thinking about pulling a motor. Anyway, once the engine is out, which can take all day, the clutch is easy and takes about 15 minutes. Rings are a bit more involved with pulling the caps off the rods and protecting the crank journals. If we get some bearing measurements, we can decide what to do with them. Chances are if the oil pressure is good, the crank is probably fine. I usually have a shop do the valves. I'm too impatient to regrind and lap the valves. While the head is at the shop, we can have it checked to make sure it isn't cracked or warped. I do have an engine stand, so working on it is easy once it is out and on the stand.

My biggest fear pulling a motor is taking the exhaust off, which can/will break a stud off in the head and I suck at drilling and taping out broken studs.

So with an engine pull, I would plan on at least three days, One to pull it, one to fix it, one to put it back, and may be a forth day to drink until we forget about how much the body aches.

Wow, so I guess, like everything else I've discovered about engines, it's much more complicated than it appears. That diagram is completely different from my manual, which shows detonation as that corroded white ashy look, but, obviously, I definitely trust you.

Hopefully they won't come out so lean after I fix the vacuum leaks & HAC lean mixture/timing advance.

I'm just going to rip the plugs back out and fix the gap, then chase them and pray they don't need to be coiled yet. Not gapping them was probably the dumbest mistake I've made in a while. I was also putting off the compression and leakdown test until after I replaced everything, then failed to realize that would be hard to do with damaged threads. So I'll do that then too.

I'll update tomorrow after I get all the work done! I'm very excited about it.

Engines are not all that complicated, there's just a lot of parts to it and it can be overwhelming at first. I learned by just doing one thing at a time and taking my time. It helped that my dad was into doing his own mechanic work and did an engine swap in a 74 Toyota Land Cruiser which I "helped" him with.

A few years ago, I was able to do a body off redneck restore of a 1-ton Dodge diesel which was really cool, but I still hate body work with a passion. Finding non-textured, colored bed liner was a good thing.

When you are chasing the threads on the head make sure it is stone cold and you find good threads to start on. I have fucked up my share of spark plugs holes by cross threading plugs into them. Tends to make the spark plugs jump out of the motor when you are cruising down the highway and that's a real bitch.

As far as VW's, I've had a few bugs, a transporter van, Eurovan (my favorite), and currently, we have a diesel Jetta station wagon my wife drives.

Good food is always great, even if it's just burgers on the grill!

 

[autumn]

You're not too far up the aspie curve. I've known a few as there are a lot of people on the "spectrum" up here. It really pisses me off that people pass autism off as some random occurrence and won't even consider that all the vaccines and drugs we pump into our kids when they are young MIGHT actually be causing a lot of it.



You can just take the air cleaner off and put a bag over the carb or stuff rags down the throat, or both. Just trying to keep water out of the engine and ignition.



Lol. You are ambitious! My body is aching thinking about pulling a motor. Anyway, once the engine is out, which can take all day, the clutch is easy and takes about 15 minutes. Rings are a bit more involved with pulling the caps off the rods and protecting the crank journals. If we get some bearing measurements, we can decide what to do with them. Chances are if the oil pressure is good, the crank is probably fine. I usually have a shop do the valves. I'm too impatient to regrind and lap the valves. While the head is at the shop, we can have it checked to make sure it isn't cracked or warped. I do have an engine stand, so working on it is easy once it is out and on the stand.

My biggest fear pulling a motor is taking the exhaust off, which can/will break a stud off in the head and I suck at drilling and taping out broken studs.

I'm probably not too impatient if given direction - unless it takes 6 hours. Oil pressure should be good, but I haven't tested it. What's the heavy lifting involved in taking the engine out? Unless.. you don't have a hydraulic hoist, in which case.. ouch. If we broke a stud off in the head, the worst case scenario is a new head. Pricey but if we can't get it out, it won't bankrupt me. The exhaust manifold is completely rusted out though.

So with an engine pull, I would plan on at least three days, One to pull it, one to fix it, one to put it back, and may be a forth day to drink until we forget about how much the body aches.

Haha okay, I'm gonna go with you don't have a hoist. I looked it up and it seems to be about 320lbs. Holy fuck. Between 3 people that's still ~107lbs each. Between 4 people it would be much more manageable, but I'm guessing you don't have any manual-labor-working-hardass-bench-press-200lbs neighbors that absolutely wouldn't mind helping, heh. The only time I had a neighbor like that is when I never needed help lifting anything.

Engines are not all that complicated, there's just a lot of parts to it and it can be overwhelming at first. I learned by just doing one thing at a time and taking my time. It helped that my dad was into doing his own mechanic work and did an engine swap in a 74 Toyota Land Cruiser which I "helped" him with

A few years ago, I was able to do a body off redneck restore of a 1-ton Dodge diesel which was really cool, but I still hate body work with a passion. Finding non-textured, colored bed liner was a good thing.

When you are chasing the threads on the head make sure it is stone cold and you find good threads to start on. I have fucked up my share of spark plugs holes by cross threading plugs into them. Tends to make the spark plugs jump out of the motor when you are cruising down the highway and that's a real bitch.

As far as VW's, I've had a few bugs, a transporter van, Eurovan (my favorite), and currently, we have a diesel Jetta station wagon my wife drives.

Good food is always great, even if it's just burgers on the grill!

I don't imagine I would like body work either. I've been meaning to sand down, prime and paint some surface rust under the hood but the thought doesn't appeal to me. I'd much rather be messing with the engine. How much body work did it take to get the dodge back in good order? Was it a totaled vehicle?

I didn't have to chase them thankfully but cylinder #2's hole was completely wrecked so I didn't go any further to #3 or #4. Somehow the spark plugs were gapped correctly to 32, not 36, I checked #1 and #2. I was in the process of doing a compression test before I decided that if the gaps are correct, the test isn't worth crossthreading them any further, and having to coil them if I chased them incorrectly and shredded metal.

First cylinder was 126 dry, 150 with oil, second cylinder was 135, didn't get to check with oil. So the first cylinder seems ok. The third would probably have been the worst, that's the one I pulled that ultra-carboned one out of. #1's spark plug threading is in perfect shape, probably because it's so easily accessible. I imagine the previous owner stripped #2 and #3 because they're hard to reach down there seated between the head and the exhaust manifold.

The distributor cap was not the correct cap. It had screw holes The one on the RV has clips, so I wrote down it's model number and will deal with it later.

The spark plugs came out very lean looking with the upper spark-jumps-to thingy already ash white. The rest of the plug just looked like a new plug without any discoloration or deposits. I properly vacuum plugged the HAC system and had a look over the entire vacuum system. I intended to fix it today but have decided to go a different route. I would need about $40 in vacuum hosing alone... so I am just going to buy a weber carb and get rid of all the emissions shit.

I don't think plugging the HAC made a difference in the leaning out because the engine doesn't sound any different and is still suffering from misfiring or autoignition. Probably a combination of the carb being really lean (which could just be because it's disgustingly dirty for a carb, completely covered in grime, dirt and grease) and the unadjusted valves, eh?

I was going to do the valve adjustment and bought the feeler gauges but realized the seal is probably 40 years old so I ordered a new valve cover seal for when I get in there. I've already cleaned the valve cover off with engine degreaser so I won't have to worry about any dirt etc getting down in there.

We can do burgers too. Do you like bacon cheeseburgers?

Is a eurovan like a type 2? I didn't know they made diesel jettas

 

[DrewSTNY]

Sounds like you are getting more comfortable.

If the engine does have to come out, I have the lift and a stand.

It's not the heavy lifting, it's more the crawling underneath to disconnect the transmission/drive shaft, then being bent over the motor for hours disconnecting everything.

I had it down to a science with the VW's. I could get the motor out in under 30 minutes. I know of people who could drop the motor out of a bug in 10 minutes.

The Weber kit will be pretty cool. I liked them if the application was correct. They had them for VW's, but it didn't really work for me. I ended up putting the stock fuel injection back in the Transporter I had. Went from being completely gutless to being a very respectable vehicle. I also had one on a Jeep and it worked really well, but I ran it too rich and washed out the piston rings doing 85 in 3rd gear.

The Dodge had quite a bit of rust and I was converting to a manual from auto so I had to fabricate the transmission tunnel. I welded in the floor pans and a bit on the rocker panels. I took steel from the engine donor to make patch panels. That was over 10 years ago and as far as I know, the truck is still being driven today although it's as rusty or more rusty than when I first got it. The body parts swapped pretty easy, it was really neat to find out that I could use body panels for like 20 year worth of trucks.

 

[autumn]

Sounds like you are getting more comfortable.

If the engine does have to come out, I have the lift and a stand.

It's not the heavy lifting, it's more the crawling underneath to disconnect the transmission/drive shaft, then being bent over the motor for hours disconnecting everything.

I had it down to a science with the VW's. I could get the motor out in under 30 minutes. I know of people who could drop the motor out of a bug in 10 minutes.

The Weber kit will be pretty cool. I liked them if the application was correct. They had them for VW's, but it didn't really work for me. I ended up putting the stock fuel injection back in the Transporter I had. Went from being completely gutless to being a very respectable vehicle. I also had one on a Jeep and it worked really well, but I ran it too rich and washed out the piston rings doing 85 in 3rd gear.

The Dodge had quite a bit of rust and I was converting to a manual from auto so I had to fabricate the transmission tunnel. I welded in the floor pans and a bit on the rocker panels. I took steel from the engine donor to make patch panels. That was over 10 years ago and as far as I know, the truck is still being driven today although it's as rusty or more rusty than when I first got it. The body parts swapped pretty easy, it was really neat to find out that I could use body panels for like 20 year worth of trucks.

W...what? I was watching youtube videos about random mechanical crap and ended up learning about how modern VW engines are apparently so poorly designed that you have to take the engine out to do a head gasket. And apparently on the audis you have to pull the block off I think to swap the timing chain. They thought they had over-engineered their chains so that they never need replacing, but it ended up being a routine maintenance item anyway.

Anyway... are the older VW engines also really hard to work on? In any case that's extremely impressive. 30 minutes to get an engine on a stand. Maybe I'll be there someday with the 22R. About how long would you say it took you to end up at a point of reasonable mechanical knowledge? To accurately diagnose problems, know what to fix, how to fix it, and so on?

I am getting much more comfortable! It's no longer intimidating when you know what mostly everything is and what it does, and which other systems it's connected to. The superficiality of my understanding is a given - I couldn't tell you how any of this stuff works to any degree of sophistication ("the rotor button spins.. cause the distributor.. shaft.. is geared... uh.. yeah.. timing.") but being able to put names to things and words to concepts goes a long way towards confidence.

I found out the hard way today that, unlike the regular pickups, to change the fuel filter in a Sunrader you have to drop the fuel tank.

Also, sorry, I edited my post after you read it. I asked if you like bacon cheeseburgers. Also, do you like tofu? I lived with a very strict vegetarian (no meat in her house) for a while and got very good at making general tso's tofu. I also asked in my edit "Is a eurovan like a type 2? I didn't know they made diesel jettas"

There are weber kits on ebay (they seem to not be the chinese knockoff) for $229, plus the $80 spiral adapter kit from LCE. I would much, much rather desmog the engine and part out all the emissions crap on ebay for those with their old 'yotas still registered in California. If I give it a few months I can probably recover the cost. Only 2 vacuum hoses then, and no EGR. Their engine bay looks much cleaner... I want mine to be that roomy. I can rebuild the stock carb, give it an acid bath, get it good as new and sell it for $300 less than those shitty remanufactured ones, while still making a decent chunk of money.

Fixing that Dodge sounds like a crapload of work and a lot of welding. Definitely not up my alley... I've got a friend who moved to Detroit for welding work (I think they do auto welding) and is going to fix the frame for me. It's not rotting but it'll get there if I give it another 10 years I'm sure. You must've done a pretty spectacular job if that thing is still around and isn't much rustier than when you got it 10 years ago. What did you mean by this? "it was really neat to find out that I could use body panels for like 20 year worth of trucks."

 

[autumn]

Wait, 85mph in third gear? How does that even work?

And you did a carb conversion on a fuel injected vehicle? Holy shit, how long did that take?

 

[autumn]

Fuck!!! I hope I didn't mess up the clutch. It was really cold this morning and I didn't let anything warm up because I had to move it quickly. Even though I was riding the clutch at the biting point the whole rig was jerking forward like I was dumping it over and over.

 

[DrewSTNY]

Fuck!!! I hope I didn't mess up the clutch. It was really cold this morning and I didn't let anything warm up because I had to move it quickly. Even though I was riding the clutch at the biting point the whole rig was jerking forward like I was dumping it over and over.

No damage, it was just cold and grabby. Happens all the time and gets more pronounced as the clutch wears. Nothing to worry about.

Worry when you hit third or fourth gear and the clutch slips like a demon.

 

[DrewSTNY]

Wait, 85mph in third gear? How does that even work?

And you did a carb conversion on a fuel injected vehicle? Holy shit, how long did that take?

The conversion was easy as I just grabbed everything from another van from the computer to the injectors and manifolds. I did have to sneak back in under the fence after they closed to get more parts I forgot... ::eyepatch::

Third gear and hold it to the floor because it wouldn't go fast enough. It was a surprise when it started slowing down and died... ::facepalm::

 

[DrewSTNY]

W...what? I was watching youtube videos about random mechanical crap and ended up learning about how modern VW engines are apparently so poorly designed that you have to take the engine out to do a head gasket. And apparently on the audis you have to pull the block off I think to swap the timing chain. They thought they had over-engineered their chains so that they never need replacing, but it ended up being a routine maintenance item anyway.

Anyway... are the older VW engines also really hard to work on? In any case that's extremely impressive. 30 minutes to get an engine on a stand. Maybe I'll be there someday with the 22R. About how long would you say it took you to end up at a point of reasonable mechanical knowledge? To accurately diagnose problems, know what to fix, how to fix it, and so on?

I am getting much more comfortable! It's no longer intimidating when you know what mostly everything is and what it does, and which other systems it's connected to. The superficiality of my understanding is a given - I couldn't tell you how any of this stuff works to any degree of sophistication ("the rotor button spins.. cause the distributor.. shaft.. is geared... uh.. yeah.. timing.") but being able to put names to things and words to concepts goes a long way towards confidence.

I found out the hard way today that, unlike the regular pickups, to change the fuel filter in a Sunrader you have to drop the fuel tank.

Also, sorry, I edited my post after you read it. I asked if you like bacon cheeseburgers. Also, do you like tofu? I lived with a very strict vegetarian (no meat in her house) for a while and got very good at making general tso's tofu. I also asked in my edit "Is a eurovan like a type 2? I didn't know they made diesel jettas"

There are weber kits on ebay (they seem to not be the chinese knockoff) for $229, plus the $80 spiral adapter kit from LCE. I would much, much rather desmog the engine and part out all the emissions crap on ebay for those with their old 'yotas still registered in California. If I give it a few months I can probably recover the cost. Only 2 vacuum hoses then, and no EGR. Their engine bay looks much cleaner... I want mine to be that roomy. I can rebuild the stock carb, give it an acid bath, get it good as new and sell it for $300 less than those shitty remanufactured ones, while still making a decent chunk of money.

Fixing that Dodge sounds like a crapload of work and a lot of welding. Definitely not up my alley... I've got a friend who moved to Detroit for welding work (I think they do auto welding) and is going to fix the frame for me. It's not rotting but it'll get there if I give it another 10 years I'm sure. You must've done a pretty spectacular job if that thing is still around and isn't much rustier than when you got it 10 years ago. What did you mean by this? "it was really neat to find out that I could use body panels for like 20 year worth of trucks."

VW has interesting engineering for certain, but the older engines from the type 1, 2 and 3 are basically glorified lawnmower engines.

The Eurovan was the replacement for the Vanagon, I believe. It was the first front engine VW van that I know of. They used the Audi 5 cylinder to power it. Mine had a 5 speed transmission which was totally cool. I could put full 4x8 sheets of plywood in the back if I took out the seats, which was a big deal for a mid-size/mini-van.

I'm into eating anything that doesn't eat me first. Not a big fan of tofu due to the texture you usually get, but I'm open to anything.

The price of the Weber sounds about right, $2-300 for the kit.

 

[autumn]

No damage, it was just cold and grabby. Happens all the time and gets more pronounced as the clutch wears. Nothing to worry about.

Worry when you hit third or fourth gear and the clutch slips like a demon.

That's relieving.

VW has interesting engineering for certain, but the older engines from the type 1, 2 and 3 are basically glorified lawnmower engines.

The Eurovan was the replacement for the Vanagon, I believe. It was the first front engine VW van that I know of. They used the Audi 5 cylinder to power it. Mine had a 5 speed transmission which was totally cool. I could put full 4x8 sheets of plywood in the back if I took out the seats, which was a big deal for a mid-size/mini-van.

I'm into eating anything that doesn't eat me first. Not a big fan of tofu due to the texture you usually get, but I'm open to anything.

The price of the Weber sounds about right, $2-300 for the kit.

Glorified lawnmower engines. That's my kind of engine. I had a '78 puch maxi that threw it's single cylinder connecting rod the day I got it. I would've rebuilt it if I didn't need $500 in specialized moped tools. I've heard that older VW engines are incredibly expensive to maintain because the only place that you can find parts is Brazil. It's a shame if it's true.

5 speeds get much better gas mileage from what I've heard. If I suddenly came into a boatload of money one of the first things I'd do is put a 5 speed in the Sunrader.

I discovered today that apparently Weber and SOLEX or whatever are now owned by the same company. They license out the Weber brand and allow old solex factories in south america to manufacture crappy carbs under the Weber name. The actual, manufactured in Spain ones, are considerably more expensive. The full conversion kit for the actual weber (including the fuel pressure regulator and spiral adapter) is almost $500. LCE told me that they discovered this when someone ordered a "weber" on ebay and then needed weber jets from LCE, but they didn't even fit in the carb.

I generally don't like the texture of tofu, but if you properly drain it, bread it and deep fry it, it tastes less like a soy brick and a bit more like meat.

As far as the clutch and flywheel goes, how cheap is too cheap? As much as I would like to get the 'pro clutch + flywheel kit' from LCE, it's $600. I don't know if they were just trying to sell me shit but they told me that a 30lb flywheel would make getting into gear in an RV considerably easier.

 

[autumn]

The conversion was easy as I just grabbed everything from another van from the computer to the injectors and manifolds. I did have to sneak back in under the fence after they closed to get more parts I forgot... ::eyepatch::

Third gear and hold it to the floor because it wouldn't go fast enough. It was a surprise when it started slowing down and died... ::facepalm::

Wait so you were stealing the parts? Was it an abandoned van in an impound lot or something?

That only raises more questions, why weren't you in 4th if you were going 85mph?! Did it have really funky gearing or something? Was it one of those automatic 3 speeds?

 

[autumn]

So I talked to a machinist near Elmira. He said to deck and grind the head it'd be about $300, I think that was including the 1 hour labor ($70) to inspect it and figure out what needs to be done. He said he used to get 22Rs in there a lot because people would use them for drag racing (wtf?) and that after 100k the cylinders will probably need to be bored but that we can check it ourselves and see. He said a "to be safe" estimate for a total block rebuild (not including reassembly) would be $1000 in labor plus parts - that includes polishing the crank, any boring needed, etc. He also said that he can get the same parts that LCEngineering uses for cheaper.

 

[DrewSTNY]

So I talked to a machinist near Elmira. He said to deck and grind the head it'd be about $300, I think that was including the 1 hour labor ($70) to inspect it and figure out what needs to be done. He said he used to get 22Rs in there a lot because people would use them for drag racing (wtf?) and that after 100k the cylinders will probably need to be bored but that we can check it ourselves and see. He said a "to be safe" estimate for a total block rebuild (not including reassembly) would be $1000 in labor plus parts - that includes polishing the crank, any boring needed, etc. He also said that he can get the same parts that LCEngineering uses for cheaper.

Cool. That's good to know. What was the name of the shop?

 

[DrewSTNY]

Wait so you were stealing the parts? Was it an abandoned van in an impound lot or something?

That only raises more questions, why weren't you in 4th if you were going 85mph?! Did it have really funky gearing or something? Was it one of those automatic 3 speeds?

It was in the junk yard and I bought most of it and was going through the parts realizing that I forgot something stupid and was too impatient to wait until the opened up the next day. So yeah, I stole what I needed.

The Jeep was just me being stupid and impatient, was giving her a good hot supper because I was in a hurry and poof went the rings. It was 9F outside and I know better, but didn't expect it to dump in two miles. I had a really big power jet on the carb that was great when warm, but was not so good in the cold.

 

[autumn]

Cool. That's good to know. What was the name of the shop?

Pike's Engine & Machine Shop. Unfortunately it's in Watkins Glen, which appears to be about 20 miles away. I can pay for the gas, but if you don't want to drive up there I'm sure I can find someone on craigslist to do it, or worst case scenario rent a truck. I wasn't able to find a machine shop closer than that.

It was in the junk yard and I bought most of it and was going through the parts realizing that I forgot something stupid and was too impatient to wait until the opened up the next day. So yeah, I stole what I needed.

The Jeep was just me being stupid and impatient, was giving her a good hot supper because I was in a hurry and poof went the rings. It was 9F outside and I know better, but didn't expect it to dump in two miles. I had a really big power jet on the carb that was great when warm, but was not so good in the cold.

That's pretty funny. I've always thought it was kind of strange that junkyards are essentially garbage dumps with barbed wire fencing and security cameras. The one near me is, at least. I wish I could find one with an old toyota.

By power jet do you mean a separate jet that isn't used unless you floor it? Was it because the engine was cold so the oil wasn't circulating well, and the compression rings got blown apart by the extra heat?

 

[autumn]

Full weber conversion kit ordered! Can't wait to tear out the rest of the emissions crap, and tear into the old carb!

For the clutch, are there any 'wear items' I should get other than the pilot bearing, release bearing, input shaft seal? I'm going to get an OEM pressure plate & friction disc too, and figured I could just have the flywheel resurfaced at the same machine shop for less than the cost of a new one. Oh, and I'm going to pick up a new master cylinder and slave cylinder as 'just in case' items since they're so cheap.

 

[DrewSTNY]

Full weber conversion kit ordered! Can't wait to tear out the rest of the emissions crap, and tear into the old carb!

Sweet. That's cool.

For the clutch, are there any 'wear items' I should get other than the pilot bearing, release bearing, input shaft seal? I'm going to get an OEM pressure plate & friction disc too, and figured I could just have the flywheel resurfaced at the same machine shop for less than the cost of a new one. Oh, and I'm going to pick up a new master cylinder and slave cylinder as 'just in case' items since they're so cheap.

That's about all for the clutch. Don't normally do the input shaft seal, but it's not a bad idea to have it just in case or put it in anyway since it's so hard to get to.

The power jet is the full throttle jet, yes. I had one that was too big and was dumping fuel like mad. Probably would have been great for a NOS setup, but not so much the way I was running.

Watkins Glen is no biggie. There may be a closer shop. I am going to check today to be sure, he was recommended by the guys at the farm.

The most popular junk yard around here has 7kV electrical fencing supposedly. I have not dared to test it, plus they have a really good chain link fence that is well maintained. Probably more for insurance liability than keeping people from stealing. Their prices are pretty cheap and they occasionally have older yotas in there. We can go check it out while you are here and see if anything hits your fancy.

 

[AlwaysLost]

I just bought a 1983 Toyota Sunrader. Here's a picture:

View attachment 35341

The good: fiberglass is intact, no leaks, new vents, working water pump, radiant heater, new battery (had to replace the terminals, they were super ghetto rigged), all lights work, all "plumbing" (just tubes really) is good, it has a 1 ton dually 6 lug full floating rear axle, shower/toilet, fresh water tank, grey and black water tanks, working propane stove/oven. It's got some rust issues but a friend of mine is a welder and can fix it for me.

112k miles original/never rebuilt, 22R engine, just drove it 1k miles from Arkansas to Virginia.

The bad: Electrical system is extremely ghetto. Had to fix the headlights on the way to VA. It's either leaking oil or burning oil. 1qt in 600 miles. I thought it was just a leak, but there's smoke coming out of the oil cap, so the piston rings are probably worn? That's big money 'cause I can't take the head off on my own yet. Maybe the PCV valve? Hoping to learn how to do everything myself but trying to swap piston rings as a first project seems suicidal. I figured for learning I'd pull a carb from a hilux in a junkyard and start with taking the carb apart. Not sure if I should just drop the money on an engine rebuild if the heads coming off anyway.

The ebrake doesn't work. Need to replace the cables. Gonna do that tomorrow, along with flushing the coolant system and changing the oil even though it's leaking all over the place.

It has a speed wobble. At around 60mph the front end starts wobbling. If I get passed by a semi it wobbles like crazy until I slow down to <40mph.

Since it only has 112k miles, would you recommend I have the piston rings swapped, valves lapped if they're leaking, get a full gasket set and a new timing belt, get new struts and shocks and hope the wobble is the shot suspension. It should've been done 60k miles ago anyway and my friend with an almost identical 'yota motorhome got them done in Maryland for $250 including parts.

I am going to get you some pink fuzzy dice for the rearview asap...

 

[creature]

also, if the RV version has an oil cooler in addition to the main radiator, check those lines, also..

 

[creature]

Hardcore thread..
Should almost be stickied..
I hope the rubbertrampers all get a look..

Just fucking zen with it : )