Clive: Our 1977 Winnebago Brave purchased for $750 and brought back from the dead

[DeOrellana]

Great job and fun project!

I love the green color for the doors and engine cover.

[George Schweikle]

WONDERFUL! . Many thanks for taking the time to post the pictures.
Our first experience with a motorhome was a rental "Beetlebrow" Winnebago in 1969. We later put 115,000 miles on a 1983 Chieftain and loved every minute of it.

[Gecko1000]

Steve, thanks for the advice! It has an aux trans cooler when I bought it, but it's a little worse for wear. Probably going to replace it. Would you recommend an aftermarket ribbed transmission pan as well? We plan to tow a sedan on a two wheel dolly quite often.

[Geocritter]

Why not leave the old oil cooler in place and add another oil cooler in addition to the one you already have. Remember, when in doubt, if some is good more is better. As for your oil pan, if the finned oil pan has a greater oil capacity then go for it. Otherwise what you have should be fine. The two things that’ll help keep your trans fluid cooler and your transmission lasting longer is increasing the cooler capacity and the increasing the volume. Like I said earlier, if some is good more is better!

Back in the 1970’s, to meet emission regs, engines were detuned all to hell. I doubt if the original 440 in your Winnebago had anywhere near the HP you’re going to be getting from the new engine. Check out these 440 specs, particularly between 1972 and 1974, and you can see the BS that US drivers had to deal with back then. Chrysler Corporation Engine Specifications ('66-'74)
Check out Chrysler/Dodge enthusiasts websites. You can get a lot of insider information about your engine from perusing enthusiasts websites. For instance, I’ve learned tons about my 460 Ford engine from a 460 enthusiast’s website.

Steve

PS FWIW years ago my brother burned up the automatic transmission on a large Class C he had. The miserable SOB’s that built the RV hadn’t put any oil cooler at all on the transmission!

[Gecko1000]

I was reading up on these RV engines and saw that they were detuned by about 100hp. That's nuts! Do you happen to know what was changed to bring the power down? And it kills me how many of these things come straight from the factory with no auxillary trans cooler. I'm just getting to my shop now. Hopefully will have a few more pics of the front end tonight.

[Scatterbrain]

Very cool project you've got going there. Looking forward to seeing it done. Did you ever remount the A/C on the new roof? I didn't see one in the photos.
You should just go all out and add a slide-out to it.

[Tidy Tabby]

Originally Posted by Gecko1000

I was reading up on these RV engines and saw that they were detuned by about 100hp. That's nuts! Do you happen to know what was changed to bring the power down? And it kills me how many of these things come straight from the factory with no auxillary trans cooler. I'm just getting to my shop now. Hopefully will have a few more pics of the front end tonight.

Lots of ways to do it, smaller more restrictive headers, more fuel efficient carb, lazy cams. Plus one must know where the horsepower was measured, at the crank or at the wheels.

[Gecko1000]

I understand the various methods. I was just curious if there were a couple things that were specific to this engine. I.e. "they put the low compression pistons in and a weak cam" therefore I would know where to go first when I rebuild the blown one. I do know they have weak compression and God awful exhaust manifolds, but that's about it. I've been trying to do some research on these engines and they seem to be a common swap in to old hot rods, so I've found some knowledge on the subject that way. I'm shooting for the beefed up hot rod power with RV grunt and reliability ��

Or maybe I'll just put the other 440 in the Tracker...hmm...

[Gecko1000]

Scatter, thanks! There are framed openings for ACs above the living room, and added above the bedroom. Vent in the bathroom too. I knew that I would be obtaining all of those things once I started work at the RV dealer here in Florida, so I just skinned the whole thing and sealed it up. All I need to do is punch a hole from inside to the outside and mount everything up.

[GlennLever]

De tuned may be a misnomer.

They decrease HP (top end speed) but increased torque (low end get up and go).

Changes included cam, low compression pistons, poor flowing heads and exhaust manifolds.

You want the grunt to get off the line, how fast will you really want to go (top end)

[guardrail53]

Not sure when they (the auto industry) started on the MH's, same as they did the car's, just took a few years to catch up? I had a 1974 Shasta 25' class A, my first MH, and it had a 454, with a turbo 400 trans. It ran very good, the power to weight was very good, and was a blast to drive! I improved with headers, dual exhaust, different carb and manifold, and electronic dist.! The improvements boosted the fuel mileage to 10 MPG from around 7 MPG, if I would keep my foot out of it! That 440 will be just fine, but not sure what the fuel mileage will be with it? The RV cams were for low end torque to help get the beast moving, and getting it to breath better, surly can't hurt! You have done a great job so far, and looking forward to seeing (and hearing) the rest of the build! Rail!

[beamisl]

Gecko,

Great project. I love seeing these old rigs getting redone. There is one down the road from us that I have not seen move in 20 years. It just sits there outside in a winter state. The roof still looks solid but it is green from trees and weather.

Wish someone would buy it and give it a new life. Please keep posting, really interested to see the finished rig as I am sure you are too.

[Gecko1000]

Before we moved to Florida for me to accept my job at the RV dealer, I was a highly mechanically inclined person, but not very well versed in RV-specific construction methods. Because of this, I approached Clive's restoration at the time in a manner to get him to a good spot of restoration before we headed to FL.

Since working at the dealership, I have gained a great deal of knowledge on how they make these and how the systems tie together. With my new knowledge on cabinetry and interior wall design, I have aspirations to really make Clive one of a kind.

I was up til 2am, "in the zone" if you will, working on a 3D model of what we think we can do with him now. I reckon it will be a few different stages of construction to get him to this, but here are some still frames from the (almost complete) model:













So once the 440 goes back in, this vision will get set in to motion. It just seems so hard to find those two valuable resources we all need. What were they again? Oh yeah, TIME and MONEY!!

[TXiceman]

Love seeing the classics on the road.

Ken