My brand spanking new 1977 Sportscoach (Mopar)

[77Travco]

My 440 has the same issue with cold starts after it sits for a day or so. I'm planning to order a replacement Thermoquad carb sometime in the near future.

[matthewc]

Originally Posted by 77Travco

My 440 has the same issue with cold starts after it sits for a day or so. I'm planning to order a replacement Thermoquad carb sometime in the near future.

That does make me feel better to know that it's not just me! LOL I have no doubt that mine is the original carb that came on her when she rolled off the lot.

Today I took on a dirty little project that I have been meaning to do for a while. My dog house cover insulation was the original insulation, which seemed to be a layer of almost house style insulation glued to the back of the dog house, mine was falling apart, nasty, partially burned and utterly useless based on the blast furnace like heat that comes through the dog house.

So I bought a new pack of razors for my scraper, pulled out a respirator, covered the engine with a plastic bag and got to work.





Once I had it all scraped down to the fiberglass which was a PITA based on the amount of glue they used to hold the old insulation on. Once I had everything cleaned up it was time to apply the new insulation. The product I went with for this task is called Ballistic, its similar to Dynomat but cheaper and it will reduce interior engine and road noise, eliminate vibration, and reflect heat. It also made my dog house feel more sturdy than it did before.




Best of all no more nasty, messy, dusty, itchy insulation all over me every time I open the doghouse and I don't have to worry about that stuff getting into my carb either.

Matt

[harleyjt]

Ill be interested to hear how that material performs for in terms of noise isolation.


jt
2005 Newmar Kountry Star gas 3742, Workhorse 8.1L w/Allison 5 speed.

Sent from my iPhone using iRV2 - RV Forum

[matthewc]

I've used it extensively in the past for cars with.......lets say high end audio/video systems and sound deadening is what it is primarily designed for, that and to cut vibrations and external noises so I am pretty sure it will work wonderfully for that. I am just hoping it will perform as well when it comes to blocking/reflecting heat as it is supposed to. Honestly I think anything will preform better than what was there originally. I will post an update though once I get the Radiator back in and can get her on the road for some road testing. I am so ready to get out for the first camping trip of the year

Matt

[Franka548]

Matt,
That should be a big help over what was there. I would be concerned on how much heat that the material is rated to withstand.
Frank

[matthewc]

Frank,
Ballistic is rated for underhood use on cars so i'm hoping it will be fine on the RV. Its make up is a 1/4" give or take of Butyl material backed with a flexible aluminum sheet that reflects the heat. It is SUPER sticky and you apply the sheets and then roll them on with a roller for some super serious adhesion. If the stuff doesn't work I am not going to be looking forward to trying to get it off!


I dropped off the Radiator at Jeffco Radiators in Arvada, CO. They have done a lot of Radiator work for me in the past and are the only place I would trust with this task. The full rebuild on a radiator this large is gonna run me $265 so that will bring my total cost of the cooling upgrades to $345 plus the cost of radiator fluid to fill her back up. Money well spent for the peace of mind it will give me in the long run.

Last photo of the dingy old radiator as I dropped it off this morning.


Matt

[Jim Sizemore]

Originally Posted by 77Travco

My 440 has the same issue with cold starts after it sits for a day or so. I'm planning to order a replacement Thermoquad carb sometime in the near future.

There are two little Orings in the carburator that need replacing. Once mine were changed, it started before you could turn the key loose...Been so long ago I've forgotten where they are(search will help).




Jim

[matthewc]

Originally Posted by Jim Sizemore

There are two little Orings in the carburator that need replacing. Once mine were changed, it started before you could turn the key loose...Been so long ago I've forgotten where they are(search will help).

Jim

Thanks Jim! I just did a search and have found several different spots on the web talking about those orings. I think I will give that a try before ordering a new thermoquad from Summit. I was pretty surprised to see that Summit is carrying them again.

On a side note I picked up my rebuilt radiator today, got it installed as well as the new water pump and fan clutch. Filled her up with new extended life radiator fluid from Napa and fired her up. I actually managed to get everything buttoned up and had zero leaks.

I can now say for 100% that my old fan clutch was toast. It is literally a gale force storm under the RV with the amount of airflow the new fan clutch/fan is generating under the RV. Its funny I have been under my rig before with the motor running checking for leaks, etc and never noticed real airflow being generated by the fan, I mean it was spinning and all but absolutely nothing like it is now.

So I think I have successfully addressed the cooling issues I ran into at the end of last season.

Matt

[77Travco]

Originally Posted by matthewc

That does make me feel better to know that it's not just me! LOL I have no doubt that mine is the original carb that came on her when she rolled off the lot.

Well... I fixed my issue!
My 440 has always taken a good amount of cranking after it has been sitting. I was having a hot start issue as well. I was recently using the coach to run errands around town when it just wouldn't fire off after stopping at my local grocery store. I determined that the coil was bad and quickly replaced it with my spare coil. (I carry an entire spare ignition system). Since then it has been doing something it never did before... it fires right up with the 1st turn of the key! Even after sitting overnight! So, I guess the (probably original) 40 year old coil has been weak ever since I have owned this thing. Just something to consider if you also have a hard starting 440.
Now I need to pick up another spare coil.

[mambo53]

welcome aboard, Nice rig, I had a 73 dodge rectrans, with the 413 and 727 trans, mine looked like the space shuttle, your rig is in pretty good shape, love the vintage décor. But when you get her on the road, you'll feel like the king with all the folks honking their horns. Good Luck and stay safe while working on your rig.

[matthewc]

Originally Posted by 77Travco

Well... I fixed my issue!
My 440 has always taken a good amount of cranking after it has been sitting. I was having a hot start issue as well. I was recently using the coach to run errands around town when it just wouldn't fire off after stopping at my local grocery store. I determined that the coil was bad and quickly replaced it with my spare coil. (I carry an entire spare ignition system). Since then it has been doing something it never did before... it fires right up with the 1st turn of the key! Even after sitting overnight! So, I guess the (probably original) 40 year old coil has been weak ever since I have owned this thing. Just something to consider if you also have a hard starting 440.
Now I need to pick up another spare coil.

When I first picked her up last year I did a full tune up, plugs, wires, cap, rotor, MSD coil, all fluids. etc. So, I'm pretty sure coil is good. I am planning to swap out the rest of the electronic ignition components this year too so that may help. Its funny because over the last few weeks when I have needed to start her I have turned on the electric fuel pump and let it run for a couple of minutes and she has started up fairly easily which points me back to the carb leaking down when she sits parked for a while.

I just scheduled the first camping trip of the year at Jackson Lake State Park here in Colorado. It will be our first trip to that campground and will be a nice 67 mile shakedown cruise to verify my cooling fixes take care of the issue from last year. We are slowly extending out the distances on our trips with the goal being able to take some fairly long trips before the summer is over.

Matt

[MartySQ]

Originally Posted by matthewc

That does make me feel better to know that it's not just me! LOL I have no doubt that mine is the original carb that came on her when she rolled off the lot.

Today I took on a dirty little project that I have been meaning to do for a while. My dog house cover insulation was the original insulation, which seemed to be a layer of almost house style insulation glued to the back of the dog house, mine was falling apart, nasty, partially burned and utterly useless based on the blast furnace like heat that comes through the dog house.

So I bought a new pack of razors for my scraper, pulled out a respirator, covered the engine with a plastic bag and got to work.





Once I had it all scraped down to the fiberglass which was a PITA based on the amount of glue they used to hold the old insulation on. Once I had everything cleaned up it was time to apply the new insulation. The product I went with for this task is called Ballistic, its similar to Dynomat but cheaper and it will reduce interior engine and road noise, eliminate vibration, and reflect heat. It also made my dog house feel more sturdy than it did before.




Best of all no more nasty, messy, dusty, itchy insulation all over me every time I open the doghouse and I don't have to worry about that stuff getting into my carb either.

Matt

good job... I need to do that on my doghouse.

[BA-in-Mich]

I have been wanting to do my dog house for awhile. I have no insulation on the underneath and only thin carpet on the top. ( original ) The top is made out of 5/8" plywood with a thin, what appears to be a sheet metal underside for reflectivity. I have been agonizing what to use on the underside for sound purposes but need to watch for the heat issue also.
One thing ( beside recoring the radiator ) to do is seal up all of the areas behind the grill where air can pass around. When I got done with mine the only place for air to go is right into the radiator. It made a big difference in cooling. One thing for sure you have already made me tired with all you have done.
By the way did you go with the bulk kit for the insulation?

[matthewc]

Yeah I have been debating on picking up some thin aluminum sheeting to fabricate ducting from the grill if I still have any issues. As to the quanity of material used on the dog house, I used about 1/2 of a kit I bought to line a trunk with. The Kit was originally a two car door kit.