1976 Chevy Tioga

[artsyrving]

Feeling hopeful... going to look at a 76 Chevy Tioga tomorrow. 89k miles, new tires, valve cover gasket, rubber roof no leaks... runs, drives, been in use every year. This year they found the furnace needs a thermal coupling - lights doesn't heat...stove works, oven lights but doesn't heat... all else works, gen has low hours...fuel system was updated to electric. Winterized every year, stored every winter...
It has the chevy 350 sb v8... I am a chevy girl, the cars i learned to work on the most were 60's, 70's, and then a smattering of the other decades through 2005.
I am hoping the undercarriage looks good and everything is as described! Paint is a bit faded - no biggy, i am 5 years older than this rv and it has aged much better than me!!! lol
If anyone knows anything good or bad i should look for or know, please share!! I would love to hear from others who have owned one of these and or worked on them.

[artsyrving]

also, how hard is it to find parts??!!

[cadillac_al]

I love the old ones. If it is well cared for I wouldn't have a problem buying it. I am scared of water leaks but if there are no signs of it on the inside and the rubber roof looks nice it should be fine. The Chevy chassis parts should be easy to find. The only fly in the ointment is that Chevy had some camshaft problems from the mid 70's to mid 80's. In my experience it is very rare for a 70's Chevy to have it's original camshaft. If it's possible to test drive it on the open road I would try to give it some heavy acceleration, preferably uphill, and listen closely for any popping through the carburetor. That would be my only concern with this era vehicle. I think I have seen brand new furnaces for around $500. Yours sounds like a simple fix. Good luck.

[PABO05]

A Chevy V8 small block parts are always available.

BEST engine EVER made.

Picture of RV looks OK. GOOD LUCK.

[artsyrving]

I got a chance to check it out today.... I am a little giddy...lol. I am only 5yrs older than this RV and it is in better shape than me...lol. It is in North Central Wi (NW of Green Bay) so the test drive took it up and down the hills in the woods. The engine sounded strong, no ticks or knocks. The transmission handled the accelerations and going up hill well, no clunks or high pitch straining. One thing they mentioned, and it did happen... some times it doesn't go into park smoothly, you have to hit the shifter for it to pop into place... I was surprised that the 76 was automatic... according to specs it has a Turbo-H transmission. The underside looked better than our 05 Escape. It has the big built in propane tank (is that a plus or a negative over the portables?) The oven and furnace light but don't heat, they figure the tank is out of propane (the gauge reads empty - lol). They said it doesn't have a generator (I spoke with the second and third generation in the family that has owned it - the first gen purchased it from the original buyers) They always plugged in where ever they went, they thought it just ran off of straight battery when not plugged in (what they think is the battery compartment is, i believe once housed a small generator - the wire connections are to small for a battery but just right for a gen). The interior roof was taken out when the rubber roof was installed and then replaced with panel (i don't believe the panel is original) but everything is dry as a bone and solid. Even the bathroom is dry and solid. Almost everything is original except for passenger side seating in the RV and RV upholstery... The table was removed and lost to time - no biggy i wanted to renovate a little to create a work space. The shag carpet was replaced with vinyl. Floor is solid. The exterior is pretty solid too, the only issues i saw... the back passenger side corner looks like it was hit by a 4wheeler or something, it is just dinged in, there is dampness to the wood just inside the corner (looks more recent) the Gen door and one other need the wood between the aluminum sheets replace - those suffered dampness, but nothing to the actual camper walls. There is something leaking around the bottom half of the engine, they replaced the valve cover gaskets last year... what ever it is, the fluids are all good, so what ever is leaking, is leaking out and not mixing... the differential is a bit dark on the bottom, but that could be from the front leak flying back because it looks more dry/dirt heavy, then fresh wet from a differential issue. I have a friend that lives about an hour away and i am going to see if he can go take a look and give me his opinion on the leak. I really really want this to be a "go" I like this RV and i feel like i would regret not buying it... crossing my fingers!!!

[artsyrving]

https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/p720x720/244665641_10227658685229670_3189370127912633134_n. jpg?_nc_cat=110&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=843cd7&_nc_ohc=gEjVEQcoDHUAX8YNP_C&tn=mN c_jen4HGqLPpiv&_nc_ht=scontent-ort2-2.xx&oh=ef0e63660eb3d461c41ea463d689a614&oe=619A1A 08[/IMG]

[artsyrving]

[artsyrving]

the numbers on the radio face push in, it is an 8 track player!

[artsyrving]

[artsyrving]

[artsyrving]

[artsyrving]

oh, did i mention they have all the original paperwork with it, including the wiring diagram, etc! it just tickles me to look at the pictures of this rv

[PABO05]

If it checks out it should be a go.

[GypsyR]

Looks like a winner for it's age. I've seen some over 20 years newer not nearly as nice.