Gulfstream Greg Posted November 2, 2004 Share Posted November 2, 2004 Anyone planning winter projects for their toys. I have some wireing to do for the 12 volt side of the refer and I also plan on replacing the power converter with a modern up to date one that is better regulated and puts put pure dc voltage. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nolan Posted November 3, 2004 Share Posted November 3, 2004 Hiya Greg, I have a few small changes planned for my 76, hopefully I'll get around to them, my main focus is working on Blew, it,s starting to show some progress, but still lots of work to do, the drivetrain is finished and driveable, the interior framing is done, except for the rear door alteration, plans for the weekend are to get the rear interior insulated and start the wiring. After that its time to start the fun job of grinding and fiberglassing to make the needed body changes on the camper shell. It,s making me itch already just thinking about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gulfstream Greg Posted November 6, 2004 Author Share Posted November 6, 2004 Hey Nolan What kinda body changes are you doing? I keep dreaming that if I win the lottery I will build a new turbo engine, rebuiled the tranny, trick out the suspension and change the gear ratio front and rear. Any how got any photos of the work in proggress, I would like to post them on your page as an update! Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nolan Posted November 6, 2004 Share Posted November 6, 2004 Greg, Yeah the lottery would be nice wouldn't it, I could really go crazy then. Body mods!! I don't know how I get myself into these things but I do. As you know Blew started out as a Chinook poptop, beings I didn't need another motorhome as such I decided to be creative and make a play toy out of it and use it for driving and weekend rockhounding trips. I removed all the poptop mechanism, cut out all the inside body lip where the old pop up harware was, built a new steel skeleton inner framework to have a place to anchor the interior paneling, and add some strength to the body plus anchor the roof down. The roof size on the poptop roof is actually smaller than the lower body section so the roof is being molded out to match the lower body so it will all blend together, the floor was removed and replaced with a stronger unit along with a steel framework to mount it to the frame. The floor will continue clear to the rear with the small original step down used as a storage compartment in the rear. The side windows in the camper body were removed and will be glassed in, the small rear entry door was, or should say is being at this time, cut out and a new large swing up rear door is being fabricated to take its place, I,m working on the glass work now to make way for that, had to do some creative sectioning to be able to glass the new opening back in and keep the body in its original shape as theres not a lot of rigidity if it was all cut out at once. Once the new door and rear body are done I hope to retain all the original body lines of the Chinook back wall but have the door fit flush with the body instead of protruding out like original. I'll try to get some pictures of the work in progress, I get busy working and seem to neglect the picture taking part of the project. I will say its been a challenge if nothing else. Told my son I would give it to him when done but he doesn't seem to have much interest in my insanity, so guess dad will keep it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WME Posted November 6, 2004 Share Posted November 6, 2004 Winter/Spring Its sort tough to work on your Toy when its -10 deg So I've been collecting parts for a spring fling. A new ported head with O/S valves and a set rings so far. Final setup is a 22RE with RV cam, 2mm oversized TB, 2.25" exhaust and the new head. This shoud make about as much power as a turbo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gulfstream Greg Posted November 6, 2004 Author Share Posted November 6, 2004 Nolan Thats an incredible undertaking. Nolan's Monster Garage. You could give the discovery channel a run for its money. Wme What cam are you going to use and where are you getting it? Thats one thing I have wanted to do. I really need some more low end torque. The turbo has power when the turbo is spinning but at high altitude and a standing start its gutless. Greg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WME Posted November 6, 2004 Share Posted November 6, 2004 The cam is a 270 deg unit from engnbldr.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nolan Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 Greg, definately no monster garage around here, takes me at least 7 days just to get motivated. I did get the rear door opening glassed in and the hole cut out today, really opens the back up now. WME, have you installed the camshaft yet or is that part of the to-do plan when the weather is better? just curious as to what you think of that particular grind as I recently installed the very same in my son's rig and wondered what results others have had. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR.D Posted November 9, 2004 Share Posted November 9, 2004 With all of the rain we've had in So Cal the past three weeks, I've discovered that two of my roof vents leak. They didn't leak the first day or two, then they started to seep in around the vents wetting the ceiling about 1" around the vent on all sides. The temp fix has been a 12'X25' tarp. So my next winter project will be to remove the the two vents and likely replace them while they're out. I'd like to put a Fantastic Fan or that other brand Greg's installed in his rig. I don't know that there's power at the vent, but there is a light fixture pretty close, so I can likely get power there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nolan Posted November 10, 2004 Share Posted November 10, 2004 Good luck with your vent fixin, seems those plastic style vents are a constant maintenance issue to keep from leaking, I have replaced the vents on my Oddesey three times now in about 8 years, they get small hairline cracks in the covers or base from heat and exposure. The roof vents I installed in my 76 Chinook were the all aluminum type, not much light, but have been maintenance free now for almost 17 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WME Posted November 10, 2004 Share Posted November 10, 2004 Nolan I'm running the EB cam on a stock head now. I notice a small decrease off idle, but in the mountains there are a lot more climbs at 45mph instead of 35mph. It will also run at 70mph on the flats with out even breathing hard ( no O/D) but thats 4200 rpm or so. Mostly it gets driven at 60-65, like 3700RPM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nolan Posted November 10, 2004 Share Posted November 10, 2004 Thanks WME, From posts on a 4x4 forum everyone just raved about the huge power gains so I guess I was expecting more from it. My sons 86 runner we did a stock rebuild, .020 over on the pistons, the 270 cam, and a tri-Y header with 2-1/4 exhaust, it runs slightly better than original on the top end, doesn't lug down as good as before for crawling around in the hills though. Bottom line he's happy and still drives it like he stole it Wishin good weather on ya so you can get on with your other mods, take care. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WME Posted November 11, 2004 Share Posted November 11, 2004 Nolan I noticed that EB now has a smaller cam for the Rock Crawlers. Can't how much of the improved hill climb is cam and how much is overboared TB. Did both about the same time.. WME Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nolan Posted November 11, 2004 Share Posted November 11, 2004 Hi WME, I spoke with EB about using the crawler cam and he was the one who suggested using the 270 instead for the type of use the son had in mind, normal driving and pulling a small utility trailer a lot of the time. I know what you mean though, hard to say what a certain piece does when you install several upgrades at the same time, and camshafts are one of those pieces that can make or break engine performance if not matched to the other components. Have a good one, I,m off to work on Blew. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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