70's Dodge RV's

[Will]

A DT360 is a throw-away engine? It's a beast for only being 5.9 liters. It has replaceable liners and can be totally rebuilt in frame. It's built on the DT466 design so it is nearly the same dimensions and weight as a DT466--weighing over 1,300#. I think it's far from a throw-away. The Cummins 6BT5.9 weighs 950# dry.

I bought it, by the way. I don't know when it's getting delivered yet.

Is it possible to find the parts to overhaul a 40-year-old Onan?

 

[Jspafford]

Even the current $300,000 RV's are made of styrofoam. Not much protection for what you have to pay for one.

The old dodge motorhomes are decent. The brakes seem to be the problem most of the time. The mileage sucks though.

Ever see one of these...

We had one for sale at work, a guy bought it in Maine and we had to flat tow it with a towbar and a K2500HD silverado. That was quite a nice 600 mile trip.

 

[Will]

I was reading about schoolbus safety and came across an Arkansas accident in about 2001 were an 80,000 semi with horribly maintained brakes ran through a stopsign and t-boned a 1990 10-row conventional, gas powered schoolbus at 50mph. Naturally, the bus went flying and ended up on its side. The semi kept going and it too eventually went over. The body was nearly torn off the bus--but it stayed intact and had a 3' dent in it. There were three kids killed and that was from impacts with the interior of the bus--the seat compartments are designed only for front/rear collisions so when the semi hit it the kids, who were not belted, stayed stationary and the bus flew away and so the kids hit the side of the bus that the truck rammed. If they had been belted they would probably have survived.

That's a direct fawking missle strike by a fully loaded semi at 50mph and the bus fended it off. A motorhome would have looked like a chicken hit by a superbike--POOF--white cloud of feathers and the trucker is reaching for the wiper switch. I'm sold on it.

Of course a Hummer was barely noticed by this bus driver. He just let out the clutch and nothing was happening. So he went around the bus and poked that stuff out from under the back with a stick and finished his route.

I'll bet a bus demolishion derby would be boring. Now a bus/Winnebago derby--that would be fun. I doubt a 20,000# bus could catch an 8,000# old Winnebago to crush it though.

 

[reginald fairfield]

Of course a Hummer was barely noticed by this bus driver. He just let out the clutch and nothing was happening. So he went around the bus and poked that stuff out from under the back with a stick and finished his route.

Yah! One more poser hummer off the streets!

 

[Will]

 

[Jspafford]

So, where in the bus did the drivers head end up?

 

[Simple_serf]

Genltleman that I did some work for has 3 DT360's.... His were early production, but had no liners....when they were due for overhaul, the blocks were sent to IH or Navistar (I don't remember who...it was awhile ago), and the engines replaced. I have not worked on more than one or two and did not do the overhauls, so I said "to my knowledge", which may be wrong.

What's the Model and Code of the Onan?

Most common form that age was the CK and CCK, Parts are availiable, but getting expensive. If it's a J series (JA, JB, JC, JE), Parts are readily availible, you just need to know where to look and have a large checkbook (Cummins thinks that the old Onan stuff it worth it's weight in gold). If it's a CW series...Sigh...Then you need to see if it has Cotton or plastic insulation on the generator wiring. If it's cotton....nevermind...if You have a CW, let me know (I have one that is good for engine parts only) . Engine parts for Cw's can be had by getting to know your local machinist very very well and by finding an old timer Onan parts man who enjoys his job. All of these were made 40 years ago (these are the smaller Onans), the CW was being phased out, the CK series had something like a 50 year production run, and the J series was built from the 50's to the early 90's.

I have spent too much time with these. I have to go and rewire a control box on a JC tomorrow that caught fire. Nothing like keeping 40 year old equipment running in daily service.

Everything you ever wanted to know about old Onans:

http://www.smokstak.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=1

Paul

 

[Will]

My Onan says 4.0 CCK 1R on the tag. I guess I can risk pulling it apart.

I don't see an unlined DT360 kit, early or late. In fact, it's a wet sleeved engine. But I don't know what they have done in the past. I never heard of a DT360 before a few weeks ago when I decided I needed a bus. I defer to the breadth of your wisdom and experience on these things.

 

[Shran]

I picked mine up on Friday night. Here it is:

I have a ton of work to do to it, and it looks like hell, but I'll get her fixed up. I have the CCK Onan.

 

[Will]

So were they too embarrassed to put double beds in these things? Mine's the same way. It's the Leave it to Beaver coach of the 70's.

Nobody minded because that ultra-violence carpet removed any sensitive feelings a couple might have for each other.

I like the big windows. Mine has tiny things--probably to make the RV look bigger--and you feel like you are in a closet looking out a keyhole. If you are the first one at the traffic light you have to stick your whole torso out the side window to see up at the light.

 

[Shran]

I'm painting the interior of mine and replacing the carpet with wood laminate flooring. The carpet is in pretty bad shape anyway.

So how would one go about painting the exterior of one of these things? I want to do OD green. I don't have a paint sprayer so I was thinking just exterior house paint or enamel applied with a foam roller. I'm not too concerned with how it looks afterwards, but I don't want to end up with something that looks bad.

 

[Will]

It doesn't even need paint being aluminum. I was thinking of how to paint the bus today. I'm going to lightly sand it, burn off the school lettering and stickers with a heat gun and use a Wagner to spray Rustoleum right on it. That's what I would do with yours. I doubt olive drab is the cheapest paint. Or the coolest. I plan on doing a gloss white roof down to the level of the bottom of the windows, a thick red strip--maybe 8" thick--under the windows. And bright green for everything below.

Like this.

 

[Shran]

I'm not sure what mine's made out of, but it's definitely not aluminum. The driver's side looks much worse, big spots of paint missing and a bunch of surface rust. Maybe it's galvanized steel? I dunno. The roof I redid with white elastomeric trailer house roof coating and pol-e-base tar/fabric strips on the seams. It had a shitload of lichen growing on it. I didn't feel like scraping the whole roof and recoating it, so I wire brushed most of it and painted over.

So coolest as in temperature or awesomeness factor, for lack of a better word? I think a olive drab RV would be pretty tight..but that's just me...I have some weird tastes sometimes. I would absolutely agree with the temperature issue. The brown has gotta go though. I spose something more conservative might be the way to go in the end.

When I first got it I was considering turning part of it into a portable 4x4 repair shop for wheelin trips. But given that it's so easy to break into and it's pretty cool like it is I decided against it.

 

[Will]

I meant temperature.

Olive drab isn't the way to go. It will look cheesy. I like a dark blue. The paint color has to admit that the shape look like shit, but that it's doing the best it can. A nice dark blue with a white top will look good on that.

 

[dieselrebuild]

A DT360 is a throw-away engine? It's a beast for only being 5.9 liters. It has replaceable liners and can be totally rebuilt in frame. It's built on the DT466 design so it is nearly the same dimensions and weight as a DT466--weighing over 1,300#. I think it's far from a throw-away. The Cummins 6BT5.9 weighs 950# dry.

I bought it, by the way. I don't know when it's getting delivered yet.

Is it possible to find the parts to overhaul a 40-year-old Onan?

It is definitely not a throw-away engine. I can source the entire overhaul rebuild kit for this engine for $997 delivered to you. And better yet we will beat any advertised price you may find. We are bar none the cheapest and quickest diesel engine kit & parts distributor in the industry.

find the kit @
http://www.detroitdieselmiami.com/international-rebuild-kits.html

Regards,

Alex Paret
IESC DIESEL, CORP.