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I answered a Craigslist ad for a 90k mile 318 from a class C motorhome about 3 weeks ago. Engine fired right up, nearly 20 PSI oil pressure according to the stock electric gauge at idle. Ran slightly rough, but after working the throttle I suspect the carb might be gummed up inside a bit. Came with the 727 short tail shaft I need to go into the W200, and all the little stuff. For $350, I couldn't pass it up. Going to drop that right in the truck and be driving it soon. Also scored a Dana 70 dualie rear end for another $100, with the leaves and shocks. I'll pick that up in about a week.

Once we got it in the air and onto the stand, I noticed it has factory paint on the back of the block behind the flywheel. All the freeze plugs are original and appear in good shape from the outside. Minor leaks from valve covers are the only reason this motor is dirty outside at all really. It's a two barrel carb and since I'm likely going GM TBI in the near future, it may not get a 4 barrel intake on it. We shall see. I also noticed the fact that it has new everything in the ignition system, including some nice heavy duty 7mm plug wires on it. Plugs are angled so I'm hoping that it has the heart shaped chambers inside, though I'm not opening it up to see. It may get some shorty headers before it goes in, who knows. Overall, my only concern is the oil pressure. But I could always throw in a new high volume pump and reduce my worries, quite easily. Time will tell.

While I was there, the guy was telling me about the other motorhome, sitting next to the one he was parting out. Same thing with it, parting it out. It has a 50K mile 360 in it. He offered to start it for me,... that was a bad mistake. It had been a couple of weeks since it has started, based on the cobwebs on the dash by the ignition switch. Pumped the gas 4 times and hit the key. Stumbled and died. Two more pumps, hit the key, fired right off. Smooth as a Swiss watch, and 40 PSI oil pressure cold! Immediate executive decision! My Scout 2 now gets a 318 conversion, and the W200 is getting a 360. Same price as the 318 also. Can't hardly pass that up. Momma's gonna kill me, but I have a couple of weeks to get my bed ready out in the garage.

Here's a pict, though we have all seen a 318 before I suppose :

Yeah, you're in trouble!!

Oh, now we see why Momma has the punching bag set up to stay in shape! [smile]

Hope you grabbed the torque converter for the 360???!!! 318 won't have the closed chamber heads. 20psi cold is bad! Drop the oil pan and remove the pickup tube and soak in parts cleaner overnight. Then work on removing the 1/2 cup of bits and pieces of old valve stem seals that are clogging the pickup screen. While your down there it's easy to replace rod and main bearings. THEN remove the valve covers and install new valve stem seals. T H E N... pull the timing cover and replace that chincy worn out factory timing chain with a new one! Now reinstall with new gaskets and front crankshaft seal and your good for another 90K or more. Motorhome motors work real hard almost all the time and heat and time do far more damage and wear than miles. I'd do the same for the 360.

^^^^^^
what he said.
Great advice.

hey, hey, hey
maybe you'll be able to make the Cruise that is if the government will sign paperwork for the oil companies to drill in the worlds largest oil reserve up above me and east of you


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Not sure about the cruise Robin, but we shall see. Just want the thing drivable again. One step at a time!

The guy said that the previous owner "had a bunch of work done to it", and "I have papers on it all". When I go get the 360 I'll inquire about it. I was just so stoked to be making progress that I didn't follow up on that at the time. My bad.

Valve covers are leaking fresh oil (about the only oil on the outside of the motor really), and looking in through the filler hole on the valve cover, it looks like new inside. Might have had some work done already. I know the exhaust manifolds were off once. One broken stud on each side. WIll fix that now, since it's on the stand. Think I'll roll it over, pull the pan and look around. Timing chain good insurance, and easier to do now than once it's in the truck. Will likely do that for sure. Thinking about a high volume oil pump, rather than a high pressure one. Thoughts?

so why is 20psi bad at idle?? you only need 10psi for every 1000rpm for proper oiling. not to mention its on the stock electric gauge. before i did any tearing it apart i would stick a mechanical gauge on it and see what shes doing.

wideblock wrote:so why is 20psi bad at idle?? you only need 10psi for every 1000rpm for proper oiling. not to mention its on the stock electric gauge. before i did any tearing it apart i would stick a mechanical gauge on it and see what shes doing.

I've been thinking about the same thing the last few days. I like seeing better pressure, but you are right, 20 isn't that bad. My "teardown" is mainly going to be the valve covers (they're leaking anyway), and the oil pan (for a visual and maybe clean out the oil pick-up tube and screen for good measure). As clean as the rockers seems to be from looking in the oil fill hole, I'm not expecting any surprises.

Still thinking about replacing the timing chain though, just to be safe. Much easier on the stand than in the truck. I also noticed the other day that as the guy took the accesories off to get it out of the van, he loosened all of the water pump bolts. So I might change that too, just because. Once I get it into the Scout, I will be running mechanical gauges on it, especially the oil pressure. Personal preference. Now I just need to get another output shaft for the 727 to go to my Dana 20 transfer case. Not wanting to tear down my IH trans to get the part.

Where are you going to get the short shaft for the 727 to hook to the transfer case? I would like to put an automatic in the Willy's, but that part elude's me, so I'm moving forward with the /6 Np435, but I'm along ways off, still workin on the 68 Adventure.
I've notice through the years on the 440, that when I'm at a stoplight and idling, when the oil is gettin old the oil pressure will no longer be at 40 psi, I use that as a guage to remind myself when its time to change oil.

**** UPDATE! ****

Time for an update. Friday I picked up the 50,000 mile 360 from my "parts guy", along with the trans from the motorhome. I believe that it was a 77, but not sure. I'll have to find the numbers on the block to be sure. I also got the Dana 70 dualie rear (with springs) from the other motorhome, a 74 I believe. Both were B-van chassis (Class C's). I had forgotten how MASSIVE the Dana 70 is. I'm not looking forward to unloading it or moving it around without an engine hoist, that's for sure! I'll toss on a couple of tires I have for it and roll it around. First thing I want to know about it is the gear ratio (assuming 4.10). I'll be outside today after church to unload and get a better look at it.

Here's the "load":



Here's the casting number from the Dana 70:

Is the BOM tag still on the diff cover? If so, run the BOM number on Dana's website and that'll give you the lowdown on that axle.

What Trey said. I definitely wouldn't open the engine up if it runs good and maintains that much oil pressure at idle. About the only thing I would do would be to rock the crank back and forth to feel if there's any slack in the timing chain. If there's slack it's easy to replace while the engine is out. I would also look really close at the freeze plugs on the rear of the block and probably change them to brass while they're easy to get to. Motor home engines are typically the better -3 engines so that's also a plus if it's the original engine from the motorhome.

Russ wrote:What Trey said. I definitely wouldn't open the engine up if it runs good and maintains that much oil pressure at idle. About the only thing I would do would be to rock the crank back and forth to feel if there's any slack in the timing chain. If there's slack it's easy to replace while the engine is out. I would also look really close at the freeze plugs on the rear of the block and probably change them to brass while they're easy to get to. Motor home engines are typically the better -3 engines so that's also a plus if it's the original engine from the motorhome.

Yeah Russ, I'm not touching it really. When I checked it out, it fired right up and ran smooth as a Swiss watch, stone cold. Just going to give it a bath, touch up the paint, and slap it in. I'm thinking I might even leave the stock 2 barrel on it for now. I'll have to check for the -3 mark, but I'm sure it's there.

I'll look closer this weekend at the rear, since I'll be unloading it from the trailer. I'll be checking it out further for numbers and running the info through the Dana website.

My next move is to go get a fuel tank from a B-Van or a Ramcharger, and new brake lines. I want to run those lines before I put the engine and trans back in. Of course, now I have to start digging through my boxes of parts to find stuff I packed away years ago.