Resurect a 27 Foot Long Camper Van? It has a V8 afterall...

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Ok- Last year about this time- we got the idea that our Race trailer needed to be replaced with something. We or more accurately I- have been riding and racing big dirt bikes since the late 90's. The family tags along when they can and in the last three years, the missus has taken a shine to riding our driveway snow plow Quad. A Grizzly 660cc 4x4 ATV. I run an EFI KX450 bike.

Since we drive daily v8 SUV's that can tow 6,000LBS, I have been towing our enclosed trailer with all the gear, bikes and whatever else we can fit in the thing- to go riding at our favorite places.

Trouble is though- these wide tire "sporty" SUV's tow like a bag of soggy noodles when loaded down. Power is fine- but the wide tires follow the road, the short wheelbase adds to the unsettling feel of the event. American trucks- those haul just fine, but who wants one of those things anyway? Towing 5500LBS with an X5 was not comfortable.

So what was the answer? What about a truck you can put all of the gear INSIDE OF? No trailer at all?
That would also mean less road tolls because we wouldn't be towing a trailer. MPG would be about the same if we could find the thing, that made sense.
We looked at all sorts of vans, trucks and heavy haulers. Keep in mind we are dirt cheap! Not horribly skint but I will squeeze the life out of every single available penny.

What about a Camper van? Over here we call them "Motor Homes" or "RV" for recreational vehicle. Now- don't confuse that with "Motorcoach" because those are 250K and reserved for rockstars, not dodgy dirt bike guys like us. lol

We wanted an older unit, but something with no carburetor. Had to be at least throttle body EFI because those make more power and get decent MPG. It needed to be BIG- but not too big. Scanning Flakebook marketplace- we happened upon this:

A 1992 27' Abandoned project RV:

It was originally kept indoors until this hillbilly guy got a hold of it and started to make it his "Podcast Studio". That never happened and he needed money.

The wife and I drove the 16 miles over there and had a look around it. "Eeeew" she remarked. I was like "Just wait a minute honey- let me take a closer look"...

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I laid in the wet grass and mud. I looked underneath it. The frame and all the components were like new. Bone dry and crisp steel brake lines, soft "ish" rubber, lots of grease on all the pivot joints- and the guy said it runs. Well- it would run if.. blah blah blah. My gears were spinning.

I climbed on top of it. Solid one piece rubber roof, a few little imperfections but totally salvageable. The original front seats and the dashboard itself? Excellent shape. Everything else? Cosmetic. Structurally- this thing would work.

I measured the back and if we arranged it properly- we could fit 2 bikes and our big plow quad in this thing, with enough construction expertise. I'm actually a plumber by trade- so I saw this as basic wood framing, simple house and 12v vehicle wiring along with new, relocated plumbing. Of course.

This guy was young. Young family. Looked a bit desperate. I told him- "You say it runs, yeah? Drive this thing to my house sixteen miles away and I will hand you your full asking price of $XXXX."

Believe me- it barely made it into the four digits.

He put a fuel pump inside a 5 gallon bucket of fuel, duct taped a lid on it- strapped the entire explosive mess to the passenger seat, jump started the dead batteries and drove that thing within a mile from our house, where it broke down on the road. LOL

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Calling me in a panic- he exclaimed "Dude- we almost made it, I'm blocking the road, can you bring some jumper cables?"

Maaannn... That really wasn't the deal... But sure. And off I went.

It wouldn't start. It cranked really slow. I was thinking- "This ain't good, it could be anything".

Just then a big tow truck drove around us slow and the kid yelled really fast at him:

HEYBUDDYCANYOUGIVEUS A HAND? The driver turned around and he put his tow rig under the thing and lifted it, towing it down the road where he dropped it off off in my driveway, dead as a doornail.

I paid the kid his price and he handed the tow driver a hundred dollar bill from it. The driver wouldn't take it and everyone left happy.

Except me. Because now it didn't run. AND it was blocking MY driveway. hehehe the web we weave...

Did it need an engine? Was it just batteries? Who knows... it's getting real cold outside this time of year.

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I had a look around it the next warm day. Here is the prognosis:

It stalled out on him because the dizzy cap crumbled and lost coil connection.

It wouldn't restart because the batteries were 20yrs old and the earth connections were filthy.

It was missing the catalytic converters, someone had chopped em off, nice and clean.

The entire fuel system was plugged and the in tank pump was junk.

I rigged up the battery connections and the coil. I fired it up with his 5 gallon bucket of death strapped to the seat and with it's open header sound- I moved it into position where we started stripping it down to the shell.

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I also washed it off as it was just above freezing outside. The pressure washer kept freezing up on me, so I stopped and got it parked up. Then the temp dropped and it started snowing.

Next up was drop that 45 gallon ALL STEEL fuel tank in the -7c weather.

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I replaced everything fuel related.Fuel pump, filter, lines, regulator- sending unit, fuel gauge- everything.

I repaired the loud exhaust and replaced ALL the ignition components and the batteries.

It now fired up on the key, purred like a brand new truck. 49K original miles on it.

The truck itself was a 1992 Dodge D350 one ton chassis, dual rear wheels. The coach builder used these in the 90's. They were heavy duty with a 3500LB front axle and a 7,000LB rear axle. This was a BIG petrol powered commercial truck under this thing.

It now ran like a charm and was ready to be transformed into the truck that would take us and our off road toys- into the woods and beyond.

So much work lay ahead:

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With it cleaned out, running perfectly and the plans scribbled on cardboard in crayon- I started buying building supplies. I figured I could get the inside rearranged while I was doing the other projects in the garage. I started running scenarios on exactly HOW I was going to add the rear door accompanying the machines.

 We test drove the thing to make sure it shifted and stopped- before I spent any real money.

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With the floor pan rearranged- I had a brand new loo, a sink and on the other side of the hallway- a new shower.

There would be no onboard kitchen, we would use a propane portable grill. There would be no real beds- we would use camping cots or air mattresses. But a bathroom, AIR CONDITIONING and Heat- was important.

I used everything from the Rv that was clean and use able. The entire Rv was rewired using the original on board generator and power inverter.

We have 12v lighting and House current to power the rooftop AC and anything else we need, like a coffee maker or TV. Of course I fully serviced the generator and the rooftop AC. Working perfectly.

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Still had to work out how to engineer that big "drive up" door.

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I would venture to guess 350 hours all in.

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So here we are! It's done- plates & reg'd. We've used it several times and it's great! All the mechanicals are tip top. It has a narrow chassis under a WIDE body, but it does the job. It's a little scary on the freeway with huge trucks passing us at 75mph, but you get used to it.

New tires, gets good MPG (by our standards anyway 12-14)and sleeps like a dream with the AC cranking in the heat. It's a win.

Here's the finished product:

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Can't wait to use it again! It's sweet. and less than one fifth the cost of a real one of these. 1992 style, yeah. So what

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I've got at least three other crazy builds I can do a thread on, if anyone cares to read them. I do enjoy writing and sharing this stuff on a forum consisting of real retro ride petrol heads. I wish there were more forums just like this one left in the world.

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