1976 GMC Motorhome

Sav0r said:
Looks like a sweet cupholder. I think I would have added two if I was going through all that trouble.
I did,
Passenger and driver side, just no photos of the other one
 
Maritime said:
Ha, nice. the 460 is a guzzler but most motor homes are, good you got it running proper.

Yessir. 52000 original miles.
Everyone that has one reports about 10mpg, which is actually really good for a motorhome. Thanks to GMC for actually designing a vehicle and not a house on the back of a truck!
 
10mpg?! That's more than I got out of my small block 350. I don't get much better than that in my Honda Odyssey pulling the new camper.
 
JustinLonghorn said:
10mpg?! That's more than I got out of my small block 350. I don't get much better than that in my Honda Odyssey pulling the new camper.
I know it's insane right? I got 9mpg on the way home with it in the wrong gear for most of the time.
Aerodynamics is a crazy thing.
 
Sub-freakin-scribed!! ;D

Joostan, 10mpg ain't bad at all outta that engine/chassis. Did you do any other tuning to it? Ignition/wires/etc?

And Eric, you should do some tuning as well. I get 15mpg outta my Stepside ;)
 
Redbird said:
And Eric, you should do some tuning as well. I get 15mpg outta my Stepside ;)
My old man claims mine never got more than 10mpg since it came off the lot in 1979. He says that knowing he took the 305 out and put a 350 in. LOL If I can ever make it to Spring Break, the truck is getting a valve job, some other bits and the Holley dyno tuned. I'd be very happy at 15mpg. The Ram averages between 12 and 14mpg. How I drive should also be considered in this conversation.
 
deviant said:
How I drive should also be considered in this conversation.
Likewise, definitely. I say "15mpg" while I'm babying her. If I start playing around, that number goes downhill faster than Sonny Bono.
 
Redbird said:
Sub-freakin-scribed!! ;D

Joostan, 10mpg ain't bad at all outta that engine/chassis. Did you do any other tuning to it? Ignition/wires/etc?

And Eric, you should do some tuning as well. I get 15mpg outta my Stepside ;)
Once the interior is done and the paint is done (biiiig money on paint unfortunately) I'm going to go with the new FiTech fuel injection system.
Mostly for reliability and altitude immunity but there should be a bit of a performance bump as well.
Knowing me once it's done I'll get bored again and do headers, exhaust,cam etc

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
 
I considered putting a aftermarket FI kit on the Stepside for much the same reasons. Consistency and Tune-ability. But since she really only sees weekend duty these days, it's hard to justify the expense.

Oh, and btw... I have a pair of Big Block C10 longtube headers in the shed. Yours when you're ready ;) :p
 
Love this stuff... couple years back whenever my 16 birthday rolled around I came across an old VW bus with a full kitchen in the back that I ether wanted to keep for camping, or gut and turn into a bike/toy hauler.. needless to say it didn't happen, dad wasn't into it :'( I love this though, keep it up.
 
I've been following these for years. Congratulations, I'm envious. Three or four years ago I saw one of these for sale down the road from Mid-Ohio. It looked to be in very excellent, non-restored condition... have regretted not following up on it ever since.

Looks like you've gotten a really good start w/ it. I know that two of the big problems w/ these over the years has been the air suspension system and rusted frame rails. Looks like you did a great job with the air system. If the frame rails don't need attention you will be in great shape, everything else should just be tinkering, imagination, and time/money. I guess it isn't impossible to replace most of the window glass but I have heard the windshields are practically made of "unobtanium." I've seen these around at wildly differing prices; from very inexpensive for units that are not much more than "for parts" to really top dollar for ones that have been, part by part, brought into 21st century technology. I'll bet that w/ FI, headers, electronic ignition, and other attention you ought to be able to get near the gas mileage you would like to see. I heard once that somebody was working on a kit to adapt a modern pickup diesel to that transaxle, but when I went to research it later I couldn't find any more info.

There is a similar, but smaller, unit that was made by Winnebago called the Lesharo a few years back. It wasn't as big as the GMC but had similar functionality. That one mostly suffered from a crappy French Renault 4-cyl power plant that wasn't up to the task and didn't hold up well. There was a company (Dakotas or Montana?) that did a complete conversion to the GM 3.8L drivetrain and even used most of the dash components. I guess the real ticket for that one was to find a donor from the supercharged 3.8L Buick.
 
ridesolo said:
I've been following these for years. Congratulations, I'm envious. Three or four years ago I saw one of these for sale down the road from Mid-Ohio. It looked to be in very excellent, non-restored condition... have regretted not following up on it ever since.

Looks like you've gotten a really good start w/ it. I know that two of the big problems w/ these over the years has been the air suspension system and rusted frame rails. Looks like you did a great job with the air system. If the frame rails don't need attention you will be in great shape, everything else should just be tinkering, imagination, and time/money. I guess it isn't impossible to replace most of the window glass but I have heard the windshields are practically made of "unobtanium." I've seen these around at wildly differing prices; from very inexpensive for units that are not much more than "for parts" to really top dollar for ones that have been, part by part, brought into 21st century technology. I'll bet that w/ FI, headers, electronic ignition, and other attention you ought to be able to get near the gas mileage you would like to see. I heard once that somebody was working on a kit to adapt a modern pickup diesel to that transaxle, but when I went to research it later I couldn't find any more info.

There is a similar, but smaller, unit that was made by Winnebago called the Lesharo a few years back. It wasn't as big as the GMC but had similar functionality. That one mostly suffered from a crappy French Renault 4-cyl power plant that wasn't up to the task and didn't hold up well. There was a company (Dakotas or Montana?) that did a complete conversion to the GM 3.8L drivetrain and even used most of the dash components. I guess the real ticket for that one was to find a donor from the supercharged 3.8L Buick.

Nice to see someone is familiar with them!

Prices are all over the board, the die hard guys have a few guys who do "official" appraisals for insurance companies, and decent shape coaches with minimal updates are "appraised" at 30-40K which is complete crap, but it helpw with insurance. You've got a bunch of guys out there who because of this think they have gold sitting in their yard when in reality it will take 20+K to get it back to decent shape.
The GMC guys always say you can spend 15K on a decent coach that doesnt need much work, or you can buy a junker and spend 15K getting it where you want it. This is a fair assessment if you do your own work. At 80-100 an hour if you farm it out things get pricey really really fast.

If anyone is interested in how fast prices add up on a project this size I am keeping up with every penny spent on this project. If you had shown me this before I bought it I probably would have turned and run the other way. I honestly thought I was going to finish it for under 10 total! Granted I have gone way over what i initially wanted to do, basically every piece of this thing except the engine and body will be new. Also, I am cheap as shit so every part on this list is one hell of a deal or I wouldn't have bought it.
A fucking RV REFRIGERATOR is 1000 + dollars. What the fuck.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oS7dyvqXN5YiLDre7IoalMo_Q2viMw_YMOkxQc6G8nc/edit#gid=0

The suspension and the frame rails are the problem (everything else is aluminum or SMC)
I went and saw one before I found this one that had bad frame rails, instant no go. This one just has surface rust no pitting or problem areas.
There are a few guys who are just die hard devoted to these things, and almost all parts are available, but they are way pricey since the demand is so low, windshields are 6-800 each (need 2)

There's a guy who just finished his first road trip with a duramax engined coach, tons and tons of work went into that. He ended up with 13mpg over the 1000 mile trip. not bad, but for the 10+K and years of labor involved can't say I'm too interested!
 
SONIC. said:
A fucking RV REFRIGERATOR is 1000 + dollars. What the fuck.
The propane ones are through the roof. Most go to electric when they need replacement.
 
I'm with ya there. It's worth it in the end. A good home fridge isn't too far short of the price.
 
Yup,
I decided from the very beginning to do this right the first time, if it costs more so be it, it may just take longer to complete.
So that means a 120V/Propane fride. So nice to not have to use electricity when out int he middle of nowhere and not have to run the 6500 watt generator to keep the beers cold.

I ended up getting a fridge on CL brand new in the box "damaged" for 189 bucks. the Damage was a scratch on a part I'm going to paint anyway.
It pays to be diligent on CL
 
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