I broke down and took the whole thing back apart. The broken piece of dipstick was just sitting in the bottom of the oil pan. Bonus, I was able to fix the gasket on the rear of the pan that I had unknowingly messed up originally.
It was all back together today and I ran the engine. It needs to be properly timed still and have the carb tuned. I'm admitting defeat on that front. I've been talking to the owner of a shop down the road and it sounds like I'm going to take it to him for all of that. I'm still wondering if there's another issue other than timing and the carb, but I'm sure he'll be able to tell me if that's the case.
I did find another RV I wanted to look at, but it's way up north. And a hefty chunk of change. I just couldn't bring myself to spending such a large portion of my savings so that's why I broke down and went back to work on my Chinook. If the shop can get it to run smoothly, it'll be quite the motorhome.
Hey man, glad to hear you got it going, never surrender and all that jazz :) I got my own 77 chinook back from its first hour long drive today and it definitely needs some work with the steering and brakes and an exhaust leak that I have to find, other than that its looking good. Timing and the carb tune shouldnt be all that hard a shop, once again glad to hear things are coming up milhouse for ya.
ReplyDeleteIs this a Chinook based on a Dodge like mine? What's up with the steering, just sloppy? Mine is very sloppy. I drove mine 200 miles from where I bought it with horrible brakes. Once I got it home I realized the rear brake line was leaking badly, and later on realized the master cylinder was bad. Never would have trusted 200 miles to something like that, but we survived. Haha.
DeleteI need some pictures of your new rig!
Im pretty sure its almost the exact same rig as yours, 77 Chinook Concourse on a dodge maxi van chassis. I actually found your blog when researching it and you were part of my inspiration to buy it actually lol. I would love to share some pics of my rig with you, Im heading out of town for a funeral but if you get me an email Id be happy to show it off to a fellow owner. The steering is sloppy, works well but sloppy, it may be as easy as replacing some bushings is what Im hoping for. The passenger side front wheel started making an increasingly horrible noise when I got close to home, not sure if its a wheel bearing or a hung brake or what, havent had a chance to touch the thing yet, no money for parts for at least a month anyhow. So Im going to start ripping apart the interior and figuiring out a redesign that will work for me and my girl to live in it full time. Hopefully the interior will be done enough by end of october and I have a place to sit it and live in it till spring when I can get enough money together for whatever mechanical I cant get to before winter.
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