Fuel Injection Upgrade?

[Buck58]

HI All,

My Dad is getting into his 80's and has given me his 77 24' Argosy...hes had it forever, but hasent put 50 miles on it in the last 3 years for health reasons. Anyway, Teresa and I are realy looking forward to taking this lovely old girl on the road. But first I am going to restore/upgrade some things and was wondering if anyone has tried adding a fuel injection system and what the results were regarding fuel economy, maintenance ...was it worth the cost?. It has a carberated 454 with about 12k miles from rebuild.

[thenewkid64]

Welcome to the forum!

77-24 foot, cool. Got any pictures?

There is a member that has done it, but it is not cheap! He is gone for a week, but will be back. I would drop the 500.00 on a NEW edelbrock carb, change all the fuel filters, replace the rubber fuel lines with new, and be done with it. The new carb will give you plenty of power and it is easy to maintain. If it breaks and you need to have it worked on you won't get the "we don't know how to fix that" from a side of the road mechanic. In the case of my MH I think simple is better, then when it breaks I can fix it.

You will not need the extra HP that a FI system can give you with a 24 ft MH. The 454 is a bit oversized for that unit.

[87MH]

First off, after 3 years, dump the fuel, the entire water system, and change oil prior to attempting a start.

Pressure test the cooling system and invest in a new radiator cap.

Like Brett said, new filters all the way around prior to attempting a start.

Check the age of the tires. There are numerous threads here (search "tire failure") that recommend tire changeout after 5 years, regardless of tread left.

Big time bucks to repair a thrown carcass hitting the side of the MH.

Welcome to the Forum and the AS Community!!!!!

Lots of help, a little criticism, and a plethora of opinions.

[ALANSD]

Agree with Dennis and Brett although if the 500 i a concern I would start by cleaning the carb really well, and also changing out the fuel filters after you get rid of any old fuel. Put some dry gas into the tank in the correcy amount to dry up any accululated moisture, change the oil of course....grease all the fittings underneath, including the ones on the drive shaft, spray Wd-40 liberally around to displace moisture.
If the engine runs ok then, drive it. Sitting is not a good thing as you may know, and the 454 loves to run. Get it hot, put a load on your generator and drive......
Great to have another GA Classicmotorhomer onboard.
Seems like we should have a GA forums get together!

[Buck58]

Thx Guys, I wish I had known of this forum a coupla days ago
I never thought of dumping the fuel. I did check tire pressures, all the fluids and change the oil before driving it home from West Palm Beach FL. a distance of about 450 miles.

We left about 8pm sunday evening with Teresa following me in my truck. Dad had started the MH often, and had kept the tank topped off, but even with stabilizer in the fuel...it was bad. the rig would backfire under anything other than the gentelest of acceleration, and I burned 25 gal of fuel in the first 80 miles! Filled it with premium and made about 200 miles with the next half tank, and topped it off again with premium...she was running much smoother and idleing well when we got it home, no real oil usage to speek of (Whew) so I guess the rear seal is fine (Wondering if they used a one piece unit when dad had it rebuilt).

Iv been out puttering around, and even tho Dad took good care of it and sometimes took it too the beach when he was feeling up to it (@ 5 miles) you are right, setting for 3 years... even with frequent starts has created some problems. there is a good deal of corrosion in the electrical system and light fictures, and no ceiling lights will work...some dash lights are out too, and I need to refinish the exterior. There is also a small leak that started after Dad hed the AC unit replaced about a year ago I need to find.

The good news is that the Refrigerator and generator are fine, and the interior is in great shape as he had it reapholstered (sp)about 6 mo ago. Thinking of going with the LED lights everyplace I can put them, and thinking of polishing the exterior, rather than repainting. Might actualy be cheaper in the long run, and would look Very cool.

The new carb sounds like an option, I was thinking about the Injection system with an eye toward greater fuel economy, and thought that while the cost would be about $2500, it would be a big help in the lighter air in the mountains, and that the increaced economy would pay off. I look forward to finding out what the results are for the gentelman that is away just now.

[59toaster]

These motor homes don't get much worse MPG then my 1988 Fuel Injected 454 TH400 Burb. Best I have ever managed is 11.5. The Quadrajet is a awsome carb. It will never make enough MPG to pay for the conversion.

If your set on FI check with this guy. He's in Griffin.
http://www.customefis.com/
He takes factory EFI from junk yard GM's and makes them into a Kit. All off the shelf parts. Custom burned chip. What you want is the FI off a 87-91 454 burb or crew cab. That FI with it's heater base is a bolt on for Spread bore intakes (what your MH has).

I happen to have one sitting on my work bench I'm about to put on my 75 Jimmy. The quad doesn't like to run nose up 45degrees.

[Buck58]

would the factory FI option like the one on your bench be cost effective? Dad said he gets between 8-10 mpg normaly, but in the mountains it can drop to 2-4 depending on altitude.

[Buck58]

Putting some pics in here...I cant figure out how to add/edit my gallery(

[Buck58]

Interior,

[59toaster]

Originally posted by Buck58
would the factory FI option like the one on your bench be cost effective? Dad said he gets between 8-10 mpg normaly, but in the mountains it can drop to 2-4 depending on altitude.

Well a full set up from Customefis is $850. That's FACTORY fuel injection that any Chevy dealership can work on. That's about $400 cheaper then the Holly Projection and probably 10 times more reliable. He may charge a little extra to track down the 454 throttle body.

Other option is to Junk yard a system and he has the information right on the site how to make you own kit and he can burn a custom chip. The system I have I managed to get for $250. That included the ECM, Distributor, Throttle body and Suburban wiring harness (perfect for the Jimmy I'm installing it in). I need to buy a fuel pump, Map sensor, and O2 sensor. Trying to take dow a FI fuel tank with pump for cheep.

[Buck58]

Thats Great, Like you, I will likely go with the build yourself option...great idea, dependable, easily serviced and hundreds of $ less.
It will be a while before I get too it, but will definitly be asking for the info on how to get the plans and have a chip made.