1988 345... The adventure begins!

[Roby466]

My stock carb appears to be running good but the coach is definitely long to start. I might put a new diaphragm fuel pump on the engine, that could help with the starting. I also suspect that there may be air going in the line draining the fuel from the line so after the carb bowl evaporates a bit, it likely goes down and is not replenished quickly enough.

I feared that after installing the headers I would have issues with the carb so when I saw this TBI system for a good price, I thought it would be great

[Waipio Rim]

I guess you could test the theory by taking off the air cleaner on a cold engine, shining a light into the carb throat, and seeing whether the accelerator pump sends gas in when you hit the throttle. If it does, you have enough fuel in the carb to start the motor. I have let ours sit for a year and they start right up. Our 345 would be hard to start and flood when it was warm, apparently a common leaky quadrajet problem. Our 310 was hard to start when cold when we got it, turned out to be a failing ignition coil. It has been sitting in an old dairy barn in Stewiacke since we took it to Newfoundland a couple of years ago, please wave if you drive by...

[Roby466]

Originally Posted by Waipio Rim

I guess you could test the theory by taking off the air cleaner on a cold engine, shining a light into the carb throat, and seeing whether the accelerator pump sends gas in when you hit the throttle. If it does, you have enough fuel in the carb to start the motor. I have let ours sit for a year and they start right up. Our 345 would be hard to start and flood when it was warm, apparently a common leaky quadrajet problem. Our 310 was hard to start when cold when we got it, turned out to be a failing ignition coil. It has been sitting in an old dairy barn in Stewiacke since we took it to Newfoundland a couple of years ago, please wave if you drive by...

I’ll check that, thanks!
Yours is in Stewiacke? Where are you located?

[Waipio Rim]

Originally Posted by Roby466

I’ll check that, thanks!
Yours is in Stewiacke? Where are you located?

http://www.waipiorim.com/Welcome.html

[ForexTreeGuy]

reference to post #110

I just went thru this with our pair of Onan 6.5's

For me, the carb hunt was the tiniest bit of something even after ultrasonic cleaning. I was all set for a new carb when running it for a few days on seafoam it cleared up. these old beauties don't like the alcohol and what I call fuzzies in the fuel system when sitting.

[Roby466]

Originally Posted by ForexTreeGuy

reference to post #110

I just went thru this with our pair of Onan 6.5's

For me, the carb hunt was the tiniest bit of something even after ultrasonic cleaning. I was all set for a new carb when running it for a few days on seafoam it cleared up. these old beauties don't like the alcohol and what I call fuzzies in the fuel system when sitting.

Thanks! It’s on my winter projects’ list to pull it and bring it in the garage and go over everything. I think it has been sitting a while before I got it so I figured I would stop trying. To adjust it in situ and got a small Honda EU2200 for this season until I could pull it.

[Roby466]

Alright the throttle body injection sold very quickly so I’ll stick to the quadrajet carb for now.

I started the research on exhaust headers and piping and I’m not sure if it’s best to go to a single from the double exhaust I have now. The original had doubles right? That’s what I have. There is no H pipe on the current setup.

So the options for low RPM torque seem to be either go to singles like the Doug Thorley does or double with H pipes. Any reason that leads to one over the other? Single would like be cheaper as less piping.

I think I’ll build the system in welded stainless from the collector back.

[dadstoy]

Originally Posted by Roby466

Alright the throttle body injection sold very quickly so I’ll stick to the quadrajet carb for now.

I started the research on exhaust headers and piping and I’m not sure if it’s best to go to a single from the double exhaust I have now. The original had doubles right? That’s what I have. There is no H pipe on the current setup.

So the options for low RPM torque seem to be either go to singles like the Doug Thorley does or double with H pipes. Any reason that leads to one over the other? Single would like be cheaper as less piping.

I think I’ll build the system in welded stainless from the collector back.

My '81 454 with QuadraJet carb has the Banks Power Pack headers, exhaust and cold air intake. If I were to put headers on my MH today, I would go exactly with this same setup. I would do that because Banks is a very reputable company that has spent time and money figuring out what works best on these old motorhomes. The only problem is Banks no longer makes this package for the older motorhomes. As you already know there are different header types; long tube, short tube, different tube sizes, different collector sizes. Like you stated above, you are looking for what works for low RPM torque. Don't get mislead by what works for street/strip engines.



The Banks kit didn't require any jet/metering rod changes to the QuadraJet (as far as I can see), but they did change the auto trans governor. They also included heat shields for the starter and oil filter.


I can no longer find any info nor reference to the old package on the Banks web site. I do have the installation instructions (PDF) which will give you a good idea of what the package consists of. If you PM me an email address, I can send that to you.



Dean

[Roby466]

Thanks! I think that likely makes sense. Also sound wise, all 8 exiting on the same side may give a better tone than duals side exits. And as I’ll be fanning it may be simpler.
What size pipes is the Banks system? Is it 2 1/2 up to the 2 in 1 out muffler and 3 after? Or it it 3.5?
Is the Banks stainless?

Thanks!

[Roby466]

Alright! These went on pretty easily yesterday. Will see how much better the ride is. What I took out was Monroe stuff. One was still dampening and had gas in it and the other one was very much shot with no gas charge left and very little damping force. These should help and I will reassess whether I’ll need to do something with the springs after the next trip.
Now onto the other projects . (AC again, poop valve leaking again. -it looks like it leaks from the thetford slip on fitting between the valve body and the tank…. That fitting appears to be unavailable from Thetford but Valtera makes one. Anyone knows how it is attached to the tank? There is a hose clamp but what makes the seal? Is it glued in place?)

[cmadmaxman]

They are a slip fit, and not glued in. I use the rector seal T+2. The black abs fittings are a little difficult to find locally here, so got what I needed online. You will need to replace all the fittings and valves if you're going with the V brand. As you can see in the photo, they make a remote valve with a cable that is easily shortened.
Another trick to help with the install is to use a heat gun to soften just a tad the tank outlet. Don't over do it!

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[cmadmaxman]

I have used the V brand on our 310 for 15 years, and no leaks yet!

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[Roby466]

Well that will make hot starts a bit hard…

[cmadmaxman]

WOW[emoji54]
It's just amazing what kind of botched jobs you can find out there. And the saddest part of it, sometimes your paying, supposedly a professional to get this quality work!

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[Roby466]

Yeah. I think it the wire had been poorly crimped and that caused it to heat up on start up. Which melted the lead connector.

[Beltran]

Originally Posted by Roby466

Alright the throttle body injection sold very quickly so I’ll stick to the quadrajet carb for now.

I started the research on exhaust headers and piping and I’m not sure if it’s best to go to a single from the double exhaust I have now. The original had doubles right? That’s what I have. There is no H pipe on the current setup.

So the options for low RPM torque seem to be either go to singles like the Doug Thorley does or double with H pipes. Any reason that leads to one over the other? Single would like be cheaper as less piping.

I think I’ll build the system in welded stainless from the collector back.

I spent months on this. Things I learned in all my research.
1) due to the chip shortage, any EFI unit is 3-4 months on backorder. They cannot meet demand. I waited for 4 months for my holley efi.
2) the Banks full length headers are the very best system for our MH's. They were made with 14guage steel, they are tough and torquey. You can get something that works, if you call Banks directly.
3) tri-Y headers are the next best alternative.
4) my 88 has a single exhaust, 3" pipe. This was standard.

I have patched and fixed my headers so that I can continue to use them. They risers rusted out and I patched over them with exhaust putty. It's holding.

[Roby466]

First drive with the bolstering shocks is much better! The front springs still appear a bit soft but no more bottoming out with the bolstering and it just feels much more stable. I was even tempted to pass somebody in a turn but then I remembered the lack of power didn’t match the new sports car handling characteristics. [emoji6]

[Roby466]

Originally Posted by Roby466

First drive with the bolstering shocks is much better! The front springs still appear a bit soft but no more bottoming out with the bolstering and it just feels much more stable. I was even tempted to pass somebody in a turn but then I remembered the lack of power didn’t match the new sports car handling characteristics. [emoji6]

Sorry, not “bolstering” shocks…. Bilstein shocks! Thanks to autocorrect!!

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by Roby466

Sorry, not “bolstering” shocks…. Bilstein shocks! Thanks to autocorrect!!

Dang, I thought maybe you had discovered some new mystery shock that was way better than all the others....

[Roby466]

Originally Posted by bkahler

Dang, I thought maybe you had discovered some new mystery shock that was way better than all the others....

Ahah! That must be the original ones with the coil over helper springs that we can’t find anything about