I have always like the first generation Winnebago motor homes (not the ugly ones of the early-mid 60's) but the '69-'73 style in general, with my favorite being 1972.
They were quirky, but, IMO very cool styling.
they all had Dodge engines, 318/413/440 etc...
What I would do is build up a strong 500 for truck/RV work, something like 400hp and 600ft-lbs torque.... which from a 500 is easily possible. Swap that in, along with a Turbo 400, and see what can be done about driveshaft and rear end.
After the engine and drivetrain are all done, I would gut out the interior and do it all over, with nice, modern style and stuff. The dash would either stay origanal looking, or be taken out and all new gauges (digital or analog) would be put in)
Then the outside would get painted white, and the origanal gold on the bottem and W-stripe would be painted black, *maybe* re-chrome the exterior extras... grilles, bumpers etc....
So the object would be to have a nice classic motor home, that is pretty quick and can light up the tires, but you can actually use it...
I think if it was geared to turn over around 2,300RPM on the highway at 70mph, and the 500 was built to be high-torque/low RPM, it wouldn't have a problem pushing that thing around, not to mention be pretty darn quick too.... I am thinking maybe 12mpg from something like that?
Just something I was thinking about today, of course it would have to wait until I get my own house and have the time and money and stuff, so hopefully by they they wont be so old/rare that they cost alot, as it seems you can pick one up for about $3,000 today, which really isn't bad.
Check it out:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1972...577201577QQcategoryZ50057QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
They were quirky, but, IMO very cool styling.
they all had Dodge engines, 318/413/440 etc...
What I would do is build up a strong 500 for truck/RV work, something like 400hp and 600ft-lbs torque.... which from a 500 is easily possible. Swap that in, along with a Turbo 400, and see what can be done about driveshaft and rear end.
After the engine and drivetrain are all done, I would gut out the interior and do it all over, with nice, modern style and stuff. The dash would either stay origanal looking, or be taken out and all new gauges (digital or analog) would be put in)
Then the outside would get painted white, and the origanal gold on the bottem and W-stripe would be painted black, *maybe* re-chrome the exterior extras... grilles, bumpers etc....
So the object would be to have a nice classic motor home, that is pretty quick and can light up the tires, but you can actually use it...
I think if it was geared to turn over around 2,300RPM on the highway at 70mph, and the 500 was built to be high-torque/low RPM, it wouldn't have a problem pushing that thing around, not to mention be pretty darn quick too.... I am thinking maybe 12mpg from something like that?
Just something I was thinking about today, of course it would have to wait until I get my own house and have the time and money and stuff, so hopefully by they they wont be so old/rare that they cost alot, as it seems you can pick one up for about $3,000 today, which really isn't bad.
Check it out:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1972...577201577QQcategoryZ50057QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem