Help ID year and find VIN

[BlakeRL]

Here is the reason why it may be a bit before I will be able to get under the camper:

[BlakeRL]

Here is a shot of the tiny camper I used to live in. It was completely gutted so only the metal shell. I was beginning the renovations but the deeper I got the more damage I discovered and it was nearly impossible trying to live in it and renovate it at same time. I got the fifth wheel and haled this little camper to the scrapyard;

[JRTJH]

We were in Murfreesboro in October. I hadn't realized you all have had that much rain since then.... YIKES !!!!!

[BlakeRL]

This particular shot was from one earlier in the year. It was almost the same recently though. Last year it came up to about 4 inches shy of my groin area.

This corner in this campground has major drainage issues.

It is all subsided now but I know it is a mess up under there, and, will be a bit before I will be able to remove all of the treated 2x4’s and such I was asked to store up under it instead of behind the camper where I had them sitting up on saw horses. Threw a major damper on my plans to do all the roof and joist repairs though!

The water stopped just shy of my door opening fortunately in this shot and halfway back was close to 1.5’ deep and much deeper in the rear. The last rain it only came up to the top of my deck which is completely topped over in the shot above.

I did not bother taking photo’s of the last recent one. This is another reason for a possible move in my not too distant future though!

Sincerely,
Ronald L. Blake

[BlakeRL]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

We were in Murfreesboro in October. I hadn't realized you all have had that much rain since then.... YIKES !!!!!

It was just a few weeks ago!

Sincerely,
Ronald L. Blake

[wiredgeorge]

Suggest you give up on the 5th wheel and build an ark! Geesh, it seems like a trailer would be better off sitting somewhere other than where that one is parked. Well, good luck with the project. As far as the 460 goes, you had best buy your own gas company as they are pigs. I drive a 96 w/460cid and it is THIRSTY. Lucky it holds almost 40 gallons in the two tanks otherwise I would not be able to make it between gas stations. Pulling my 5ver doesn't improve gas mileage either. Otherwise it is a dandy engine. I have a crew cab and the short bed (80") and it works fine for pulling. That E350 camper? I guess you would have to develop a taste for the camo camper look bwhahahaha Good luck and a blessed Christmas!

[BlakeRL]

Originally Posted by wiredgeorge

Suggest you give up on the 5th wheel and build an ark! Geesh, it seems like a trailer would be better off sitting somewhere other than where that one is parked. Well, good luck with the project. As far as the 460 goes, you had best buy your own gas company as they are pigs. I drive a 96 w/460cid and it is THIRSTY. Lucky it holds almost 40 gallons in the two tanks otherwise I would not be able to make it between gas stations. Pulling my 5ver doesn't improve gas mileage either. Otherwise it is a dandy engine. I have a crew cab and the short bed (80") and it works fine for pulling. That E350 camper? I guess you would have to develop a taste for the camo camper look bwhahahaha Good luck and a blessed Christmas!

Hi wiredgeorge

I share your sentiment on that. Hopefully I will be able to find a better spot in the not too distant future. Thank god it has not reached the flooring of the camper in any of the 5 times this has happened over the last 2.5 to 3 years I have lived here.

My F-250 HD only averages 7.0 mpg without a load or trailer attached! If I put the 460 gas motor in it would it really get less mpg?

I recently bought it cheap and made necessary repairs and put a nice Curt Q24 Hitch in it with a R24 roller base system in it, so I do finally have the means to move the camper which is a godsend but has taken a while due to being a Disabled Vet on a fixed and very limited budget to get the truck, perform repairs to it and save up for the hitch system and install it myself.

At least I am no longer homeless and am on the road back to a semi normal living. Being the floods have not reached my flooring in the camper I have not made moving a priority over acquiring a tow vehicle and performing roof repairs. The campground is also reworking the drainage system in this part of the campground so hopefully it will not flood so much in the future. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Got the roof in the dry and looking better by buying a 12 x 40 white UV Resistent tarp to keep it dry until spring and will be removing the gray tarp draped over it and the deck which will make my area look a lot better though and will put most of my clutter back into storage.

Thank you for all of your help, advice and ideas!

Sincerely,
Ronald L. Blake

[SummitPond]

Originally Posted by BlakeRL

... My F-250 HD only averages 7.0 mpg without a load or trailer attached! If I put the 460 gas motor in it would it really get less mpg? ...

Jeez Louise! My 2012 F250 HD CC long bed (with gas 6.2 L/378 cubic inch) gets between 10 and 17 without the trailer, depending on traffic. I'm no mechanic, but the mileage you are getting sounds awfully low. Maybe that's the norm for a 1997 vintage vehicle.

Best wishes with your projects.

[hankaye]

BlakeRL, Howdy;

I used to own a 1985 F-250 with a 460, 4 barrel carburetor, it kept blowing the power valve gasket (can't by "Just" the gasket gotta buy the whole re-build kit). When it ran good 10 mpg. loaded/empty/towing or not, lose that gasket and all I could get was closer to 6 mpg with a tail wind going down hill. One of the speed shops (JEGS), sells (around 2008 they did), a "Blow-out Proof" 4 barrel carburetor, for them but I'd sold it by then.

hank

[JRTJH]

Guys, I could be wrong, but the way I read the OP's post #79, his tow vehicle has a 351W (without an OBD) and he bought a old MH (with a 460) and plans to swap out the 460 into his truck. Maybe I read it wrong, but he's getting that 7MPG from his 351W, not his 460....

He asked, "If I put the 460 gas motor in it would it really get less mpg?"

[hankaye]

JRTJH, Howdy;

Doesn't really matter, I had a 1979 Bronco with a 351W and it swallowed just about as much gas as the 460 did, the 300 cu.in. 6 cylinder was a thirsty
son-of-a-gun as well.

hank

[Badbart56]

Not much worse. A buddy of mine had a 460 in his 97 crew cab dually and he got 6 mpg. I got between 16-20 with mine empty and 10-13 with 9000-13500 lbs. towing. BIG difference.

[travelin texans]

Originally Posted by Badbart56

Not much worse. A buddy of mine had a 460 in his 97 crew cab dually and he got 6 mpg. I got between 16-20 with mine empty and 10-13 with 9000-13500 lbs. towing. BIG difference.

If you got/get 16-20 mpg from a 460 Ford engine with documentation on that kind of mileage & you still have it you better donate it to Ford for their museum as it will be the only one of it's kind to ever exist. We had several at work that with a good tailwind downhill in neutral coasting would get 6 mpg, towing ANYTHING got a good solid 4 mpg. The 351' s got about 8 with 6 or less towing. With either engine if you passed a gas station you'd better stop & fill up or you may not make it to the next one.

[Ken / Claudia]

The last 460 f250 work truck was maybe a 96. It was used only to pull a 8,000 boat to launch sites. 5.5 was about the best per gallon I got. In the columbia river gorge with a head wind it was around 5 mpg. pulling the combo at 60-65.
At the end of the day, I would put 60-70 gallons of fuel into the boat. It had a 454 chev marine engine. And than 18 to 20 into the truck. All on your dime, I could never afford that.

[Badbart56]

Originally Posted by travelin texans

If you got/get 16-20 mpg from a 460 Ford engine with documentation on that kind of mileage & you still have it you better donate it to Ford for their museum as it will be the only one of it's kind to ever exist. We had several at work that with a good tailwind downhill in neutral coasting would get 6 mpg, towing ANYTHING got a good solid 4 mpg. The 351' s got about 8 with 6 or less towing. With either engine if you passed a gas station you'd better stop & fill up or you may not make it to the next one.

Sorry, my 97 was a 7.3 diesel. Meant to include that.

[sourdough]

I had a 1980 Ford F150? regular cab Off Road with the 351W and my buddy had a 78 F150 Super cab 4x2 with the 460. I swear that 351 (4x4) would drink as much gas as his 460 on every trip we took. Kept a year and a half and got rid of it - just couldn't afford to put that much gas in it. Went to a 82 Ford Ranger with the 4 cylinder....went too far the other direction.

[wiredgeorge]

Did someone mention the 300 cid straight 6? I had two of those. First was with the dreaded ONE barrel. It got less than 10 mpg and had a 13 gallon gas tank or something of that size... it was an 88 so sorry if memory fades. I sold it and bought a one year old F150 with the straight 6 / standard shift but bought it because it had dual tanks and fuel injection. I got just about the same mileage with that pig. The truck was great otherwise; drove it from 1996 till 2013 when I sold it and bought a 2013 F150 with the powerful 3.7 V6 (base engine) and my first ever automatic transmission. It got 16-19 mpg and while it had lots of pick up was not good towing. A small motorcycle trailer and a 500 lb motorcycle dragged the mileage down to about 12 mpg. I actually put a Lance truck top camper on that thing and even with air bags and 10 ply tires, the F150 was very very unhappy and felt like it was getting squished. The Lance owners forum thankfully didn't have anyone tell me I was an idiot for sticking all that weight on a puny F150. Thankfully my missus and I survived and I moved up to the incredibly thirsty 96 F250, the finest truck on the planet for $1700 (I have put several thousand in the truck to make it 100 percent as right as an ol' gas hog can get).

[BlakeRL]

Originally Posted by JRTJH

Guys, I could be wrong, but the way I read the OP's post #79, his tow vehicle has a 351W (without an OBD) and he bought a old MH (with a 460) and plans to swap out the 460 into his truck. Maybe I read it wrong, but he's getting that 7MPG from his 351W, not his 460....

He asked, "If I put the 460 gas motor in it would it really get less mpg?"

JRTJH, you are correct! From what I have read a lot of folks, to include Bronco owners with 351W’s, get horrible fuel mileage in their 80’s and 90’s vehicles and some have been able to get slight increases in that average by installing true cold air intakes but even then most do not see significant increases.

I figured with that being the case, I might get a slight improvement or at least similar mpg with the 460 and have a lot more power when needed.

I was just thinking out loud though because you folks have made feel welcome with your help and advice. I apologize for going off topic of Keystone RV’s.

Thank you again.

Sincerely,
Ronald L. Blake

[fourfourto]

My 442 400cid th400 trans gets 8 tp 10 mpg if I drive it easy maybe 5mpg if im not . Using 90 oct gas no ethanol

[travelin texans]

Originally Posted by BlakeRL

JRTJH, you are correct! From what I have read a lot of folks, to include Bronco owners with 351W’s, get horrible fuel mileage in their 80’s and 90’s vehicles and some have been able to get slight increases in that average by installing true cold air intakes but even then most do not see significant increases.

I figured with that being the case, I might get a slight improvement or at least similar mpg with the 460 and have a lot more power when needed.

I was just thinking out loud though because you folks have made feel welcome with your help and advice. I apologize for going off topic of Keystone RV’s.

Thank you again.

Sincerely,
Ronald L. Blake

How about the Broncos with Venturi sliding carburetor? That ranked right up there with the 6.0 diesel as a big POS, definitely not "Ford's better ideas". Had a '78 inline 6 with auto tranny at work that even in ankle deep mud couldn't/wouldn't spin the tires.
Then we can mention GMs converted gas to diesel engines!!!