RE: Full timing BUT........
I would advise leaving the door of the fridge open an inch after it is shut off. It will prevent mildew or odor build up. If your fridge is the RV type (absorption, not a compressor) you should thoroughly dry it out before storage, so the inside cooling coils wont corrode. I leave a light bulb in it overnight - but still with the door open an inch.
RE: Mexico Violence is actually Down!
The wife & I visit relatives for a few days at a time in Monterrey, Saltillo, and Matamoros (because thats where the relations live), & we still feel safer being there than we do in Washington DC, where I worked prior to retirement. And I feel equally safe at night in those Mexican towns - which is not true when I am in Washington DC, or Baltimore, Chicago, LA , NYC etc.
I have a niece who teaches English (pronounciation) in a private high school in Mexico City. She prefers living there to living in her home town of Long Beach CA. She still does, even after the recent shooting on the subway, which she was close enough to hear (the gun shots) and see (the bodies). In reply to my sister in Long Beach recommending she move back to CA, she pointed out that a random shooting in Mexico City is big news in the U.S., while random shootings in LA and Washington DC are so common they are maybe on page 12 of the U.S. newspapers if listed at all, and arent worth mentioning on U.S. t.v. newscasts.
RE: How many of us are there? Owners of Dodge based RV's?
The typical auto part places wont have listings for trucks of one ton or heavier ratings - such as a b300 chassis, let alone for one as old as the 70's. You need to find either a NAPA store, or a place that caters to light trucks, delivery vehicles and utility company fleets. At a NAPA store, dont let the clerk tell you they dont have any listings - if he only looked in the computer. Tell him to bring up the hard copy books and start looking. NAPA franchises dont all want your business bad enough to be consistently encouraging. After all, you might represent .01% of their business.
The 440-3 engines, used in the motorhomes, have different heads than were used in the vans, pickups, and passenger cars. Hence the spark plugs with tapered seats instead of the kind with gaskets. There are enough other differences to make finding parts a little time consuming now and then.
But they are tough engines! If yours has a viscous drive fan clutch, remember those fan clutches weaken year by year, but never just die. At some point it will be worthwhile to get a new vicous drive fan clutch - for those days when you are going up a slope, in 1st gear, and its 99f in the shade.
RE: Be aware of the new Drug Cartel killing fields
We have Mexican relatives in several Mexican frontier towns (along the Rio Grande), as well as in Monterrey & suburbs, and in the Saltillo/Ramos Arizpe area. Most of THEM worry about US, living in the U.S.A. where so many people get gunned down by nutcases in nursing homes, restaurants, Civic Centers, Amish schools, university classrooms, and of course our nation's capital. (Washington D.C. averages about 2 homicides a day).
I have walked around (after dark) in some neighborhoods in major U.S. cities, scouring for used bookstores with low prices. Its amazing how much of the time & in how many places nothing bad happens.
RE: Got Stopped (Good Story)
Maybe you could get a tag that had some logo on it, or a slogan - just so the front tag support wouldnt be empty. Something like "Viva Mexico', or "Sempre Fi" (if you were a retired Marine). I am looking for a 'tag' sized sign that says "Jubilado" on it, since I am "retired". I would also settle for one saying "Abuelos", as we are grandparents.
RE: 1925 House Car
On a 1925 Chevy - the ONLY oil the valve train ever got, was what the operator squirted on it from an oil can, every 20 or 30 miles: In other words stop once each hour to lube the valves. The valve springs and rockers were also located outside, on the top of the engine. The pushrods ran down the side of the block - outside of it. The chassis would have had many places needing lubing - from grease cups that you would screw down one turn each day or half day. A long days drive back them might have been 120 miles. I have driven a 1928 Chevy 1 ton truck that had a homemade camper on it. It felt fine driving it at 20 mph, buy trying to get it up to 30 mph would have meant shaking your teeth out. I think the engine was rated at about 2000 rpm as a top speed.
Thats unless they changed to a later engine - one with counter weights on the crankshaft, aluminum instead of cast iron pistons, etc. And the replacement would have to be a really small engine. The original was only 4 cylinders in 1925, so the space under the hood was also small.
To lube the rear wheel bearings on 1925 Chevy trucks, you pulled the axle shafts out and rubbed grease into the bearings. I think that was called for each 1000 miles.
RE: Does propane reduce gas mileage?
I think the poster was referring to an engine that had been set up to work on either propane or gasoline. I cant imagine the propane parts (the control/mixture valves, the heater exchanger to pre-heat the propane, the propane tubing and pressure regulator, would cause any difficulty to running on gasoline - other than a little added weight. But there are many different schemes that have been used in making propane-or-gasoline burning engines, that you would have to look at the actual engine and look for something that would upset the efficienty when using gasoline.
