"No More Projects!", says I. And then...1972 Superior 2200. Couldn't pass it up.

[dwh]

I believe this brochure pic is a 2500 (25'):



And!






A few things I noted...

His has louvers in the front radiator access doors. His ladder is on the port side, mine is to starboard. Same interior layout. Same fridge. Not sure is his has the optional double galley sink. Someone has removed the dinette seats and installed a third captain's chair. (I'm seriously considering that myself.) Different steering wheel. Doesn't look like it has the dash a/c. He said his had a 5k Onan...maybe mine did too...who knows. His looks real good with those Alcoa wheels and sitting level. He spent a lot of money. He says his has the 440, but the spec sheet he posted in a previous ad said either 318 or 413. He says his has dual brake boosters. I don't think mine has that. He says his is built on a Dodge RM400 chassis. The VIN tag on mine says Dodge M30 - but all the auto parts stores show it as M300. Plus, the master cylinder I bought was listed for an RM400. Go figure. His seems to be missing the overhead cabinets in the rear. His cabinets are somewhat different than mine, and they appear to have been painted (prolly do that to mine as well). He says his has a 40g fresh water tank, as well as a 40g and 20g waste tanks (I'll come back to this later).

When he originally posted this ad months ago, it was for $9,000. Then the ad was down within like a week, and came back a few weeks later for $12,500. Then dropped to $12,000, and now back to $12,500. In the original ad, I recall he said it didn't have a generator, now I guess it does. Also these pics were apparently taken before the window tint was added.

I called the guy after I bought mine and left him voicemail that I had bought one, and was interested in anything he could tell me, as well as any mechanics he could recommend. No reply.

 

[dwh]

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming...

So, I went on a quest for ignition parts this morning. Went to Autozone. Blank stare. Went to Napa. Blank stare. Went to O'Reilly. "We have that." YAY! Props to O'Reilly. Got the points and condenser, cap and rotor, and a new coil. Didn't bother with plugs and wires, because I didn't figure I'd have time today to get it all done (I was right).




I coulda spent a little more and gotten Borg-Warner parts, but I'm planning to yank the points distributor and replace it with electronic ignition down the road, so this is good enough for now.

Out with the old, in with the new (yo, sup westyss):




Old...




New...




Ooh, shiny:



And yes, it was a colossal PITA to get to, thanks for asking. Had to remove the air cleaner, and the threaded bolt in the center of the carb, and lay a folded Harbor Freight moving blanket over the engine so I could LAY ON IT. Yes, LAY ON IT. Bloody hell...:




Also this. And yes, the old one is bigger than the new one. Which at first made me think I had the wrong one, then I tried it and found out the mounting bracket had been stretched out to fit the old one. Squeezed it back into more or less original shape, and the new one fit correctly. Of course, there are some missing bolts and screws and things, so it doesn't sit exactly as it should, but it's in there.:

 

[dwh]

So, got it all put back together, and setup according to the specs:




And...it wouldn't start. Of course.

Pulled the coil wire out of the distributor cap, stuck a screwdriver in it and held it next to the alternator to ground it. Got good spark. Pulled a plug wire off a plug and did the same. Good spark. I'm thinking maybe it's flooding out. Aram the carb guy told me sometimes on these old engine with the Carter AFB, you have to add a fuel pressure regulator because the Carter does not like >6psi. Dunno. Harbor Freight has a vacuum/fuel pressure test kit for like $13. Probably get one next weekend and see what I see. Might also get a compression tester at the same time and do a compression test when I do the plugs and wires. Hell, it might just be the wires. Just because I got good spark out of one of them is no guarantee the others are working.

Humph. So I didn't have any more time to mess with it, and it was getting dark anyway, so I just sort of puttered around. Sitting there in the driver's seat staring at the engine, I noticed what looked like a sticker on the air cleaner. A rag and some spit and lo and behold:

 

[dwh]

And now, on to the pointless rambling...

So in the last bunch of pics, I posted these:



From under the left rear couch. I said it was the fresh water tank, and a foam insulated externally accessible compartment. But something was bothering me about that, but I wasn't sure what. Then I flashed on it. In this pic:



It looks like the water fill goes into the "externally accessible compartment". And that ******** ain't right. So I went outside and took a closer look:



So the small square hatch next to the water heater is obviously where the water connections are (and it's locked...and I don't have a key yet), and the storage compartment is obviously below the floor...

So, that foam insulated thing next to the water tank must be...um...crap...must be...well, the water tank. Uh...other water tank. Or... crap, I have no idea WTH is going on there. The little vent line out of the water tank does sort of appear to vent um...both(!?!) water tanks...

Dunno. Requires further study.

While I was out there I opened up the storage compartment, and I see that someone left me what appears to be a folding chaise lounge and a couple of folding plastic tables:



Sweet.

So I was also wrong about how many of the 6" square storage boxes there are. There is one behind the front wheels that goes full width:

 

[dwh]

There is another behind the rear wheels that only goes half width, and from the odor, I'm surmising that is the dump hose locker:




Since I was down there anyway, here's another shot of the underside:



That's the rear showing the magical 7th steel wheel with an actual tire on it.

 

[dwh]

So lemme see...how about some propane tank glamour shots?

There's the fill and bleeder (left side, forward of the rear wheels):




And the plumbing leading from the fill and bleeder to the tank:



Yes, actual metal pipework. In that last pic you can see the sender for the gauge on the dash (which works when the key is turned on). The tank appears to be somewhat rusty. I'm going to have to borrow my buddy's transmission jack to remove that thing so I can take it to TGP (Trans Gas Propane in Glendale, my favorite propane shop - Hank Hill approved) and either get it re-certified, or replaced.

Now here's an interesting thing...(click to enlarge, then click again to enlarge again)



Yes, the main shutoff valve and the regulator. But wait...what's the deal with that regulator? One small line coming out and going...where? The 4th dimension? And what appears to be another larger line...but it's a rubber hose and looks to, at some point, have had a hose clamp. I dunno what the deal is there. Maybe a vent hose to keep water out of the vent? (regulators need a vent) One small line for like the stove and fridge, and one large line for the mega-furnace and the water heater? I have no clue. Something else I'll have to research and study up on.

[EDIT: Staring at that pic some more, I think I have an idea. I think that little metal line is for the vent. Maybe it just runs behind the regulator and then bends down to keep water out of the vent. The big rubber line is probably the actual low-pressure propane line to the appliances.]




(And yes, that blob of...blob...at the end of the leaf spring mystifies me as well.)

 

[dwh]

And now the moment we've all been waiting for. Holding tank pics!



Note that the entire holding tank is surrounded by about an inch of styrofoam.

The dump valve seems more or less standard. Operates easily enough. One strange thing, I didn't get a pic of this, but looking up at it from underneath, there appears to be a Y just behind the dump valve, with both a large and small tube leading into it. Not sure what that means, except perhaps the MonoManiac toilet dump valve doesn't dump into the holding tank, but directly out to the main dump valve.




And note this nifty little detail:




School Bus Construction!

 

[dwh]

Speaking of details. Here's the details of a school bus hatch latch:




Some random shots from under the truck:

 

[dwh]

That rear hatch I mentioned earlier:




There is a 120v 30a receptacle on the right side. I think that was from the generator. So you would take the shore power line that comes out of the 4S box and either plug it into that receptacle from the generator, or run it out that little hatch to shore power. "Armstrong" Transfer Switch.

But yea, with a bit of re-work to make it deeper, I could definitely fit the outer part of a mini-split in there. And some louvers on the hatch.

 

[dwh]

Here's a spot where the paint has peeled off, showing the galvanized skin underneath:




How about some better outside shots than the ones I took when I first went to look at it?


The A/C unit on the roof:




Patented "full retard" graffiti...(note radio antenna #1 on the front corner)




Radio antenna #2. Why two? Dunno. Maybe the missing TV shelf/cabinet in the rear had a radio as well. There are 4 speakers in the undersides of the rear overhead cabinets (and two in the undersides of the galley/dinette cabinets).




Sunset reflecting off the total awesomeness of the Superior 2200:




And of course, the obligatory, "************ with a Capital BA", "Tough Guy, Not Foolin' Around No How", shot:







And that's all for now folks. I'll be here all week.

 

[NevadaLover]

Those rb engines are as tough as they are powerful so you should have some fun with this one, my neighbor has an old dodge truck with a 426 wedge and we installed one of these on it :http://shop.whiteperformance.com/Re...sler-Dodge-MOPAR-413-440-426-30R-RR-14-BK.htm
Best mod ever says he, starts easier and gets slightly better mileage, there are some cool bolt on EFI units he is looking at too but I don't think you want to spend that much, keep us posted on the progress it's cool to see someone saving an old girl like this!

 

[dwh]

Those rb engines are as tough as they are powerful so you should have some fun with this one, my neighbor has an old dodge truck with a 426 wedge and we installed one of these on it :http://shop.whiteperformance.com/Re...sler-Dodge-MOPAR-413-440-426-30R-RR-14-BK.htm
Best mod ever says he, starts easier and gets slightly better mileage, there are some cool bolt on EFI units he is looking at too but I don't think you want to spend that much, keep us posted on the progress it's cool to see someone saving an old girl like this!

Thanks for that link. That's exactly what I'm looking for. EFI is something I've thought about, but that's as far down the list as 4WD. Long-term wishlist material.


I zoomed that pic of the propane regulator, and after staring at it a while, can sort of make out a brand name. Looks like OVOOA to me. No love net searching for that. But I could also make out some numbers. One was "1107". Did a search for that and found lots of 1107 regulators. Guess it's a pretty standard low-pressure regulator:

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=1107+regulator&t=ffsb&ia=web

Should be no big deal to replace it with a modern two-stage. Once I figure out what those lines are all about...

 

[dwh]

Holy crap. 80 bucks plus shipping AND includes the Hi-Po coil? Oh, yes...I WILL be ordering that.

IF I can ever get the stupid thing running again.


And back to the propane regulator, perhaps that little metal line means it's a "pilot loaded regulator" (never heard of such a thing until tonight):

http://www.supplyhouse.com/Maxitrol-220D-1-1-4-1-1-4-Pilot-Loaded-Regulator-6-500-000-BTU


Apparently, a pilot-loaded regulator doesn't have a spring, it uses bleed pressure through a pilot orifice to apply pressure to the diaphragm. Which probably also means no external vent to let water in, which may be why they used it under the truck.

 

[dwh]

In that other guy's Superior ad, he mentions that they sold for $17,500 and suggests doing the math on the inflation. So, I did a quicky search and found an inflation calculator...




U.S. Inflation Rate, 1972-2017 ($17,500)

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the dollar experienced an average inflation rate of 4.01% per year. Prices in 2017 are 485.6% higher than prices in 1972.
In other words, $17,500 in the year 1972 is equivalent to $102,482.18 in 2017, a difference of $84,982.18 over 45 years.
The current inflation rate in 2017 is 1.99%[SUP]1[/SUP]. If this number holds, $17,500 today will be equivalent to $17,848.46 next year.

Cumulative price change	485.61%
Average inflation rate	4.01%
Price difference ($17,500 base)	$84,982.18
CPI in 1972	41.8
CPI in 2017	244.786

http://www.in2013dollars.com/1972-dollars-in-2017?amount=17500


Yup, top of the line.





Also found these...





And snagged this from the Sears parts site:




Seriously, the more I study the thing, the more I like it.

 

[java]

The steps appear to be exactly what I had on the old Winnie, they are not automatic, and simply lift on the front and slid backwards they angle down a little and gravity holds them in place.

Road grime gets them stuck pretty easy. Usually a few bangs with a mallet, and wiggle fore to aft, frees them up.

I like all the winterization going on there! Foam covered tanks, attention paid to the dump valve too, good stuff. Could the 6" square storage (the full width one) be for skis?

EDIT: similar stairs, not quite the same, but I bet they work the same way. When mine got sticky they would sit at the weird angle like yours are currently.