Custom Design Your Own Mobile Home
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March/April 1971
by DON STEPHENS
If you plan a gross vehicle weight of around 5000 pounds and wish to be able to travel at normal highway speeds you should select a van with an engine rated at 140 horsepower or more. Under powering will result in poor performance and poor gas mileage. Gas mileage and performance can be improved by adding to or, replacing parts of the engine with high-performance equipment and by proper tuning and timing of the engine. Replacing factory exhaust manifolds and mufflers with good tube headers and straight-through glasspack mufflers can, by itself, increase gas mileage by 20 to 30 percent for example! With a proper sized but not excessive engine and a GVW of about 5000 pounds, 14 to 18 miles per gallon is possible with such performance equipment.
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Now to specifics: What is it going to cost? I would select a 1966 Dodge long van (108" wheel base) with a 225 cubic inch 140 horsepower slant six engine which uses regular gas. I would use the model with both side and rear cargo doors with windows in one set. This should be available for about $1400 in fairly good condition.
Some items I would have installed because little could be saved by doing it myself or because the job requires special equipment or know-how. These include fiberglass top which makes the van tall enough to stand up in comfortably, the 10-gallon water tank and hand pump, the 5-gallon butane tank, the headers and glasspack exhaust system.
The items I would purchase and install myself would be a package stove, sink and refrigerator unit, a heater unit, extra fuel tanks to increase fuelcarrying potential to 60 gallons, extra battery and electronic switching system, ozite carpeting, miscellaneous cabinetwork, insulation and paneling, chemical toilet, bedding and seating and an 8' by 10' awning over the side cargo doors. Allowing about $150 for other items, the total cost would be $3500.
How I would set up my van and how you approximately do yours is, of course, a matter of personal taste. But then that's the beauty of building your own. This, at least, gives you a place from which to start planning, and that's half the fun!
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