New 1978 owner in southern Utah.

[Mud.]

Hello, I just purchased a 1978 Clipper from the second owner here in St. George Utah.  The original owner and him were great friends and it was actually a gift to him for having done a lot of personal woodworking for him.
It looks to be in great shape considering its age, of course there are plenty of things not perfect or broken, but I'm three years older and have the same problems.


The previous owner assured me it was in great running condition with only a broken left turn signal indicator.  It's got the 440 and it fired right up and ran great.  It's got 45,000 original miles on it.   
The tires are okay, but probably should be looked over thoroughly before for any real usage. 
I was told all the pumps, tanks, accessories, and all appliances were in working order, with the exception of the roof a/c and cab a/c. 

He was asking $3,000, but came down to $2,500 after I asked if he'd go lower.  I had no idea what a clipper was a week ago and was just looking for an affordable rv to buy for a seriously major life changing project I'm about to start.  After doing a bit of research online I immediately found this site, and read a little about these older well built rv's.

The drive home was amusing, lol.  It was cutting out on anything with an incline after about five minutes driving.  It ran and drove perfect other than that.....hopefully just a clogged fuel filter.  I put ten gallons of 93 in it after it started cutting out but that didn't help.  I was only able to go about 20mph the last six miles after that.  It sat for three years so I understand things go wrong.  Also, the speedometer cable is broke, or the unit isn't working........the reality is I'm not concerned about its running condition as much as it's livability.  It'll be interesting to go through and find out how things work and what's broken.  I'm 41, have never owned a new car, and have never taken a car to a mechanic.  I'm used to this stuff, this is just on a much larger scale than I'm used to.

I will take a ton of pictures when I get back home, and probably upload a first walk through video too.

Thanks for the info on the site, I'm sure I'll be looking here often...........I am incredibly cheap, though, so I might not become a "real" member.

More to come later...

[Toedtoes]

You're a few months older than my clipper!!!! (He was "born" in October 1975, so is still only 40).

Congratulations!  The 440s are the most  common of the engines, so there is a lot of information to be had.  I understand being cheap (I am too), but by joining the club, you will get access to the technical forums that offer a HUGE amount of information regarding the engines, house systems, etc.  As you are cheap, I would suggest that you wait until January to join - then you will get the full year's worth of membership (membership renewals are due in January each year regardless of the actual date you joined).  That will give you at least one full year of access to the technical stuff, as well as the ability to purchase parts through the club (often at prices lower than what you can find elsewhere).

Tires - general rule for RV tires is anything older than 5 years is suspect, anything over 7 years should be replaced - regardless of tread.  When tires are left sitting for a long time (3 years in this case), they can develop weaknesses in the rubber, they can get small cracks in the  sidewall, and so on.  All those things are subject to a blow out when you start driving it.  And, if they DO blow out, you can easily rip out the entire underside of the clipper.  So, being cheap , the best thing is to invest in decent tires as soon as possible and prevent the extra cost of repairing damage from the tires.

As you have a LOT of experience with cars, the engine work should be fairly easy for you.  The biggest issue is that some parts are getting harder and harder to find (for example, my sending unit in my front fuel tank was bad. There is no ordering one.  So, I had to ship it to a guy on the east coast and have him rebuild it).

Cab A/C can be expensive to repair/replace and is usually not worth it.  Roof A/C, you could possibly find one in a wrecking yard that still works (or that you can use for parts to repair yours).

Because it is old, check all the rubber - hoses, belts, etc.  Make sure to get the fuel lines for the engine AND the propane lines for the house portion - those old lines can have pinprick holes throughout and you'll be losing fuel without ever seeing a leak.

At $2,500, if all the appliances are good, you got a good price.  In general, $2000 or less - poor condition; $2001 to $4000 - fair condition; $4001 and over - good condition.  Poor condition will require lots of work in both house and engine/chassis; fair will need cosmetic and minor work and some "major" work in either house or engine/chassis; good should only need cosmetic and minor work.  These prices are not affected by cab A/C (very few work after 35+ years), generator (if there is one or if it works), awning, tires, and so on.

[Mud.]

Thanks for all of the good info. and good to meet you Toedtoes.  I was born in January 1975, so a few months, plus a few months more, haha.
You underestimate my ability to be cheap!  Bwahahaha.....  j/k  I'll definitely consider joining if I start needing technical advice.
I don't intend to ever really drive the clipper, so the tires, and engine aren't an area I'm going to invest in for it just to sit.  Obviously I'd like to be able to move it now and then, but never actually drive it off the property.  I'll fire it up every few months or so just to keep everything lubed up.   I didn't have a good car to move a bumper pull around, so I liked the idea of a self propelled model.  It seems like as long as I keep it in decent shape, it'll have a good resale value if I ever decide to do that. 
I'm thinking to rig up a small swamp cooler to the outside for the a/c.  They work awesome in this climate, and they are very inexpensive to run.
I'll definitely check the rubber hoses for the propane lines before I pressurize anything. 
Blah, blah, I could go on and on, but here's enough pictures to do that for me.   https://goo.gl/photos/VcdpBaYmaYEJqWQP7
and here's a video  https://goo.gl/photos/y3MSZtKfRnP8rJm16 (maybe mute it while I check the fan to the range hood, lol)
It was 106 outside when I was taking those pictures yesterday, hotter inside the rv.  A bit too warm to want to play in it right now.

I explain at the end of the video what I intend to do with it.  I plan to park it in the back of the yard next to the shed and live in it full time.  Meanwhile my house will be rented out.  Long term goal is to buy another house and rent it out as well.  I'm not sure if it'll work, but I'm going to give it a try.

Thanks again for the tips, I do appreciate any and all.

[Toedtoes]

The engine and chassis will be the biggest factor in resale.  The house and appliances can be fixed and/or replaced with new stuff.  With so much of the engines being obsolete now, the more that goes bad, the harder to sell later on.  Most people will buy a beat up motorhome as long as the engine works well - remodeling the interior becomes an effort of love; getting the engine running is an exercise in frustration...

Swamp cooler works - how you install it will affect resale - a large hole in the fiberglass is going to destroy the resale completely.

I mention these things because you mention having "good resale value".  The things that will affect resale the most:

1. Engine quality
2. Damage to fiberglass shell
3. Water damage that is allowed to continue until structural damage has been done - if you find a leak, fix it IMMEDIATELY - do not wait through the winter to deal with it.
4. Interior remodels that have eliminated basic items (e.g., eliminating shower, water tanks, propane tank, toilet, stove, etc.)
5. Fridge - it's a good $1000+ to replace with another 3/2-way fridge; less for a residential but that means you have to have a working generator on board
6. Remodels that destroy the "feel" of the American Clipper (e.g., tearing out all  the cupboards and seating and putting in free-standing furniture

Your fridge is original.

Would you be able to scan those documents - the AC Warranty, the check out list and the "American Clipper is a proud product" and anything else that was related to the original sale? - those would be great for the club archives.   You can email them to the webmaster.

[Mud.]

Good to know about the engine and chassis.  I feel confident this rig has both in great shape.  I'm really not too worried about the cutting out, it was a fuel delivery problem, and there's no sense in fixing that since it's just going to sit.

I'm a little worried about water leaks, previous and current.  Obviously the previous owner painted the roof paneling somewhat recently, and he told me that there were some leaks and that he went through and sealed them all up.  He also tore out and redid the inside roof/paneling.    He also sealed the roof with a sealant.  It looks like he did top notch work from what I can see.  He did mention he was a woodworker.
There is a small leak in the closet area right where the door is that I was told was fixed?  I'll find out when it starts to rain, but seeing as how we only get 8" here on an average year it's not a huge concern right now.  I'm actually contemplating building a shade structure for the rv not only for the shade, but also to keep the rain/water off of it.  That's maybe a dream........

The fridge looks VERY original, haha.  When I asked if it worked on both propane and electric the previous owner said that it worked great on propane, but on electric in the heat we're currently having (100+) it didn't get things cool, maybe I have that reversed as to which one doesn't work great.  I'll figure something out.  I'm keeping my garage when I rent the house out, so I could have a full size fridge/freezer in there if need be.  I'm going to have the renters pay the entire electric bill so no worries other than a short walk.  I'll have to set up a washer and dryer in there regardless.

I have no way of scanning the documents, but I can take some better pictures if the webmaster would like.  They can contact me if they'd like that.  I'm downsizing and am down to a laptop, tablet, and phone,.......(hmmm, maybe I need to downsize even more), no way to print/scan.

Thanks for the reply,
this is a long term project, and it will probably be sitting most of the summer.  It's too hot to work on it right now, but I'll try when I can find the time, and can endure the heat. 
I'll keep posting as I progress.



Josh

[Mijer3]

Hi Josh
You scored a nice one! I love the white interior. I haven't seen one of those yet. Mine is brown paneling with orange. I recently bought a 1978 bunk house on a Chevy chassis. We are currently getting the brakes lines replaced to get it on the road soon. Have you ever tried the app cam scanner? It's free. It allows you to take a photo and it converts it to pdf. I don't have a scanner so I use this app to scan and email any documents. Thanks for sharing your pictures. Good luck!