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Old 08-14-2018, 10:53 AM   #1
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Name: Christi
Trailer: Starcraft
Minnesota
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Hi, I am Christi

Hi everyone,

I have purchased a 1970 Starcraft, Starliner (I think!). It is about 19' long and has a dodge 318 engine in it that is giving me problems. It is really just a shell at this point...so if anyone is out there with an owners manual or pictures of what the interior looked like I would be so excited to hear from you.
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Old 08-14-2018, 11:53 AM   #2
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Hi Christi! I'm don't know anything about a 1970 Starcraft Starliner, but is it a fiberglass RV? This site mainly focuses on Fiberglass campers, but nevertheless, Welcome!!!!!!
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Old 08-14-2018, 11:59 AM   #3
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Name: Alexander
Trailer: 1979 Boler B1300
New Hampshire
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They do look like they could be a molded fiberglass shell with an internal skeleton:
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Very cool looking from the outside!
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Old 08-14-2018, 12:02 PM   #4
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Name: Alexander
Trailer: 1979 Boler B1300
New Hampshire
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Found this site looking for pictures:

1970 Starcraft Starliner Motorhome (A) | Photos | ViewRvs.com
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Old 08-14-2018, 12:17 PM   #5
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Name: Alexander
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New Hampshire
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And here is a search on another forum that has a bunch of Starliner threads:
iRV2 Forums - Search Results
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Old 08-14-2018, 01:16 PM   #6
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Just to clarify... this site is specifically for molded fiberglass trailers. The website name isn't clear but the home page is:
Welcome to FiberglassRV.com, your Molded Lightweight Fiberglass Travel Trailer RV website! This website is intended as a free resource for those who are looking for, or who own, molded fiberglass travel trailers.

You can find good information here about repair and maintenance of the fiberglass shell and RV components, but you won't find much about drivetrain or chassis issues, nor are you likely to connect with other current Starliner owners to exchange notes.

You are certainly welcome to hang out and glean what you can, but you will get faster and better information on the engine from a general RV forum like iRV2.com or better, a Mopar website.

Best wishes with your restoration!
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Old 08-14-2018, 01:32 PM   #7
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Name: bob
Trailer: 1996 Casita 17 Spirit Deluxe; 1946 Modernistic teardrop
New York
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The 318 engine is known to have a problem with the exhaust passage that goes up through the intake manifold from the heads plugging up with carbon. Causes slow warmup and running rough.Intake manifold has to be pulled off to correct the problem. Otherwise they were a good engine.
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Old 08-14-2018, 02:05 PM   #8
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Bunch of old duffers here who grew up with that 318 engine. Was cheap to "hot rod" since you could put some 340 engine parts on it from the junk yard to beef up performance.

It has been a long time since that engine you have was new. Good chance it has points and condenser ignition with a single coil. Might be electronic spark ignition but I wouldn't bet on it. You have a carburetor with jets and floats, and yes that EGR exhaust gas port that was mentioned could be an issue.

The bad news is the engine is 48 years old the good news is it is 48 years old. Back then you didn't need a computer science degree and plumbers union card to work on them. Straight forward internal combustion engine. Plus the engine did have a very long and illustrious career. The flip side is man that is a long time for a gas engine to live. You may have to fix anything or everything or find a very minor tune up and vacuum line replacement (spark advance was vacuum driven as I recall) might be enough to make a big difference.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_LA_engine Look at the list of 318 V8 vehicles. Pretty impressive. I do not recall how to read the engine codes exactly but the engine serial number will provide pretty precise year, model, sub model information.
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Old 08-14-2018, 02:48 PM   #9
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Trailer: 1996 Casita 17 Spirit Deluxe; 1946 Modernistic teardrop
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The info I found indicates that Chrysler went with electronic ignition in '72. A vacuum gauge would be a good test to start with. And those old engines don't like ethanol gas, mainly the rubber parts.
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Old 08-14-2018, 07:44 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RogerDat View Post
You may have to fix anything or everything or find a very minor tune up and vacuum line replacement (spark advance was vacuum driven as I recall) might be enough to make a big difference.
Pretty impressive Roger! I am thinking it might be a hybrid vacuum-centrifugal advance. It's hard to remember exactly. We migrated across the country in a pink Dodge Seneca with a 318 in 1960. After that, we had a great number of 225's and 318's in our family; sedans, a wagon, a panel truck, some vans, it's all a blur... Though they were both stout engines, some of the bolt-ons like the carburetors and distributors could get fussy over time...

I will freely admit that once I bought a car manufactured in the 90's with its lower maintenance requirements, I never looked back except to admire the ones that others keep running, bless them.
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Old 08-15-2018, 12:55 AM   #11
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Wow, some great info and advice. Find and old guy like me with some experience with that vintage. here in California at the time smog was a huge issue, but fortunately not on 1974 and earlier anymore. Don't know about Minnesota. The thing is when you have to worry about smog you can't do much, but if you don't then it's much better.

The reason I bring this up is that for some engines setting the timing to spec means a poor running engine. If I recall correctly some of them even had an ATDC setting, which is never good. An old timer like me will know to ignore the spec and set the timing with a vacuum gauge. Another thing to look out for is some engines did not use a vacuum advance, but a vacuum retard. If you have one it's an inexpensive replacement to install an advance.

As another poster pointed out, It most likely has ignition points and condenser. It the engine is in good shape it's okay to stick with that, but if the engine is burning a little bit of oil and fouling plugs, installing electronic ignition and a high-output coil will help fire those oily spark plugs.

It looks like there were only 12 of those motor homes made that year. So as for the interior, just do what you like.

Hard to help from 1,800 miles away, but I hope this helps a little.

Harold
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Old 08-15-2018, 12:52 PM   #12
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Name: Peter
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Quote:
Originally Posted by oakdalelady View Post
Hi everyone,

I have purchased a 1970 Starcraft, Starliner (I think!). It is about 19' long and has a dodge 318 engine in it that is giving me problems. It is really just a shell at this point...so if anyone is out there with an owners manual or pictures of what the interior looked like I would be so excited to hear from you.
:Christi as far as your engine problems you would be better getting involved with a Mopar Club which deals in Dodge, Plymouth, Chrysler engine problems.
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Old 08-25-2018, 11:27 AM   #13
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There are two different 318's in Chryler/Dodge's history and they are not the same engine at all. The early 60's engine is a unique critter with a "poly-spheric" combustion chamber. The later 60's/early 70's-on 318's shared parts and architecture with the 273, 340, and 360 engines which have a much more common (even now) wedge shaped combustion chamber.

If the ignition is points I recommend it be converted to electronic ignition. You can find kits to do this or you can buy most or all of the parts from Rock Auto. Swap the distributor whole, don't try to convert the points dist. to electronic ignition.

The Mopar ignition modules have been hit hard by the "Chinesium Movement", it is hard to get a good one. Should be able to find a lot of suggestions on what to buy on the A-Bodies Only forum. You'll also find references there to using a GM ignition module instead. This is a fairly straight forward mod, but one must be comfortable with this level of mechanicing and even few mechanics are willing to do that type of work.

I can state from personal experience that the GM module is several orders of magnitude better than any of the Mopar modules that I've used and is well worth the effort to install and wire it. Can find threads on the slant 6 forum on how to do this mod, and that info will apply regardless of which Mopar engine it is being used on. There is only one subtle difference between the V8 electronic ignition system and the slant 6 electronic ignition system, the number of lobes on the reluctor. All of the install tech for the slant electronic ignition applies to the V8 electronic ignition and vice versa.

Slant 6 forum:
Slant Six Forum - Index page

A-Bodies Only forum:
https://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/
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