After spending many years messing around with old and antique cars,I would say the only way is to take the tank out. Pressure wash it out or best of all have it steam cleaned.That melts the 35 years of build up.
Remember most M.H.were used for a few weeks a year and sat with gas in them for most of the year.You are up against more than the 3 years it sat before you got so darned lucky.
Here is company that is great to deal with.They have auto body supplies,tools,ect.They sell a gas tank reline kit that will stop rust from being a problem.We have it in two of our cars for 3 years now and no problems at all.
www.eastwood.com-1-800-345-1178
Rebuild the carb or buy one already done.No problems and the gas mileage will be better.New fuel pump helps too.AAA does not pick you up on the side of the road.The $50 an hr. wrecker however does.My personal story.
Join Good Sam Club or one of the others.They have a road side plan as well as insurance.
My brother the retired bus driver says the heavy wreckers now get a min. of $250-$300 just to get in the truck
plus $100-$150 an hr. plus mileage.
Worth spending the money on repairs.Thats why the M.H. was in the yard when you got it .Big tow bill.
You have joined a great group of R.V. people.Welcome Home. Steve.

Quick add on.The kit was $57.00 last Feb catalouge. only one I can find in a hurry.

Sorry but im havin a hard time finding what youre talkin about...can you show me some links possibly? Thanks so much

D_a_n_ Payne
Take it you are trying to get ahold of the Ruin.I'll answer any way because I have no shame.
www.goodsamclub.com
www.fmca.com
www.eastwood.com--1-800--345--1178
Where are you?I'm in British Columbia,Canada

The guy that sold me this RV says he is sure its a 318 but I looked up some stuff and it says that all class A dodge motors' distributor rotor turns clockwise and the class B motors turn counter clockwise. Well when I checked the rotor on mine it turns counter but the 318 is a class A motor? Also, the only park plug wires that fit are for a 400? And the new air filter is also. So yall think Im dealing with a 400 instead?

And when we installed the new wires how the old ones were setup...it started up but didnt run as well, so we checked on the firing order...I found a few pages on it and realized the order was way off...So we tried the new order and we couldnt really get it to start...now we did pour a little trans fluid in the carb and we havent gotten the carb rebuilt yet but it just makes me wonder why that would happen...On one of the sites I found it said the cap is located at the back of the engine, this one is at the front, is that normal? And since the rotor turned counterclockwise we were suppose to start at the left #1 on the cap right?

Oh, and after I read yalls post I found a real old Good Sams Club sticker on the back...lol

d-a-n--payne--I always thought having an old motor home was kind of like getting caught by your girl friends daddy up on lovers lane and you were not fully clothed.It's a world of fun if you can handle the pain.
Run this past someone who deals with Mopar but if I remember right 318/360/400 small blocks have the distributor on the front 413/440 big blocks have it on the rear. Road hazzard knows a whole lot more about these and I'm sure you will hear from him.
Yes it could have a small block Someone put it in to save money or the old one died and was replaced and a small block was easy to find.
Not sure about the #1 wire but I'll go out in a while and shovel the snow out of the front of the camper and let you know.It's a 1984 dodge.
In the 60/70s the Clark Fork Lift Co. made a M.H.called a Cortez.The motor in them was a slant 6, front wheel drive set up.The body was all steel.Don't know what they drove like but they sold lots of them.
Hope this was of some help.Good to hear from you and have a great New Year
Steve.

as I recall there was one industrial 318 big block in the mid 70's , the best check for basic engine size is dist in front Small block Dist in Rear big block now for the firing order there were 3 big bloc small block and industrial, excluding six cylinders.
there are many Mopar (more parts) web sites Run 318 firing order in your Google browser and it will come up. double check and DON'T Change the Dist position until your sure.
Have fun pulling your hair out, take a break, get some starting fluid don't over do it and come back to it you'll get it

also ignore classs A B, C etc people change engines for there liking check casting #s if there are any lingering questions on engine size Mabe some one has a, Mopar Bible, The old direct connection Preformance book produced by Mopar you can Maybe find one at Ebay cheap good luck and enjoy you trail.

Dan-- you have a 400/440.Just found our repair manual.The 440 was standard and it makes sense that is what you have.The distributor is big block in front -small block in rear.I reversed them last time.
The picture in the book shows 2 plug towers in the front as you look at it.Left and right.Number 1 is on the left behind the cap clip or second on the left.The firing order is 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2. Number one cyl. is right front.
The cyl. are Left/passenger side1-3-5-7-right side 2-4-6-8.
Need more,let me know.
Steve.

Welcome Dan The LA block are the 318,340,360 cid the only B block made in '73 was a 400 the RB block is a 440 These are the only V-8's mopar made in '73. The block casting numbers for all RB,B, and LA engines are found on the left (driver) side of the block. Ifyou can get under the rig and find those numbers it will be no problem to let you know which engine you have. Like Steve said it's not a big job to change engines. the A block and the LA blocks both came in 318 but that is the only thing they have in common. The A block 318 was an early 60's wide block and made a very good boat anchor.
Rick

DAN ---The #1 cyl is on the right as you look at the engine from the front. Thought of that as I was eating supper.Knew Rick would know more about these motors than I did.He's built these engines up for racing.
I was more into 4/6cyl engines and as a kid trying to keep my licence in my wallet.It worked .Barely.
Steve.

Steve just got to know to keep it on the track ....learned real quick as a kid it was way to expensive to run on the street

If I had to guess, on Dan's engine, I would say it is a B block. The CID would be up for grabs Mopar was still installing 361 and 413 in heavy duty trucks and MH til 1978. Without the casting numbers there is no way of knowing if it's a 361,400,413 or 440. They all look the same from the outside.

I hate being the other guy sometimes, but wasn't there a 418 motor home/ industrial motor/ from 68 to 77
as I recall it was the same block as the Hemi with 440 heads?
Sorry to bring it up but I have worked on them ,It was 25 years ago but I have worked on them

Looked at all my sources and cannot find a 418. Did find a 426 wedge I had forgotten about. but no 418. I know some of the hot rodders today are making a 418 but it a stroked 340 LA block. I could be wrong ...wouldn't be the first time.

Rick-- First,how is your wife doing?
Do you think a lot of the 440s advertised in MH are really 400s?
Racing on a track was fun the few times I did it but it lacked the sense of urgency when there were no sirens and flashing lights.Not to mention the fine goverment employees in uniform whom I felt should be doing something to earn thier pay.If only it was slapping the crap out of us on the other side of the crusier when they did catch us.
I was more a sports /european car nut.Did have a buddy who was a model A nut who had a RILEY 4 port head motor in a 31 coupe and another who ran a 292 Chev. 6 in a 51 chev.coupe.
By the time I had the money to get into bigger and better cars the muscle car era was in full swing.I ordered a Hi Performance 1965 Mustang fast back but before it came in I was in a "he'll never live"car accident.
Nope. I was standing in the road waiting for my bro. to come back with a car I just bought and a kid hit me in his Dads brand new VW Bettle.Then my bro hit me as I came down.There were a few stories that he backed up to see if I was ok.
I got up, said I was ok and walked down the street as 5 guys tried to wrestle me to the ground.Two hospitals later,5 mo. of therapy and I was.Forty four years later I'm paying the price 3 times over.Pretty badly crippled up.Know how Wallaby Dan feels.
Went from working 6 days a week to getting out of bed is a hope this past year.
Thats why I can't get a MH in to rough a shape.
Steve.

Missed the threads as I was doing mine.It's a 413.The Discoverer25 has one.
Steve

Thank you you are correct The 418 was the Hot rod engine the 426 wedge was originally a MH engine, I think, many were stripped out of motor homes and replaced with 440 engines. and low and behold it was a better hot rod engine. very strong in the torque dept.
now I could be wrong on its origination and or maybe It was a 416 I'm guessing now and it was 83 when I quite working for Mopar so lets try for 2008 - 1983= 25 sorry the early 80's were a blurr.


Thanks again for the correction.


sober 20 yr as of 12/16/08

Yes Yes Yes 413 I will shut up Now Good by Dam 80's to black Sabbath concerts
This is why I should just Listen
Thanks again