For Sale 79? 440 and tranny.

[cantflip]

I'm wondering if the RV people didn't stockpile some of the last '78-production 440s for their future use? Just as Dodge kept building their full-size vans one year after they said they'd stop production, so the van converters would have a popular product to sell, as they changed over to Ford or GM vans.

Perhaps those engines came from Chrysler Industrial rather than the normal carline engine plant? I believe that 413s were still available that way, even after all of the cars were 440s?

More Mopar Mysteries.

CBODY67

I kinda doubt the RV industry had the resources to stockpile 2-3 years of production chassis. As far as I know, they used a complete Dodge chassis, and none built their own frames/suspensions... but I could be wrong.

Nearing the due date of Chrysler ending production of any vehicles with 440's, advance orders from commercial 440 customers poured in. Chrysler fulfilled back orders for the 440 well past the vehicle production end date, all with 1978 date codes.
Winnebago, the best customer because of the huge amount of Dodge chassis/engine units they bought received these units until 1980, I think, with 1978 engines showing a 1978 casting date. That tells me blocks with 78 markings were cast for two more years.

I also have a hard time understanding why they would continue production of the castings, without changing the date. It's more believable to me that they cast a lot of additional blocks, and then machined them as production needed them. IDK exactly what the storage would have been like, but it was a time before they had their parts storage killed off by Iaccoca.

I beat @saforwardlook has an idea about how/why this happened.

 

[73Coupe]

My dad had a 81 28ft pace arrow with a 440. They hung around for a bit after 78 for RV applications . I met a kid in the early 90s camping with a 72 motor home that had a 413! I’ve even seen late 1980s forklifts with propane converted slant sixes! Yeah, I was taken back a bit. Must be how they got rid of surplus after they decided to move in another direction with engine choices.

Was the '72 one of these things?



The 1970s Aerodynamic Discoverer Motor Home Changed the Course of RV Design

 

[Moparwilks]

Hahahahahahaha! No, not exactly. It was more of a Winnie brave kinda rig. They Got it from an elderly couple & it was immaculate. Maybe a titan? I just remember they thought it was an odd request to take a peak under the doghouse. Lol