78 Brave 23RG - Which engine is it?

[Rallye Kadett]

Hello,

Since a few months we are owners of a Winnebago Brave 23RG from 1978.

It's built on a Dogde M300 chassis. The RV wasn't moved since 1993. Now we want to restore it.

There are some questions we have. We hope you can help us. :-)

The RV ist built on a Dodge M300 chassis. But the engine seems to be a 360 cui Chrysler... Would that be original? We are not really sure if the engine is from Chrysler. But there are some Chrysler ingnition parts mounted. So we're thinking, it's a Chrysler machine. Can that be?
How can we clearly find out which engine is mounted in our RV?
If you need more details, please let us know.

Thanks a lot in advance for your help.

Rebecca & Bernd from Springe, Hannover, Germany

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

Welcome to our little piece of the web.  Yes, the Mopar product 360-3 engine was normal for the M300 chassis in 77-79.  You can get a 78-79 service and parts manual from our site store.
http://www.classicwinnebagos.com/forum/index.php?action=store;cat=42

Sounds like you have located the Dodge VIN plate so use the VIN decoder on the right side of this page to decode the information.  It was not unusual for Winnebago to use the previous years chassis (i.e. 77) on the current year rig (i.e. 78)

Dave

[Rallye Kadett]

Hello,

@Dave - Thanks for your fast reply. That will help us.

Now we've got another question.

The engine doesn't run, but it turns round and the starter works. So we'll change these parts:
- distributor cap and rotator
- all spark plugs
- all ignition cable
- ignition coil
- the vacuum hose from the air master (brake main cylinder)

Can someone tell me where I can buy these parts in Germany or Europe?

[Oz]

We do have numerous members in Europe.  Mostly the UK but some in Germany, Sweden and other, north & western Europe.  Ian Jupp (Jupp318) has been with us a very long time and really would know a lot about where to get parts.

The best way to connect with our European members would be to upgrade to a full member (which you also get as a free upgrade when you order any store eManual, as Dave suggested), do a member search using the country name and contact everyone you can via email.

I've sent a message to Ian in case he doesn't see this question right away.

[Rallye Kadett]

Hello,

@Mark: Many thanks for forwarding my message zu Ian.

@all: We've checked the VIN. And we noticed that the engine is NOT a 360 cui but a 440-3 cui!!! There was a mistake when the RV was registred in Germany.

Also thanks for the link to the manuals. We're sure that they will be helpful.

[DaveVA78Chieftain]

Ian Jupp (Jupp318) has been with us a very long time and really would know a lot about where to get parts.

Being in the US, Marks recommendation for contacting Ian is the best bet for parts.

Dave

[Rallye Kadett]

Hello,

Now we’ve got another problem. We don’t know anything about the engine (Chrysler 440-3) which is mounted in our Winnebago Brave.
All technical specifications in the registration papers are wrong because they thought that the engine in our RV is a Dodge 360… .

So to order parts for the engine, we would need some basic data about the Chrysler 440-3 in our RV.
Could someone send us the technical dates?

That would help us a lot.

[Jupp318]

Hi,

I've just found Marks message in my spam filter even though his email address is in my contacts.  I have normally bought engine parts from Summit Racing in the US although I do know some people in Germany who are into Drag Racing.  I will contact them to see if they can recommend a supplier in Germany.  As for parts special to 440-3 I think that will denote a truck engine that has a forged crank & maybe rods but Dave will be better placed to tell you about that.  As my user name suggests my old rig had a 318cu in motor.  And just in case you are confused, Dodge is a brand name for Chrysler as was Plymouth etc.  Mopar is the brand for the parts for Chrysler vehicles.

[fuzzybob]

Hello Bernd,

Welcome to Classic Winnebagos. From 440 source I found this:

Mopar shop
Otto-Hahn-street 10
59399 Olfen
Germany

tEL: 0049 (0) 2595-387441
fAX: 0049 (0) 2595-387442

Contact: Oliver Zinn

E-mail: oliver@moparshop.de

  I'm not to good on the computers or I probably could have made this in a link or something.... too old I recon.

Good luck on your project...Fuzzy

[Jupp318]

http://www.moparshop.de/  This is the link.  My friends in Germany have turned out to be Chevy oriented so couldn't help.  One bit of advice I could give is if you don't know something ask the guys here, they are amazing and really helpful.