New Member - 1983 Holiday Rambler Imperial Class C

[edog1973]

Hello all, just a quick introduction. My family and I are the proud new owners of an old motorhome.  We are planning to take a six week long trip next year and decided that enclosing the kids in the back seat of the truck (while pulling our trailer) for that long was in nobody's best interest.   


Our new beauty is a 26 foot class C 1983 Holiday Rambler Imperial on the Ford E350 chassis. It seems to be a rather unique layout with a pair of bunks in the back corner.  I have not found any other Holiday Ramblers with this floor plan.   Overall she is in excellent shape for her age.  I could not find ANY evidence of water leaks.  Not even in the front corners of the cab over where it seems every class C leaks.  The interior is used, but not abused and seems to be almost completely original.  Except, the PO swapped out the single chair across from from the dinette with a jackknife couch. But he gave me the original chair that he had removed 10 years ago and kept.  The odometer is at 38K (I'm assuming 138K actual)  miles but it's seems to still be running strong.  I drove it about 250 miles home and it pulled up a couple of fairly steep passes at 55 without issues.  My first order of business is to run a compression check to get a better ideas of the true condition.  I didn't spend too much for her and am prepared to put a new long block if needed.


The trip home was kind of an adventure.  My wife and I drove 4 hours up to Yakima last Friday afternoon.  We completed the purchase that evening and stayed the night at a local campground.  The next morning we fueled her up and stopped for breakfast.  Afterwords she did not start up right away... and then the solenoid stuck and she just kept cranking!  At one point I was sitting there looking at the key in my hand and she was still sitting there cranking away.  Needless to say this killed the battery fast.  I popped the hood to check things out and found the coil wire was loose at the distributor.  I pushed it on gave her a jump start and she fired right up. So on the way home I decided that it would be a good idea to run the main tank dry so I could get a good ideas where empty actually was on the gauge.  I did find out that it's completely empty when it gets to E. Unfortunatly even though I had a full aux tank the gas wasn't getting to the engine after switching it over.  Not wanting to troubleshoot on the side of road if I didn't have to we found a gas station a couple miles away and brought a couple of gallons back to her.  I knew I wasn't buying a new vehicle and was prepared for an issue or two on that long of a drive home.  All in all, not that bad in my opinion.  I have a feeling she was just trying to introduce herself properly and let me know who the boss was.  Aren't new relationships fun!

Anyway here is a few picture:

[legomybago]

Good story! Someone added the bunk over the original rear bed. You can tell by the color of the wood. I think that's a great idea for kids. Never seen that before. Welcome to the forum. There is mass info here. I just looked at the pic again and noticed the upper bunk even has an exterior window! I still think its custom work though  Hm? if not thats really rare and cool

[Rickf1985]

I wouldn't be too sure about the mileage, most motor homes have around 50,000 on them so 38 is believable. What did the PO say? It looks nice.

[TerryH]

Welcome, and very nice looking unit. Agree with Legomybago on the upper rear window as an addition - but someone made sure it matches the lower one. Makes it look original.
Rick is likely correct on the mileage, but don't equate mileage with age. They are both very different animals.
Got a real kick from your line

" I knew I wasn't buying a new vehicle and was prepared for an issue or two on that long of a drive home.  All in all, not that bad in my opinion.  I have a feeling she was just trying to introduce herself properly and let me know who the boss was.  Aren't new relationships fun!"

Great way to describe your first to this unit encounter.
Enjoy.   

[edog1973]

I was looking through some of the paperwork the PO gave me. It includes a copy of the floorplan and specifications for the 1983 minis.  It shows the bunk beds as an option for the.  Looks like it's origional.

I scanned the copy and put it out on Drive. Hopefully this link will work for everyone.  Do you have a place to post this type of sales literature?  I also have a full color 24 page brochure for the all the 1983 Holiday Rambler motorhome and (for some reason) a 1989 floor plan and specs booklet.   I'm sure there are others who would find it interesting.

[legomybago]

That's cool that's it's an option. I wonder if the exposed wood work for the upper bunk used to have an upholstered/padded edge?? It looks like a head bumper for kids now. D:oH! That would explain why we thought it wasn't original seeing the different wood.

[Oz]

I scanned the copy and put it out on Drive. Hopefully this link will work for everyone.  Do you have a place to post this type of sales literature?  I also have a full color 24 page brochure for the all the 1983 Holiday Rambler motorhome and (for some reason) a 1989 floor plan and specs booklet.   I'm sure there are others who would find it interesting.

You can upload the file directly here:  http://www.classicwinnebagos.com/forum/index.php?action=mgallery;sa=album;id=471