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APOLLO CLASS A

Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2014 1:38 pm
by GUSRENTIT
Howdy, need some info on a 1975 Apollo class A, Dodge 440. How well built were the coaches, I'm OK with the chassis info, it's the home part I care about now. Any info would be great. Thanks Gus

Re: APOLLO CLASS A

Posted: Wed Dec 17, 2014 10:41 am
by 77Travco
I can't offer much when it comes to specifics. I would make sure the roof is in good shape with any leaks addressed. Hopefully all the batteries are in place and the generator and A/C work. Needing to replace parts is a given but I would shy away from a coach that had a trashed interior or hacked electrical / plumbing. (unless the coach was otherwise super cool and you don't mind fixing all the problems)\nDon't forget the brakes and tires... especially if it has been sitting. Also check all the windows to be in good shape and operational.

Re: APOLLO CLASS A

Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2014 7:09 pm
by Acesneights
Post a pic of it.

Re: APOLLO CLASS A

Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2014 11:44 pm
by GUSRENTIT
Well, it's official! We are the proud new owners of a 1975 Apollo 26 DB, on a Dodge M500 with a 440. As with anything there is a little snag, some one "borrowed" the carburetor from it, and forgot to return it. So some one that had no idea what they were doing put a junk quadrajet on it, and put the fuel line on the back vacuum port, so with the electric fuel pump on, they filled up the crankcase with gasoline. So, I pulled the carb off and took it 100 miles home today, I will rebuild it, and go back Saturday with my buddy, I'll put the carb on and he will do an oil/gas change and filter. Lets hope I can get it running, it was 200 miles round trip yesterday to look at it, 200 miles round trip today to buy it and try to get it going, that meant me driving my E350 V10 full of tools and a 60 gallon air compressor, jumper cables, batt charger, and 20 gallons of gas, one wife and one dog. Now for the Good part, really nice people, 35 miles East of any civilization, it has not been driven in 14 years, has 93000 miles, the inside is bone stock, and in showroom condition. Only one small problem, the tree that it sat under, broke the vent cover and water rotted part of the bathroom floor, not bad. The Wife is going to get a disco ball for it! It even comes with a dozen 8 track tapes(for you youngsters, 8 tracks came after vinyl records, and before cassette tapes, think of it like a MP3 player of the 1970's). Tires hold air, and look above average(I know about the age thing, when the time comes, it will get new shoes). No rust anywhere, body has never been hit, a few spyder cracks, but not bad, all glass is in good shape, all original books, manuals, even the monroney sticker, with all original equipment as built. Working fridge, stove, furnace, water heater PER the seller, as you can tell, I'm NOT holding my breath on any of that, the AC also works,,,we'll see when it gets home, and I check things out myself. I'm thinking that the 440 will end up in some hot rod along with the A727, and the Apollo will end up with a 6bt and a Allison 5 speed. Just saying, I plan an putting a lot of miles on this in the future. It looks super cool, and this thing is well built, steel cage and ring of steel(Bob hope did ads for it). As soon as I get a few pics, I will post, along with the progress being made, hope my health improves so it will be travel ready by summer. Oh BTW, gave $1k for it.

Re: APOLLO CLASS A

Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2014 11:46 am
by 77Travco
Very cool!\nBetter check those brakes before getting it up to speed out on the road. I drove my coach 80 miles home with front brakes only the day I bought it.\n\nYou can get replacement Thermoquad carbs from Summit ... http://www.summitracing.com/search?Sort ... thermoquad

Re: APOLLO CLASS A

Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 7:52 am
by badbillybiker
been waiting to hear if the trips back and forth were a success and the unit made it home... \nCurious and hoping for the good news to be posted here...\nBTW.. what does a 1975 Apollo look like?\nBBB 12/29/14

Re: APOLLO CLASS A

Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 9:22 am
by GUSRENTIT
Well, rebuild the wiring harness that was melted together, put on an old QJet (I know that I'm going to hear from the Pope on this, the QJet came of my buddy's 1965 GTO) , replumbed the fuel line, and the old Holley electric fuel pump, took distributor apart and spliced in new wires, replaced the ignition module, oil change, battery charger and jumper cables, and after several spits, coughs, hiccups, and 14 years of it sitting, the old 440 started to come back to life, we woke up the chickens, it's amazing how good that old 440 sounds, last time I worked on one, was around 1983. In a previous life I used to put weird cars back together, after others took them apart. All of this 100 miles from home on a farm, @ 7600' elevation, 4" of snow on the ground, with a high temp of 15*F. But it got too late to nurse it home in the dark, the wife (my weather Girl) tells me that we should be above freezing on new years day, so that is the plan, to drive it home, with an escort, on 01/01/2015. Oh did I mention, that the old radiator has a leak, and it started to overheat while I was checking it out, so I will remove the thermostat to bring it home.

Re: APOLLO CLASS A

Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 8:29 pm
by Acesneights
Let's see some pics !!

Re: APOLLO CLASS A

Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 9:20 pm
by GUSRENTIT
Weather permitting, and the basics working, the wife and I will go get it on new year's day. It's been a challenge, we all caught a colds last week, then last Saturday I went and worked on the MH in the snow, did not help my cold any. Today has been snowing all day, and it's 9*F, and going down to -10*F tonight. To make things more interesting, tonight the wife's Explorer died at Ranch supply, so we had to have our daughter come and get us, and take us home, oh yeah we had 2 of our dogs with us, and they farted all the way home. Bulldog farts make your eyes bleed. Time to have a drink.

Re: APOLLO CLASS A

Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 10:18 pm
by badbillybiker
a cold but humorous adventure so far... I can sympathize (sp) with the bleeding eyes as I thought only my goldens could make ones eyes bleed... had thought this was a "local" event... I get "tooted" in a stereophonic atmosphere as I have two and am usually between them... Maybe those farting events are caused from the aromatic dog bones they get for treats? thank gawd for the insight.... I hadn't realized that was the most logical source of my eye problems... one more newly found reason to have a drink... :lol: \nDrive slow in da' snow...\nBBB