TOPIC: Ron Hatton's '89 Ford 460 f.I. Motorhome gets the Groove and Snake Oil!

So, after Ron's carjacking and severe injuries left him laid up and without a vehicle over 2 weeks ago- He decided to buy this '89 Class C 28 foot motorhome. It was located here in Reno NV, and Ron is out of state, so I acted as the go-between. It has a Ford engine/drivetrain, with a fuel injected 460 and auto trans.

The seller said it gets about 8 MPG. Ron sid "Let's Groove it!" Ron isn't really in condition to clamber around this thing, so I volunteered to do the deed.

Being an '89 model year, it has th big 2 barrel cable drive TB. This TB is very straightforward- but getting to it and re-installing it was a job! Ford used this twin rubber hose duct to feed air from the filter box to the TB. 6 pieces in all with a plastic middle junction. All tightly fit under the van body hood. The engine "doghouse" cover was pulled back to get to the throttle cables, and all else was done thru the narrow gap in front above the engine. It's a Van...!

Enuf sniveling! In the pics, you see how I built up a lot of JB quick over the likely break-thru area, and it DID break thru. Be advised with these old style Ford TB's a large bit WILL break thru, just rough up the casting and build up a lot of JB. Then all will be OK.

I blocked off the PCV valve and put it back with no visible clues... Both batteries were disconnected while I worked. The Grooves came out nice. IT took over 2 hours to get the TB back in place back in the "cave" and get that crazy air duct setup all back on.

While the JB epoxy was setting up, I added 100% Pure Snake Oil to power steering, Auto trans.,and cooling system. I started the engine and brought it up to temp, shut down, thn added Snake Oil to the engine oil fill. Re-started and let it run 20 more minutes. I could hear it run smoother after about 5 minutes.

Since it has no plates on it right now, no re-learn drive sequence yet. I figure it will get that as Ron is driving it back home. And, of course all the snake Oil products go to work instantly, and continue to improve over time. I've started it, but not driven this beast. ( I think I'll need two tugboats and Coast guard clearance to put thos Motorhome to sea again...!)

It sure sounds better running now than when it arrived!

When more is known about it's performance and MPG's, etc, I'll add more info.

Tracy G

Any updates brother?

Hello, all.

Here's the latest on Bessie (She just told me that was her name)...

First, when I got to hear Bessie, she displayed a burnt valve on the passenger side. At first I thought it was a bad exhaust gasket, but over the next couple of months and many thousands of miles, it became clear it was indeed a bad valve.

I was getting only about 5 mpg's on California fuel, so I did some good cleaning of the fuel and oil systems and re-treated with Snake Oil. I was able to get it up to 12 on Nevada fuel. But that started sliding backward, along with a loss of power. On a lark, I added a small bottle of radiator stop-leak and in the next 100 miles or so, the power increased some, so I had to assume there was a head gasket leak.

I was invited to N. Central Montana (Ft. Benton, the home of Bentonite Clay) where initially my plan was to do a complete head job over the Winter. The situation became untenable here for a few reasons I can't disclose (I don't want a slander case started against me!) and that plan was accelerated so I could leave here with a good engine.

To tell you how desperate that was for me, I have a 30 gallon tank which I fueled up at that last gas station before the ranch, 8 miles away. I drove it into town and back only twice, and almost zero generator usage. In those trips (5 times 8 miles) I drank up a half tank of fuel.

40 miles-15 gallons=less than 3 mpg's.

So, I ordered heads and have them sitting on the work bench in the middle of cleaning, lapping and valve testing. I'm carefully considering adding the Singh Grooves, or a version thereof while I have the heads on the bench.

I've already started filming the process and plan to document everything I do-normal AND exotic!

The gaskets and other supplies came in this afternoon. All I'm waiting for are the replacement head and exhaust manifold bolts. (NEVER do a head job using the old bolts. Try it and you will probably learn why.)

Today, my left knee has decided it wants a day off. Either that or the warranty just expired! So, I'm not doing ANYTHING requiring walking...

wow...that's pretty epic.
It has been cold out that way, and we haven't made the switch to winter gas yet, so the computer MAY have been overfuelling to compensate for lack of atomization. running rich like that can prevent the coolant temp sensor from seeing the temp at which the computer goes into closed loop. worse and worse.
Here's hoping you're snowbirding your way south soon!

Wow, this looks awesome! Cant wait to hear what the results are!