My 1977 Travco

[77Travco]

I bought a 1977 Travco and drove it 80 miles home the other day. The previous owner said that he had "redone" the front brakes but the rear needed to be bled. I drove it down the street to put gas and sure enough, they felt spongy... but they worked. Once I got it on the road it became apparent that it had a fuel delivery problem. It would run very well but then start sputtering and bucking due to running out of gas. I nursed it all the way home this way through steep hills with some pretty scary switchbacks and curves. (I had spongy brakes going down hill and sputtering going up!... lol) Now that it is home I will change the fuel filter, blow out gas lines and maybe even drop the tank to clean it and replace the sender unit since the gas gauge doesn't work. I will also need to bleed those brakes, etc...\nWe want to paint the exterior with a traditional Travco paint job... Maybe a light cream color with a mint green or sky blue stripe? Not sure yet. The interior is too dark for our taste and we have already started with that. I will start an interior thread to show our progress.\nHere are a few pics before we bought it... The first thing I did was turn the "V" in Travco right side up... That bugged me.

[Acesneights]

Ok. gas tank has a drain plug in the bottom so you can drain it without dropping it. It's big tank. \nMake sure the Travco is level when you drain it so the tank drains completely . If you have access to compressed air stick a blowgun with a rag around i in the filler neck. \nAs far as the sputtering another thing to check because I just went through this is the fuel lines long the frame.They shoud be mosty steel but about 12 inchs so before the fuel tank it changes back to rubber to connect to the tank. Nice thing abou the 270(I would think yours is the same as mine) is the fuel tank pick fittings are on the front facing forward not the top so very easy to access. On mine the rubber line had become brittle and broke at the fitting at the tank but it "looked" ok. You have to crawl under there and grab it and wiggle it. If it's cracked or split it will suck air and cause low fuel pressure/supply. Basically check the fuel line all the way up but that is a common spot to break.\nIf the Carb turns out to be shot and you can't rebuild it yourself you can get an edelbrock 4bbl 625 new for about the ame price a rebuild from a shop will cost so that is up to you. The edelbrock is a renamed Carter AFB. I have a Thermoquad which is getting the boot when it goes. You will need a 17$ adapter plate if you decide to convert. Start with fuel supply first though.\nA far as the brakes, start in the back and work forward. Right rear first. Also look at the brake fluid itself.Mine was contaminated. Also to bleed the rear brakes(you should have disc in the front) effectively, they must must be brought into proper adjustment. If you need help on that let me know.

[Acesneights]

That's funny, someone painted yours similar to mine. the original finish is actually not paint, it's a white/creamish Gelcoat. One thing I have noticed about a few Travco's I have seen that were painted early on. It seems the ones that were painted , the gelcoat didn't crack, weird. Mine did't on my 75 which is painted. On my 1970 and 1974 it cracked everywhere but where the painted stripe....Hmmm....

[Acesneights]

hey, could you post some good pics of your dinette seats ? I want to see which ones they are. Mine were replaced and I think I have the right ones from another one.

[Acesneights]

Forgot to ask, Is your brake system Hydrovac or Hydroboost ? I have not worked on anything newer than 1975 personally but I think around 76 they went to hydroboost.

[Acesneights]

Does your brake system look like this ? I'm gonna post all of these up . Just taking time...

[77Travco]

hey, could you post some good pics of your dinette seats ? I want to see which ones they are. Mine were replaced and I think I have the right ones from another one.

\n\nThese are my dinette seats but they are not original pattern. At some point in the past, all the carpet was switched to blue and interior seats were changed. Probably when the coach was painted.

[Acesneights]

Do they click forward, then click back to lay down flat ?

[Acesneights]

when you tackle the brakes this is alot of good info , but some of the part#s are outdated.\nhttp://dave78chieftain.zxq.net/

[77Travco]

Do they click forward, then click back to lay down flat ?

\n\nYes but... I had to reach in with my fingers to push on the lever so i could get them to lay down.