Hello everyone, just joined.
Have an opportunity to purchase a 1987 Grand Villa, gas pusher. Need the good, bad, and ugly on these models. Just under 80,000 miles. Asking just under $17,000.00. Any help, opinions would be appreciated.
[modified topic title to be more descriptive - Michelle]
Do it. A little high on the price but would need photos and inspection before I would commit. Here is a photo of our 86 grand villa gas. Just hit 50,000 miles this year.
Too much for that year and model. Look what you get for a little more,
For Sale 1995 U240 Unihome (https://www.foreforums.com/index.php?topic=45733.0)
And, the gas PUSHERS were probably the "least good" Fortravel ever made.
Overheating was a significant issue, as was poor MPG.
When ever I hear of someone taking on a project vehicle I always recommend what will its value be when completed? I personally believe you can buy a better vehicle for less and be using today rather than spending a fortune to have something with little return on your investment.
Yes the coach crainman brought up costs more but during your ownership I bet it would cost less, work better, be more enjoyable. Hard pass for me.
Scott
Hands down buy the one Craneman posted!
There are a lot of beautiful Grand Villa's and Unihomes out there. I agree with others about the price and gas engines.
I also recommend a thorough inspection and careful consideration of the service records and the existing tires & batteries.
I second the vote for Cat. 80,000 on a gas rig is a whole lot different than 80 on a diesel.
Especially if gas was overworked.
The good thing about a gas rig is that the fuel is cheaper having owned both gas and diesel MHs the price of gas is the only good thing I can say.
When you factor in the mileage the diesel is probably cheaper at the pump. The gas mileage on my Vogue was 5 mpg.
BTUs per mile
Diesel is hard to beat
I don't know what gas engine it has. I assume ether a 454 Chevy or a 460 Ford. I had both in vehicles.
A 460 Ford in a 4x4 Pathfinder 1979 Ford E350 Quadravan. My wife would occasionally ask what I got for MPG, I would quickly attempt to change the subject or I would be forced to lie in order to save myself! The answer was about 6-8mpg, NOT a good answer if I wanted to remain in the house. This was babying it. If I got on the gas pedal you could actually see the gas gauge drop. Good reason that it came with 2 gas tanks. It had constant problems with the exhaust manifold cracking so I s witched to headers, they rusted out fairly fast. Rust finally claimed "my Baby".
The other was a 454 Powered Winnebago Elandan 34'. It also ate exhaust manifolds and you had to be constantly watching for vapor lock. I eventually had a Banks system installed with headers instead of the cast iron exhaust manifolds. I did not own that coach long enough to see how long the headers lasted. About 7-9 miles to the gallon.
I also had a 1970 Corvette with a 454 and 4 spd trans. I could have cared less about the mileage with that car. Back then, Sunoco 260 was about .44 cents a gallon and hearing the Quadrajet secondaries open under load was worth every drop of fuel it sucked down!
My first FT was a 36' Oshkosh Rear engine (OREG) a 1989 and i got 4-5 MPG at 60 MPH, any faster and risk of engine overheat or burnt valves. Loved the coach, if putting a diesel in it made any sense financially I would have made the swap
Run, dont walk....away from a gasser Foretravel, unless you are a total nostalgia buff and dont care about useability and practicality
Tim Fiedler
On our old 29 foot SOB with the 440 and Carter AFB was lucky to get 5 mpg. When I put the turbo 7.3 (manual 5 speed) in it, the mileage jumped up to between 11 and 12. Gas is a lot cheaper than diesel but unless you buy the coach for local trips, the diesel is going to be a lot better with the exception being the cost of any major engine work.
Pierce.
Several manufacturers tried their hand at Gas Pushers during that time. They all suffered from overheating problems. I am surprised that any of these are still on the road.
I purchased our 1990 diesel for 10k. It needed a lot of work, but there was no water damage. After solar and other upgrades I'll have it road ready with about 20k total into it. That includes tires.
Now, I did actively look for the right one for a couple of years. Missed out on Paul Newmans 86 coach by just a few hours and then a couple days later found the one I have. The guy was asking 18950 for it and my mother in law got him talked down to 10 thousand.
Some things are just meant to be...