84 Winnebago Chevy C30 major green overhaul

[Intense]

First I would like to thank everyone for fueling their passion and creating all of the content on this board. OK , on to the fun stuff.

Yesterday I got a 84 32 foot Winnebago on a Chevy C30 Chassis powered by a 454-T400. I know I know.... I wanted to do a WVO Diesel but somehow I got this. I'm trying to go as green as possible with this build. I traded my 4x4 Pathfinder for it and found the RV 2 miles from my house!

So far my girl and I have 7 hours of labor in it. We are big into graphics,marketing and entertainment and plan to wrap it next week.
We got it running ok and have gutted everything but the oven and toilet.I want it to be as light as possible, FE as possible, and of course as aesthetically appealing as possible!

My plans are to shave/smooth everything,lower it on some street tires, add wheel well skirts, cover the headlights with lexan,airdam, change the mirrors, solar, all led lighting, rainwater collector/purifier, eco paint, eco vinyl wrap, etc...

We need all the tips, hints and suggestions we can get!

Will it be illegal if i take off most of the running lights?
What else can I do aero wise ?
Is there an alternative fuel? WVO work? Water injection? propane?
What can i do about the rear bumper w/ the whisper thing?
Whats the best way to get solar charging?

I have plenty more questions but any input is greatly appreciated.

What would you do?

[MadisonMPG]

Do you have a picture of it? I would suggest tapering the rear, and making a BIG ole belly pan.

[puddleglum]

Is it a class A or a cab and body style. If its a class A you might want to think of reshaping the front also.

[Intense]

Thanks guys! Its a class A and I will post the pics shortly.
Coroplast the best for the belly pan? I have a little experience with carbon fiber and would like to reshape the front and add a deflector on top of the front. I'm gonna try to boat tail it also when I figure out the design.

[Intense]

[Intense]

I'm about to take off the AC next. I was thinking of moving the cargo box towards the front or rear and fabbing some sort of deflector.
The rear bumper bothers me too. Anyone?

[thatguitarguy]

Same year and similar styling to my Pathfinder, also a Chevy 454.



Mine looks like it has lots of room for fully skirted wheels. I want to do a full belly pan and have thought about a combination of OSB and Coroplast. CP for the areas that house the generator and water tanks, etc., and OSB to make the bottoms for more storage underneath. I don't want to lower it because as long as it is, I don't want to further limit where I can take it. I want to reshape the front, take off the A/C and awning, replace mirrors with video, and taper the rear section and add a boattail.

But for now it's covered and under a layer of snow in a Colorado Rocky Mountain Winter...

[Frank Lee]

I'd take all that stick-out gook off, especially off the roof. Perhaps the rear bumper can be relocated a bit higher, if it would remain at a legal height OR if a belly pan is in the works just leave that bumper alone and run the pan out to it. I wouldn't bother with headlight covers; however I would see how much grille block it would tolerate. The storage box could either be deleted altogether, or go above the rear bumper. I'd try aftbody extensions as have been noted on EM by aerohead on his VW Bus and on experimental semi trailers.

WTH is eco paint and eco wrap?

[JasonG]

Everything FrankLee said, especially the roof.
Get rid of the "wisker thing", its a rock guard for towing a car behind the motorhome.
Don't go crazy with weight reduction, it will only get so light.
That leads to the next point, you will need to stay with tires rated for the vehicle. Commercial truck tires will have a narrower profile and lower rolling resistance than ones marketed for pickups.
Blank off the opening in the right rear, outside shower?

[DonR]

If you can live without the A/C go for it. I would try to build a fairing of some sort around it. Tapered in the front & rear of the unit. This may be a good place for some solar panels. You may be able to blend this into a kammback/boattail assembly also.

With the bow wave this baby creates the mirrors may cause less drag than you think. I would think of some way to test the removal results before installing a cctv system. Unless you're installing one for the back anyway, then go for it.

I was reading about semi aero somewhere & they were testing curved air deflectors that sit away from existing bodywork mounted on the front edges (cab & roof edges).

I would put long tube headers, New "RV" cam, & a few other bits from the Summit racing catalog to increase low end torque. A fuel injection kit would help quite a bit.

Don