86 Motorhome with 454...needs a little more HP!

[59bisquik]

First off, this is my first post on the board so a big hello to everyone.

I have a 86 Winnebago 22ft class A with a 454. It has 30k original miles. It gets around 5mpg and struggles a bit on the grades. 99% of the time, it will have a 3500lb trailer or my Bronco II in tow. What can I do and still be smog legal to get a little more power out of it? CARB legal headers? EGR aluminum intake? Ideas??

Its not stored at my place so I cant tell what the gear ratio is. I am also sure that being an 86 it probably has really low stock compression.

Thanks in advance guys!

[Blue 82]

Add 1 ounce per gallon of this to clean it out
http://www.seafoamsales.com/motor-treatment/index.html

then add one of these, the 6" or 7" round.
http://www.hopupracing.com/marasemu.html

One of these will help
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BWAOV2

Top it off with one of these (I picked up 2 mpg while towing my boat)
http://www.smicarburetor.com/products/sfID1/14/sfID2/9/sfID3/32/productID/18

[choptop]

Welcome, I also will be attempting to get a bit more umph out of a motor home we recently acquired. Its a 82 Pace Arrow, 454 with 59,000 on it. I have yet to really get into it, but am considering headers, intake, and thanks to Blue82, a new carb. Thats a good price. I imagine the compression on these are 7.5-8.0:1. I am not sure of the emissions on these. Im not sure mine even has any being an 82. Would  like to do a Fuel injection system on it if money permits, but that will be in the future. Maybe an RV cam will help some as well.

[Blue 82]

Those big blocks produce LOTS of blowby when loaded and driven hard
All that junk gets sucked back into the intake tract
The Seafoam will help clean it up
You can buy or "construct" one of these to keep a large amount of the Blowby "junk" out of your engine
Think of it as an oil/air seperator
http://www.condensator.com/

Dana Corp has one
Piston powered aircraft use em
I'm thinking about making one for my truck
http://news.thomasnet.com/fullstory/470993

[VileZambonie]

I would find out what rear end you have and do a 4L80E upgrade. You'll see a huge improvement there. A cam, intake and exhaust will show you the biggest gains.

[velojym]

Hoy.  I have a couple of those separators in my garage, but they're FAA approved (read: expensive).

You can look in Aircraft Spruce and Specialty, or another dealer that specializes in experimental aircraft for
parts that work just as well, but don't require FAA approval (and are much cheaper as a result).

[maddog]

What kinda RPM are turning at 70 mph ? I also seen these big blocks with cats on them ,and they are plugged up.
You should be running 2200 to 2800 rpm with that when towing.
Make sure you have checked the simple things like tire psi on rig and trailer,it all adds up when your that heavy.

[malibu795]

First off, this is my first post on the board so a big hello to everyone.

I have a 86 Winnebago 22ft class A with a 454. It has 30k original miles. It gets around 5mpg and struggles a bit on the grades. 99% of the time, it will have a 3500lb trailer or my Bronco II in tow. What can I do and still be smog legal to get a little more power out of it? CARB legal headers? EGR aluminum intake? Ideas??

Its not stored at my place so I cant tell what the gear ratio is. I am also sure that being an 86 it probably has really low stock compression.

Thanks in advance guys!

things i would
600cfm 4barrel or 750 pending how its geared.
tube headers..
at least 2.5" dual or 3" single exhaust... easier the air gets out then more power you will make.
ignition system a MSD 6A box, distrubtor, blasster SS coil, low resistant wires MSD SC are really good and do not interfear with raidos....at least upgrade the coil in the HEI dis... and wires..
the first 3 things i listed i went from 7-8mph to 13mpg in a 84 C30 dually
cam. a 204/214* with .475/.500" @.050 will make a world of diference stock is  less htne 200* duration and under .400" lift.. vlv spring woudl be reccomended with said cam.
dual plane intake edelbrock performer or equivalant summit has some knock-offs pretty cheap.
all the stuff i list is CARB aproved as well.
also you could put a synthetic blend gear oil in the dif as well..
tire pressures?
how about alignments?