Hey there,

I'm a new GTC owner, I got a rare deal on my little gal for just a few hundred bucks. She only has 90k miles, a real story behind the low miles and a filthy, but virtually mint interior. Only 15 hours clocked on the Generac. The oven hasn't even been used. Everything original in it except a few missing knobs, the 8track deck and all of the overhead lights have been meth'd away. I even have the vent covers and snap on dash cover. No leaks other than where the tweakers had a cable antennae put in (by a pro no less!) that I ripped out because no. Gaff tape for now and a cover.

I'm not much of a gearhead, mostly old Hondas and a Harley in my past. So I'm counting on a ton of the information and folks here for restoration tips and info. I do plan to restore and not customize. NO SCREENS! NO TV'S!

I go from having really legit questions like:
-Should I keep the old fridge and furnace? Is there a choke and where?

To amateur questions like:
-Where is the water tank fill, how big are the tanks, and why the heck is there a key hole in that wall? What is this red light that lights up in the kitchen?

Anyhow, she drives like a dream and I've spent a couple of loving camping weekends cleaning her from top to bottom and inspecting/recording everything I can.

For now, my main question is documentation: Where or what do I reference besides what's posted here to do proper maintenance and the like? I'd like to learn and work independently as much as possible on interior resto to save money so all the big dollars can go into new wheels and a possible cooling system conversion of sorts. I'm used to working from a Chilton manual, but I'm guessing those don't exist for the Hall GTC's.

ps. My major goal this year is to get her desert and traffic viable for a burningman trip this summer. I'll redo the paint after. It's the one year I've got to be dirty before I redo all the upholstery and flooring. I'm really concerned about the tiny radiator and no fan blocked by a big ac compressor on that particular type of trip.

Welcome to the family! Looks like one we haven't seen before.

I'm in my phone so if I missed answering one of your questions I'll follow up when I get to my computer.

There is a choke, it is automatic. If you have the original carburetor setup it is on it and the intake manifold.

Not sure which key hole you're asking about.

The red light and switch in the kitchen next to the stove is for the electric water heater.

If your fridge is working there's no need to change it. Most of these came with electric only fridges and some, like mine, were changed at some point to 3 way.

Some one added roof vents to yours. If you need to replace any of them, see the forum post by Matt about the power vent he installed.

If your tires are old, you should replace them, especially if they are the original 16.5 inch ones.

Let me know if you'd like a gallery page for your rig. This is a very small group but willing to help where we can.

Nick

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_________________
Nick Taylor - Green & White 1974 Hall GTC.
www.NicksGarage.com == www.HallGTC.com == www.NicksTeardrop.com

We've never found an owner's manual from Hall. A factory Dodge service manual would be better than the Chilton. The ones for a regular can cover most things. There is a motorhome chassis manual as well. Usually easy to find on eBay.

The fresh water fill is next to the entry door behind the keyed flap. The tank is under the bed. The city water connection it's underneath.

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_________________
Nick Taylor - Green & White 1974 Hall GTC.
www.NicksGarage.com == www.HallGTC.com == www.NicksTeardrop.com

Aha! My suspicions on the water fill were correct!

When I bought mine, I was given no keys except for the ignition, it was the only flap that I couldn't wedge open with the tire breaker bar without risking cracking the hull.

The keyhole is right on the wall in the entry way next to the generator controls.

The fridge doesn't appear to work yet, but I think that may be due to a busted fuse. It doesn't appear to have been used other than the freezer portion was an ashtray at some point? It was really dirty, but I cleaned it out last weekend and now it's probably the best smelling part of the RV. It has controls to switch between battery, genny and I think kerosene power. I will post a picture.

Speaking of kerosene, should I get the furnace looked at and refurbished? I kind of like the idea of three different flammable tanks hurtling down the freeway, but my friends cry hibachi death about the kerosene furnace in particular.

I would love a gallery for Beth, she's becoming a great hobby for me. I intend to run a blog about the restoration eventually as well. I'll post it here if I ever get around to making it.

It's propane, not kerosene. There is a big tank under the rig. You should be able to get a locksmith to pick the locks on the compartments, the locks aren't anything sophisticated.

The holes in the dash you're asking about are to light up the switches at night. There should be a bulb behind the dash above each.

The overhead light switch controls the fluorescent light in the center of the ceiling. I had to replace my switches but sometimes you can pop them out and spray some contact cleaner in there to get them working.

Haven't seen any key holes in any of these under the generator controls. You could pull out the drawers and see what it's wired to. Maybe a lockout for the generator.

_________________
Nick Taylor - Green & White 1974 Hall GTC.
www.NicksGarage.com == www.HallGTC.com == www.NicksTeardrop.com

I thought the fridge was propane, but someone I was with said propane doesn't have a pilot light...I was like...but the plates are inspected for propane.....blah blah.

I'm guessing the keyhole is for the generator, there's nothing else on that wall for mine other than some outlets and drawers. As for the rest of the flap locks, would it be bad to just drill them out and plug the holes where the locks used to be? It looks like replacement drum locks are hard to come by.

That overhead light answer is great. The overhead lights were giving us some trouble when we were testing the power to the lines and the fuse box (where a new one has been added and everything seems to be diverted from the old bank to new one, and very well done). I suspect it's because we had the switch set to off.

There are very little new or refurbished items in the rig. Mostly overhead lights and the front seats have been messed with and that's it. It does appear that they pulled the AC unit, or did something in there to run an antenna and cable, but I'm pulling all that out and plugging the holes. I'd rather run some solar power to another bank of marine batteries and run a radio transmitter and some pk1 speakers out of that spot.

Do I call a plumber or someone else to service my propane tank? The tank looks good, but the main valve fitting hisses when I open it up, so I'm guessing I either need to replace the whole thing or just the valve fitting. I would like to get that swapped out for a couple of removable tanks some day.

You probably need to go to an RV place to have your tank checked out. I don't know if a plumber would want to work on an RV, unless you know a plumber already to ask.

Sounds like you have the factory air conditioner over the cab still. If you pull off the panel around the controls and vents, there's quite a bit of access. I had mouse nests up there so spent a lot of time vacuuming every nook and cranny and spraying it with stuff to kill off the smell.

I'll go down to my rig and open the gas flap and see what kind of lock it has and see if I can find them for you. On the driver's side you should have two. If only one has a gas cap and the other has nothing, then you have the optional 50 gallon gas tank. The standard setup is two fillers with the factory Dodge van tank and a small additional one.

It seems that some of these rigs have variations in how they were built. With such a small production run they probably were just improving things as they went.

_________________
Nick Taylor - Green & White 1974 Hall GTC.
www.NicksGarage.com == www.HallGTC.com == www.NicksTeardrop.com

The locks look pretty simple. They were made by Hurd.

These might work - https://smile.amazon.com/Double-Bitted-6-Disc-Tumbler-Keyed/dp/B0754PS7JF/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&qid=1548266138&sr=8-18&keywords=rv+compartment+locks



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_________________
Nick Taylor - Green & White 1974 Hall GTC.
www.NicksGarage.com == www.HallGTC.com == www.NicksTeardrop.com

Rad! I'll give one an order and see if it works. Thanks so much for the pro-tip!

As far as the fuel tank, I only have one fill, the other little fuel flap is just an ashtray.

But it's funny, I've been hitting empty on the gauge and I can only put about 25g of fuel in, is there a switch or something for a reserve on the 50gal tank?

There are several possibilities for why your tank is reading so low. Do your other gauges seem to be accurate? If not, then the problem is with the voltage limiter that's part of the instrument cluster, which will require some electrical experience and skills to replace. If not, then the problem is the float in the fuel tank. Ugh. Repairing requires dropping the tank and replacing the sending unit, or perhaps just the float itself.

Let me know what you find and I might be able to help. Too bad about the meth heads!

You have a really nice original setup, from what I can see. First one I've seen with a window in the coach door, which is a great addition! Waht do you have planned for the interior restoration you mentioned? It looks really good in the photos.

I wonder if that window in the door is original. If it's the same brand as the rest of the windows, I'd say it probably is.

_________________
Nick Taylor - Green & White 1974 Hall GTC.
www.NicksGarage.com == www.HallGTC.com == www.NicksTeardrop.com

It's the only one I've seen like it, so my bet is that it was a well done after-market addition. I'm envious.