In the interest of transparency, we have no idea how fast this Winnebago actually is. For that matter, we’re not sure if the mad scientists behind this build know either. The video above is what the guys from Fuel Injection Sucks on YouTube are calling a shakedown run to Ocean City, Maryland, and at one point the steering wheel in the camper does shake quite badly for reasons not fully explained. It’s not the fault of the unmuffled 6.0-liter turbocharged LS V8 though – that engine only does two things to this Winnebago: makes it very loud, and shoves all the stuff inside to the back with every stab of the throttle.
Enjoy these crazy campers:
At this point you’re probably asking the same questions we did, so here’s what you need to know. This Winnebago was originally built on a 1970’s Dodge platform, and as such the original engine was Mopar 440 cubic-inch (7.2-liter) V8. Technically speaking then, this LS swap adds a smaller engine, but lest we forget how much power American V8 engines in the late 1970’s didn’t make. Even without forced induction, this camper would be getting a considerable jump in power from the GM mill. But why add more power when you can add a lot more power?
The fabrication work took place over the summer, as chronicled by a few other build videos on the YouTube channel. The old camper was in good shape overall, and actually, the original purpose of the swap was to simply replace the tired old engine with something new to make it a reliable RV. As so often happens with innocent projects, however, things got a bit out of hand.
LS swap everything:
The shakedown video shows plenty of in-car and external footage, and it does sound pretty cool with the V8 thunder combined with the turbo whistle. It still doesn’t strike us as being particularly fast, but then again, a 1970’s camper than can accelerate with traffic is a tremendous upgrade from something that would otherwise take an afternoon to reach 60 mph. We hope there are more videos forthcoming with details on power and speed, because we need more turbocharged campers in our life.
Source: Fuel Injection Sucks via YouTube
Gallery: LS-Swapped Winnebago
