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Date:         Thu, 18 Jul 1996 20:05:55 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         tomstory@slip.net (Tomstory)
Subject:      Trip Report

Well, I'm back from my trip, almost 8,000 miles in three weeks, San Francisco to Mass. and back. First off I'd like to say that Petey (the wonderbus) performed absolutely flawlessly, not a flat tire, never refused to start, used only 2 quarts of oil in those miles, 1 oil change, and coming back that included towing a 900lb U-Haul trailer with 600lbs of stuff loaded in it.

Heading out took about 6 days, running around 65-70 mph, oil temps stayed between 180-220. MPG was pretty dismal at around 17. The return trip saw slightly higher temps, around 200-240, this was with running the secondary oil cooler with the 10" fan installed in the engine compartment. Coming through the Mohave desert was the worst part of the trip with the temps outside running close to 120. This was pushing the engine temps up to 250 and higher, so I stopped alot through that stretch.

At a rest stop in the Mohave a young hippie couple had their 70 Westy parked, engine out and stripped down. It seems that it had melted the previous night after about 4 hours of driving. They had a friend coming from Phoenix with a longblock to put all their stuff on. Definitely a character building experience!

I am now a firm believer in secondary oil coolers. I think I have to do a little more work on location and venting, and I'm sure I'll get more info from Bob on that. But having the oil temp gauge is a major necessity as far as I'm concerned. A pressure gauge is next on my list.

Petey handled fine for most of the trip, but through the windy states, Nebraska etc...it was pretty white knuckle. I replaced the front two tires today and will go back this week to get a good alignment done. The exhaust system needs some tightening up with new gaskets and nuts and bolts, but aside from those things the VW needed nothing, great feeling.

After living in it for so long I've definitely learned what changes I want to make to it, as far as the camper aspects go, and I'll write another letter on that next.

Anyways, getting tired, I'll continue this Friday if anyone is interested in alittle more info about the trip and how putting 8K miles on in 3 weeks was. Good to be back...

Tom Story

"So you're going to take us for a ride eh?" "Yeah, come on" "Well I don't have a sister!" "That's ok we no gotta car!"


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