Date:         Mon, 21 Jul 1997 23:43:39 EDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Jim Thompson <uvx196@JUNO.COM>
Subject:      Trip(s) Report - 2.1 Engine Break-In

I've been living out of a small suitcase now for the past 3 weeks and
enjoying every minute of it.

One of the things I have missed while "trapped" at Bus Boys was not being
able to take the time and go to sell and buy parts and "press the flesh"
at the various VW shows held on most any weekend from March through
October.  Now I am FREE and have the Westy to do it with.  Since this is
my first Westy I've ever had, I've had to become creative about packing
my wares without damaging the still very nice interior.

Before going to the Placerville, CA show on the 6th, the fresh 2.1
rebuilt had only a couple of hundred miles on it, but everything looked
like all systems go.  Rex Eastman of Sunbugs fame came up the day before
to pickup up my Bus that I had sold to him and we caravaned together down
the 200 some-odd miles to the show site.  Gawd, this thing is COMFORTABLE
and handled quite well what with the load of display cases and boxes of
parts packed to the "gills".  Stayed the night before and had a good time
seeing people I hadn't seen in a couple of years.  Coming back was great
too, as the engine did not skip a beat the whole way.  Mileage averaged
at around 14mpg, which I figured wasn't bad for the load and the auto
trans.  Not a bad shake-down trip.  And for a small local show, a lot of
nice people with a nice range of VWs.

Did my Oil (Valvoline 20-50 Racing) and Filter change at 779 miles to
start fresh for the next trip.  No leaks anywhere.  All connections
appeared good and solid.

Following weekend was the Boise Bus Pilots Show in (where else?) Boise at
the old Boise Train Depot.  1100 miles again fully loaded down with an
average of almost 16mpg.  Took CA 299 up to Alturas which is about 145
miles from Redding.  Some decent grades and took some at 40mph in D2..
Didn't hiccup or skip a beat there and was encouraged by this
reliability.  US 395 between Alturas, CA and Burns, OR has to be world's
loneliest road I've seen (so far).  Stopped at a rest stop about mid-way
between the two points for about 20 minutes to stretch my legs and only
one pickup truck came whizzing by.    Made it into Burns and set across
the Southeastern Oregon wastland and farmland towards Ontario.  Nice open
country, real picturesque in the late afternoon.  Able to do 70mph on the
flat with plenty of gas pedal to spare.  Got into Boise that Friday night
and bunked down.  The swap meet the next morning was small in size but
quite a few people in attendance.  Scored on a few trinkets and sold a
bit of stuff I brought along as well.  Next morning (Sun) set up at the
Depot with quite a few nice vehicles in attendance to include and
electric-powered Karmann Ghia with the license "120VOLT".  A good sized
row of Breadloaf and Vanagon campers, a lot of them of the Riviera, ASI
and other aftermarket types, more so than the Westfalia.  Left Boise in
the afternoon to get back home, stopped at about 10:30pm at the
aforementioned Rest Stop to pop the top and sack out in the top bunk for
5 hours.  One nice thing was that this rest stop had no electricity, thus
no lights and only one other 5th wheel camper parked for the night - nice
and quiet.  First time I ever bunked in a poptop bed.  Nice and comfy.
Slept like a log.  Up early and about 10 miles west out of Alturas, it
started missing.  Stopped and quickly unloaded the very rear end and
popped the engine cover, checked the new plug wires - OK there - then
checked the injector plug connectors - Ah - #2 wasn't working.  Pulled to
inspect - terminals looked fine but I went ahead and blew it out,
reconnected and she started purring again.  Checked the other 3
connectors, they were fine.  Headed on home to return a couple of dozen
calls on the machine and answer E-Mail for parts.  Trip was practically
flawless with the temp gauge needle almost always just left of the LED.
On grades, the needle would hover just to the right of the LED.

Went to LA for the Pomona Swap Meet this past weekend.  Again, checked
the oil and coolant levels and other stuff and everything looked like a
go, so off I went south on I-5 and CA 99.  About 70-75mph on the flat.
The infamous "Grapevine" just north of LA has a 6 percent grade for about
5 miles (for those not familiar with the "vine").  Had a slightly heavier
load than when I went to Boise and the ambient temps were a little warmer
too, even for a Friday evening (I was staying at a friend's house in
North Hollywood).  Again, 40mph in D2 most the way up to the Tejon Pass
at 4,144 feet at the summit.  Temp needle was a little farther over to
the right of the LED but she took it like a champ.  Pomona on Sunday
(stayed on the site Saturday night) was typically slow for for the July
event, but I found a few things for customers and sold quite a bit of
stuff too., so it was worth going (the next one is Aug 24th).  Coming
back over the "vine" late afternoon Sunday  is a little bit of a longer
trip at about a 5 percent grade in the longest stretch of about 7 miles.
About 1200 miles round trip for this one.

So with a little over 3000 miles on this engine, a lot of it in high 90's
and century-mark weather, I'm pretty happy with it's performance and
reliability.  After an Oil and Filter Change this week, she should be
ready for the next trip.

I still look for the clutch pedal, it's such a hard habit break :-)

Jim
84 Westy 2.1
62 Beetle (Father was original owner)
90 Fox Wagon
Sherwood Automotive * The Old Volks Home (oldvolkshome1@juno.com) (916)
221-5342