Date: Sat, 10 Jul 1999 20:34:01 -0700
Reply-To: David Marshall <vanagon@VOLKSWAGEN.ORG>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: David Marshall <vanagon@VOLKSWAGEN.ORG>
Subject: Back from Vacation! - Engines, Tires, Fuel Storeage Ideas
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Hi Folks,
Back from a two week vacation to Regina Saskatchewan and back [Quesnel,
BC]. The trip was done in our 1984 Westfalia that was freshly converted to
a 1.8L 1985 GTI engine for a total of 102hp. I must say the trip went
almost perfectly with the exception of the driver tire going flat in
Edmonton.
WARNING: DO NOT INSTALL PASSANGER TIRES ON YOUR VANAGON. The trip from
Regina to Edmonton was combined with a strong head wind from the north
west, putting a lot of stress on the driver corner of the van. The van was
wondering all over the road as there was P185-70 14s installed on the front
and LT185R14 on the rear. When we arriving at our destination the driver
tire was 10 lbs lower than the passanger tire. By morning it was dead
flat! We called arround to a few shop to see what was what for tires... no
LT185R14s in Edmonton at all. So off to a few VW parts places. I found
myself some Motomaster All-Terrain LT195R75 14" tires mounted on some
Vanagon / Bus rims with about 75% tread... they said $100 for the pair and
they are mine - cha-ching! Now the LT195R75s are on the rear and the
LT185s are on the front.... what a huge difference in handling - especially
in cross winds, needless to say my speedometer in now correct!
This trip was also the maiden voyage for my 1985 GTI engine that I
installed the week before. Totally flawless! On the prairies we drove a
constant 4000RPM in 4th gear which is aprox 120km/h, the van weighted
2200kg and we averaged 13L/100km. In BC we drove a constant 3300RPM which
aprox 100km/h and turned in a respectable 11L/100km. I am quite impressed
what this 1.8L engine could do - on a couple of occasions we passed other
Vanagons going up hill with their owners looking quite amazed. Can't wait
until I can afford to install a 1.8L Audi A4 Turbo in there!
One thing that did bother me is the price of fuel. Prices in BC jumped to
55.9 per L, AB is 52.9 per L and SK is 60.9 per L. We took two 25L Gerry
cans with us to stock up on the "cheap" AB fuel. Is it me or is the idea
of storing 50kg of fuel above your head on the roof rack a little scarry?
I was thinking of all sorts of alternative ways to mount fuel cans... Ken
is selling the fuel can holders for the rear of the Vanagon - I think this
is a great idea, but I would never buy one as I would have to drill some
holes in my van and it doesn't look very secure from someone wanting some
free gas [hopefully this isn't the case and they can be secured]. The idea
that I came up with is to install a "gate" on the [a] rear bumper. This
gate would hold the fuel can[s] in a way that the gate would have to be
open to remove the cans [and to open the rear hatch]. The gate would be
held shut with a large pin that could be locked with a pad lock. I was
also thinking that another gate could be installed on the other side of the
bumper that could hold a spare tire. Does anyone have any interest in a
system like this? If there is enough interest, I will build a prototype.
-- David Marshall - Vanagon List Admin - Quesnel, BC, Canada --
-- 78 VW Rabbit, 80 VW Caddy, 84 VW Westie, 85 VW Cabriolet --
-- 87 Audi 5000 Quattro, 88 2.0L VW Syncro Double Cab --
-- David's Volkswagen Home Page http://www.volkswagen.org --
-- Fast Forward Autobahn Sport Tuning http://www.fastforward.ca --
-- david@volkswagen.org (pmail) or vanagon@volkswagen.org (list) --
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