Africa by Bus - Prepping a van for a trip through the dark continent
By John W. Conner
VW & Porsche, (no idea what year)

In 1977 I drove a Volkswagen van the entire length of the continent of
Africa.  I crossed the sands of the Sahara, traveled the mud tracks of
the Congo and pounded the rocky roads of east Africa. While planning
the trip in my native Australia, I had just about made up my mind to
use some kind of four-wheel drive, probably a Land Rover. But, as I
gathered more information, I changed my ideas and decided on a 1600cc
VW van.

There were two main reasons for this choice: One was purely economics.
In many of the countries I was to visit, gasoline had topped the four
dollar per gallon mark (when you could get it), so the miserly VW 1600
would save me much money. Secondly, the VW is one of the few truly
international vehicles. Spares and service can be found even in Africa.

My starting point for the journey was London, England. I immediately
set about looking for a suitable van. It took me three weeks and over
30 rejected vans before I found what I wanted. While searching I had a
simple checklist.

I first listened to the motor for any knocks or rumbles, remembering
that air-cooled motors are noisy. The exhaust pipe was investigated
for that healthy greyish color; and I looked for oil leaks, especially
from between the motor and gearbox. An oily motor is like a magnet for
dust and mud, and the clogging up of the cooling fins can have a
disastrous effect.

To check the gearbox, I pay close attention to third gear jumping out.
It is usually the first to go if the gearbox is badly worn. I listened
for whines through the gears and from the differential. A slight whine
is common on vans, and if it is not too bad it will not affect
reliability.

I always check the clutch for slippage, although that is not a problem
with too many 1600 vans. As far as the steering goes, I check the
central steering pivot on the front of the bottom torsion bar. I also
listen for noises in the steering box as they are prone to wear and are
usually expensive to fix.

It is hard to hide bad brakes and a driving test usually points up any
problems, but it is good to check the inspection holes for the thickness
of the shoes. At the same time look for fluid leakage from the master
and wheel cylinders. The brake pad on the front disc brakes from 1971
on should be checked also. (Note: The quickest way I know to find out
the year of a van is to check the chassis number situated just inside
the engine bay on the lefthand side. The third number of the series is
the last number of the year. For example, if the chassis number is
26487956, the model year is 1974.)

After buying my van, a 1972 model, I was then faced with preparing it
for the arduous journey. The most important part of prepping a vehicle
is to have adequate information on the route planned and the probable
conditions along the way.

The van I bought had no side windows as the standard VW windows from
that year are easily forced and lack adequate ventilation. I fitted
one fixed window, and a sliding window (due to unavailability of the
louvered type). I also added removable insect screens to all opening
windows, including the front ones. Also, to allow opening of the rear
and side doors, I added a curtain of insect screen attached to tracks
so they would slide out of the way when not in use.

On a long overland trip, one of the major problems is keeping the weight
down in the van. To save some precious poundage, I manufactured the
cupboards and bed from the lightest plywood I could find. To finish
off the "camperising" of the interior, I fitted a small propane gas
stove with two burners and griller and sink. Our water was carried in
removeable jerry cans as we would often have to get water from sources
a considerable distance from our van. One addition we found useful was
a small, hand-pump-operated water filter set up over the sink which
gave us sweet tasting water wherever we went.

Although I fitted the van with vinyl flooring, I made the mistake of
laying carpet over the top. The carpet didn't last a month, as in such
a confined space it was impossible to keep clean. After discarding the
carpet, we never had any problems with the vinyl, which we could just
wipe clean.

We carried with us a cassette player and lots of tapes. We also found
that a small shortwave radio was quite useful to pick up news and music
in the more isolated places.

Because of the long distances we were to travel and the lack of fuel
supplies in many places, we had to carry plenty of gas. From information
we had received, we knew we would have to carry at least eight, five-
gallon jerry cans. To handle this load - along with two spare tires and
an assortment of other spares and equipment - we had to have an extra-
heavy-duty roof rack specially made. The rack had no less than 12
support legs bolted to the guttering on the roof. We even managed to
break a couple of these on one of the more horrifying tracks we
traveled.

One of the most important modificaitons I made to the van was to vent
the air cleaner intake up through the top firewall into the interior.
By taking the air for the motor from the relatively dust-free inside of
the van, I save myself from cleaning the air filter so often, and I also
reduced the chances of dust getting into the motor and doing damage.
The Sahara crossing involved nearly 1500 miles of sand driving, so we
carried an extra jack, a spade and two sand ladders. The sand ladders
are just what their name implies - two, five-foot long steel ladders.
By shoving them in front of the rear wheels they give the tires just
that little bit of traction they need to get going again. Although we
bogged down only five or six times in the whole Sahara, the ladders
saved us many hours of pushing and digging.

Air conditioning would have been nice in the African heat, but it is
too much of a strain on the motor when you can least afford it. The VW
motor needs considerable cooling in heat. To relieve some of the
interior heat I knew we would face, I lined the bottom of our roof rack
with ply to shade the roof, and I also lined the interior roof with
carpet. It not only looked good but gave a fair amount of insulation.

We knew, of course, that tires would be vital so we carried three
spares. For the Sahara crossing we kept the original tires on, but they
had a fairly fine tread and didn't dig into the sand. Bald wide radials
are the cheapest and best bet for the desert. For the mud and rough
roads of central and east Africa, we had a rear set of heavy mud and
snow tires. On our entire trip we wore out no less than three complete
sets of tires.

As you have probably noticed, just about everything I did to the van
was budget oriented. The reason for this is the simple fact that on a
trip of the sort we were planning, there is no guarantee that we could
be able to make it all the way through. There is also the chance that
the vehicle would have to be abandoned outright. It is much easier to
leave behind a couple of thousand dollars worth of van than one worth
five or ten thousand. We met several people along the way who had to
just walk away and leave their vehicles, usually due to military
confiscation or political unrest. That would hurt!

Naturally, we carried an abundance of spare parts and equipment, most
of which we had to use at one time or another. The following is a list
of the more important spares we took:
  second-hand cylinder head, second-hand cylinder head and piston,
  full gasket set, second-hand fuel pump, clutch disc, generator
  brushes and bearings, wheel bearings, fuel line, distributor cap and
  rotor arm, high-tension lead, ignition coil, throttle and clutch
  cables, two fan belts, three sets of points and condensers, motor and
  gear oil, grease, brake fluid, assorted nuts, bolts and split pins,
  and plenty of wire.

For tools, we carried a metric socket set, open-end box wrenches, allen
keys, vice-grips, hammer, a set of good screwdrivers, large and small
adjustable wrenches, pliers, hand-operated drill and bits, grease gun,
cold chisel, extra jack, tire pump, tire levers, tire pressure gauge,
ax and shovel. We also took a good tow rope, wooden bases for the jacks,
a first-aid kit, Epoxy glue, several inner tubes, anti-malaria tablets
and water purification tablets. One thing we didn't take with us that
we should have were shock absorbers. We wore out two complete sets
along the way and the front set gave out halfway across the desert and
had to be replaced at rip-off prices. (Note: If the shock absorbers you
use are too heavy duty, the top mount at the rear has a habit of
breaking off. This happened to us twice.)

There are, of course, certain travel conditions that would receive a
slightly different collection of tools and spare parts, but the above
list should get a VW van anywhere you would like to go. I am now off to
South America in another VW van, having learned from my Africa trip
that you cannot be too prepared.