This was like reading the Vanagon version of 'Penthouse Forum', [except this
story is presumably true : )]

Cya,
Robert

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bruce Nadig" <motorbruce@HOTMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, April 13, 2005 1:38 PM
Subject: Trip Report: Big Bend National Park (long)

> Howdy From Texas,
>
> I just completed my first long road trip in my '87 GL with its engine from
> a
> Porsche 911 3.2 Carrera engine. It was a fabulous trip with only one
> manageable teething problem. I can say that my Vanagon is quite possibly
> THE
> ultimate road trip vehicle.
>
> My buddies hit the road early one morning and headed out from Austin,
> Texas
> to Big Bend National Park, nearly 500 miles away in west Texas. My
> 7-passenger GL was a wonderful configuration for the trip. The five of us
> had adequate room to relax and spread out. More importantly, there was
> plenty of room for our gear, including a spare tire that I had to carry
> inside the van.
>
> Just to be on the safe side I took an extensive tool kit, zip ties, fuses,
> tape, flashlights, jumper cables, 5 different shop manuals for reference
> (Bentley, Chilton, Haynes for Vanagon, Bentley for Porsche engine, and
> Porsche factory electrical diagram for Porsche engine electrics),breaker
> bar
> and socket for wheel changes, several cans of Fix-A-Flat, tire repair kit,
> and a sturdy tow rope just in case.
>
> The drive out was beautiful. The famous Texas wildflowers were in full
> bloom
> and the sky was blue. The roads out to west Texas can get pretty empty at
> times, so this gave us an opportunity to stretch the van's legs. And
> stretch
> its legs we did. Fortunately we had a radar detector (when was the last
> time
> you saw one of those in a Vanagon, much less a fully loaded Vanagon?) so
> we
> would stay out of trouble with the law.
>
> At one point while my buddy Eric was driving, he encountered a beer
> delivery
> truck on an otherwise deserted back road. The truck speed limit was 70mph
> and the truck was exceeding that by just a bit. Eric dropped the Porsche
> G50
> 5-speed tranny from 5th to 4th and put his right foot to the floor. As he
> passed the truck and pulled back into the right lane he was laughing out
> loud. In that brief stretch he had exceeded 100mph. I won't say just how
> fast we got the van going, but we did get past the speed at which the
> speedometer needle stops moving (well past where the graduations end).
>
> Once in the park our speed dropped to the federally mandated 45mph. We
> continued at that speed until we headed into the basin, up in the Chisos
> Mountains. While the speed limit dropped, the Porsche flat-6 was more than
> willing to pull strong up the mountains.
>
> We spent the next several days exploring the vast park, much of it by
> Vanagon. The van was remarkable, both on paved roads and unpaved. We made
> the spectacular, but all too brief, drive down the dirt road to the hot
> springs.
>
> Even on the rougher roads, both paved and unpaved, the suspension did a
> spectacular job. The Vanagon is running with 17" Porsche wheels, H&R
> lowering springs, and Bilstein shocks. At high speed the van was very
> stable
> and exhibited little body roll. At lower speeds the ride was equally
> pleasing. On the unpaved roads the progressively wound springs were
> especially welcomed.
>
> I was concerned with the ride height of the van for two reasons. First,
> with
> its lowered stance I was a bit worried about clearance on dirt roads.
> Second, the lowest point of the van is the metal fitting on the oil lines
> that exit the stock Porsche oil thermostat. If there is one thing you
> don't
> want to break in the middle of west Texas, it is the custom fabricated oil
> lines. That could end your trip quick. The van, however, performed
> admirably.
>
> We were especially anxious to visit one of the sites on the 14-mile long
> Old
> Maverick Road. Both park rangers and the owner of one of the river
> outfitters advised against taking the van along that road. We were
> motivated, so we gave it a shot anyhow. We figured that if the road got
> too
> rough we could always turn around.
>
> As we started on the Old Maverick Road there warning signs that clearly
> read, "HIGH CLEARANCE." Oh well, we'd give it a shot. We even surprised
> ourselves when we found that we could easily make it the full length of
> the
> road. Only once did we have to stop and send a scout down the road. We
> encountered a wash the crossed the road. John got out to inspect it, and
> reported that the small gravel toward the middle was a bit soft. I fired
> up
> the engine, released the clutch and shot across the wash, skimming over
> the
> surface of the softest area.
>
> The retrofitted-to-R134a a/c was wonderful. It kept an abundant and
> constant
> supply of cold air blowing to battle the 90+ degree temperatures. I never
> would have headed out to west Texas if I didn't think that the a/c would
> be
> dependable.
>
> At night the headlights were absolutely fabulous! I've got the South
> African
> quad-round set-up, along with a set of ProjektZwo fogs. On high beam with
> fogs and driving lights I was throwing 600 watts of light down the road
> (100w H4 highs x2, 100w driving lights x2, 100w ProjektZwo fogs x2). These
> flamethrowers sent vast amounts of light everywhere it was needed.
> Happily,
> I also discovered that the city lights inside the headlights were useful
> also. One night we trecked a half-mile down a dirt road to an area where
> we
> could do some star gazing (absolutely unbelievable, with no light
> pollution
> what-so-ever for more than 100 miles). As I drove down the dirt road I
> killed the headlights, driving lights, and fogs and chugged along slowly
> with just the city lights on. I did this for two reasons: 1) I wanted my
> eyes to adjust to the dark before stargazing, and 2) I didn't want my
> headlights to bother anyone else that might be in the area. Every dime
> spent
> on the lighting system was money well spent.
>
> Obviously, with the air-cooled flat-six, I don't have to worry about
> coolant
> problems. Instead, I have to be concerned with oil temperatures. Up front,
> in an area cut out from the radiator, I have a large Porsche 993 oil
> cooler
> mounted. It is rigged to turn on the high speed cooling fan when the oil
> temperature exceeds 209 degrees. Only once did the high speed fan come on,
> and that was in 90+ degree heat, with five passengers, and a full load of
> cargo, going up a long series of hills. Even then the fan was only on
> briefly.
>
> Oh, that one teething problem we had? Tires. While we were within the load
> rating of the tires, it was close. I had Pirelli P-Zeros on the right side
> (I use a variety of used tires that I get cheap from the Porsche dealer),
> and other brands on the left side. Part way through the trip, we noticed
> that the Pirellis were starting to crack on the sidewalls. From then on we
> paid constant attention to the tires, checking them at every stop,
> monitoring the pressures, and keeping speeds to a minimum. At the end of
> Old
> Maverick Road we found that the right rear tire was nearly flat. We were
> going to mount the stock Vanagon steel-wheeled spare on the front, and
> move
> the right front to the right rear. Our plan was foiled when I realized
> that
> the wheel bolts I had holding the front wheel adaptors were conical, while
> the steel wheel has a spherical seat. Instead of a tire change we used the
> trusty Fix-A-Flat and aired up the rear tire. From there we head to Study
> Butte just a few miles away to air up the tire.
>
> Later in the trip the front Pirelli also went down in pressure. Once again
> we used the Fix-A-Flat as a precaution. From then on we only had one
> problem
> with the tires. On the return trip, just outside of Fort Stockton, we
> suffered a tread separation of the right rear Pirelli. This time we were
> able to mount the steel-wheeled spare, using the spherical-seat Porsche
> lug
> nuts. I am planning on purchasing a set of 15" alloy wheels for longer
> trips
> that I will take fully loaded.
>
> Other than that one glitch, the trip was fabulous. The wildflowers and the
> cactus were in bloom. The company was great. The weather was reasonable -
> nothing that the a/c couldn't handle.
>
> I have some really great pictures of the Vanagon in some exotic desert
> settings. I'd be happy to share them with anyone that sends me an e-mail.
>
> I must say that I think that I have even surprised myself with the
> reliability of the engine conversion on this Vanagon. It was a complicated
> job to pull off, but the results have been more than worthwhile.
>
> Cheers,
> Bruce
> motorbruce
> motorbruce@hotmail.com