1970 Westy Camper

[ghiastein]

Apr 15, 2010 21:33:30 GMT -5 81pumagtc said:

AJ:

Wow! That looks fantastic!

One question, however...

How large is your camping battery? The reason I ask is that inverters use a tremendous amount of current to increase the voltage to 110 VAC. Not surprisingly it is roughly 10 to 1 use of current to move 12 Volts DC to 110 VAC. They can go through a lot of energy running things like iceboxes and televisions. Surprisingly, LCD televisions use significantly more energy than regular televisions because the fluorescent backlights use more energy than CRTs. In fact, California has recently passed legislation that will outlaw many of the existing LCD televisions currently sold there because of high energy usage. I don't know if the new true LED televisions use less energy, but I suspect they probably do, since the LEDs provide the lighting as well.

I would think that a decent sized battery would last for some time, but I remember being shocked when we used an inverter with a wheelchair gel battery would only run a standard 12 inch Panasonic oscillating desk fan for 27 minutes before sucking the battery dry.

It would be very cool to be able to flip a switch if you and wifey are at a campground and could plug in to external power for everything, or use the internal battery for everything.

By the way, your cool LED light should be able to run for days off of an automotive battery, and your old three-bulb incandescent light would probably run for less than a day. LEDs rock!


Dave

P.S. Wiring looks very sanitary here!

Here is the deal my home 37" LCD TV which is energy star rated uses 3.21 amps or 353 watts at 110 volts. The 19" energy star rated LCD that I have planned for the Bus uses less than 100 watts but I don't have the numbers with me to back it up. My DVD player that is going in the Bus uses 20 watts at 110 volt. So I am at less than 120 watts at 110 volts. The Inverter that is currently wired up is a small but efficient 300 watt unit.

That's not a refrigerator its a cooler I have to add ice to keep stuff cool.

So I am at 120 watts if converted to 12 volts that's 10 amps at 12 volts. I know about loss of energy though the inverter but I don't have the numbers to calculate it now.

All of my Bus electrics are stock everything that I added draws power from the second battery. So if it runs dry no big deal just fire the bus up and charge both batteries. I plan on switching out the 35 amp generator with a 65 amp alternator so that gives me 30 amps of extra power to play with. Plenty enough to power to charge my 2 batteries and to power the TV

I have not purchased any batteries yet for the Bus but I plan on using a large deep cycle battery for the camping duties and just a regular starting battery for the Bus.

Thanks on the wiring its not perfectly neat yet but it will be soon.

Don't worry I have done tons of research before I attempted this project.

[81pumagtc]

AJ:

Sounds like the 19 inch uses a laptop-style backlight, which makes a much more energy efficient than the usual backlight you see.

Inverters today are pretty efficient, and your 300 watt unit should drive everything fine. The can get quite hot, but at 50 or 60 percent of the duty cycle it should be fine. Most of the ones I used were 1200 to 1600 watt units...you should see the cables needed on those bad boys. They used 4 or 6 gauge wire!

I always had great success with Deka batteries from East Penn. I must have bought 300 of them in five years, with most of them being 8-D batteries for the arrowboards. I liked the post and plate design much better than the Exides, they seemed to be better sealed for the posts, and I never had any instance of plate warping and shorting. The 8Ds had 1500 CCAs at 0 degrees, and the reserve capacity was 450 minutes. Compare that to a really powerful automotive battery that has 900 CCAs for 140 minutes. I used three of them in parallel which gave us 4500 CCAs. You could weld with them...and if someone accidentally shorted across the terminals it would make a Snap-On 1/2 inch wrench glow bright red in seconds before it completely melts the lead terminal! (Don't ask me how I know that...)

I have also had great success with Optima batteries, but have never used the deep cell versions. The cost was prohibitive. I have an Optima Red Top in the Puma, and am delighted with it. No gassing whatsoever, it holds a great charge. This surprised me, because for the first two years I had a couple of bad door switches that would allow the interior lights to come on for no reason. I can't tell you the number of times the battery wad completely dead...which permanently reduces the efficiency of the battery ever time it happens, but it seems just fine.

I think you have more outlets in the Westy than I have in my house!

You definitely have to do before and after pictures of this one! It's just amazing!


Dave

[dansam]

It is going to be the Goodvolks party bus Cant wait to see where the TV and DVD is going in. You should really buy a playstation instead of the dvd. They are stupid cheap used and can be used as both dvd and game playing station and cd player

[ghiastein]

PlayStation 3 was my first thought until I checked the one that I have here. At 110 volts it uses 3.2 amps or 352 watts, that currently exceeds the inverter that I am using now. When plugged in to shore power I will have the full 110 volt 15 amps available, that is when I will be using Playstation 3. I am kind of afraid of going to big on the inverter because I may be over taxing my charging system.

[akitsuji]

AJ, Awesome work!! You and your wify will enjoy the second house.

[rochester73super]

Sounds like a great setup. Reminds me of the electrical mods I did on an old sailboat I once owned.

[ghiastein]

Thanks for all of the kind words.

Well today I finally tackled my transmission/engine project with Steven's help. The plan is to install the 3 rib Bus transmission, convert my dual port into a single port, then install an alternator.

Remember back in November of 2009 when my transmission got stuck in 3rd gear. I have finally found the problem. My Selector Link Bracket broke so the transmission is still fine it was only stuck in 3rd gear because I could shift it out of 3rd.

See


I think with a bit of welding it will be good as old.

[VDub63 ( Steven )]

Apr 23, 2010 18:11:14 GMT -5 ghiastein said:

See


I think with a bit of welding it will be good as old.

I know some one who can weld that for you. You are welcome.

[bren]

Great news. Nice to get that once in a while. So, will we see the bus at the bug run?

[VDub63 ( Steven )]

Yup, probably the Fall Bug Run

[ghiastein]

The engine is finally finished and its built my way......

Here is the stats

1600cc type 3 case with 85.5mm pistons with stock crank
Single port heads
Single port intake
30 PICT-2 Carb
65 amp Alternator
Original VW Bus heat exchangers
Stock Bus Exhaust
1971+ Fan shroud w/doghouse cooler
Original VW "Hoover bit"
Fan control flaps w/thermostat
Alternator style fuel pump
Pre-heater pipe
1971 Bus Air Filter with the built in thermostat no pre-heat cables for me

The worst had to of been the pre-heater with the stock exhaust. Just a bunch of wrestling to make stuff fit. I also had problems with the fan control flaps. The connecting linkage goes on after the fan shroud is installed.

With the Ghia I have an aftermarket exhaust, a 36hp fan shroud and simple air filter on top. No need for pre-heat or a thermostat. Its just so simple to install with less parts.

The Bus is different though the engine has to push more weight and I want HEAT. So that is why I added the thermostat so the engine will reach optimum running temperature soon and maintain it. I do have a oil temp gage so I can keep a close eye on things and back off when I need to.

Soon comes the transmission work

[ghiastein]

Here is a picture of my broken / worn out clutch fork.



And a picture of my worn out holder pins.



I went and picked up a complete clutch fork kit today and its all installed in my new used transmission. Thankfully buggy guys love the 3 rib bus transmission so I was even able to find a heavy duty model clutch fork fairly easy.

My new used transmission came from a 1972/1973 Bus with a 1700cc type IV engine, but it has the correct gear ratio for my 1600cc engine. Much better than my 1974/1975 transmission with the wrong ratio. Hopefully now I can climb hills.

The only problem was that I needed to swap out the bell housing, nose cone, and input shaft. The only thing that I have to say is that I hate snap rings. Especially when they are on the input shaft jammed above the differential. The snap rings on the clutch fork were a pain too but not as bad as the one on the input shaft.

I also installed new gaskets and input shaft seal. Then filled the transmission with 3.5 quarts of 80/90 gear oil. So far no leaks.

Now the transmission is ready to install to the engine and then in the Bus. Lets hope everything works with fingers crossed.

First I need to install all of the shifter rod bushings and my relay for the dual battery charging system. This is tomorrows project.

[ghiastein]

Sorry for not updating my build but things have been busy....

The engine and trans was installed and it fired right up with some fresh gas down the carb.

My first road trip happened on May 18, 2010 when I drove the Bus to Detroit to pick up my Brother, Wife and Baby from the airport. No problems and the Bus ran excellent.

The next day we all piled in the Bus and headed for South Haven. Once again the Bus ran excellent.

The Bus has became my daily driver it runs smooth and good.

Time to return my Brothers family back to Detroit Airport on May 25, 2010. The trip to Detroit went fine but the trip back not so good.....

Returning home through Jackson on I94 the Bus started acting funny surging and stumbling. Since it was still running I will keep on driving until I come to the next rest area then check stuff out.

Slowing down on the exit ramp of the rest area the Bus seemed to slow its self down like the brakes were locking up. After I parked I touched the wheels to find the hot one. All were cool. I decided to crawl under the Bus to further check stuff out. That is when I noticed the transmission was hot and smoking. I believe I could even hear the oil boiling inside the transmission.

Well the Bus is done with only 1000.5 miles on the engine. In 2 days Wifey and I were planning to go camping and in 3 weeks we were planning on driving the Bus to Pennsylvania.

I call Bren because I am only 20 miles from Battle Creek. He suggests I call George because he has a trailer and a truck.

Time goes by and both Bren and George show up and in very little time the Bus was loaded and we were on our way.

During the trip home I mentioned to George that I have a 5 rib bus trans sitting at home that I may someday install. For now it looks like we are driving our invisible car for our summer trips. George then says that he is interested in my 5 rib and that he is willing to trade me a 3 rib for it. The 3 rib bus trans is the correct one for my Bus.

In the 2 days between my brake down and the camping trip I some how manage to switch out my trans and go camping on Memorial Day weekend.

Thanks to George at George's Hot VW's. Wifey, Jack (our dog) and myself enjoyed our first camping trip.

During our camping trip I even managed to install my new Pop Top Canvas.

Pictures to come.....

[bren]

Glad to hear all worked out well AJ. Hopefully this trans will last many years to come.

[blue71]

Glad to hear you got back on the road safely. How was the poptop install, and did the fit turn out decent? I"m waiting to get my bus back so I can finish assembly.