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  View original topic: 6 weeks on the road to Albania
epowell Tue Jul 23, 2019 10:29 am

Hi All
We just got back from our trip from Czech to Albania thru Hungary, Bosnia, Croatia, and Montenegro...
...the good news is the GEorge made is without even the slightest of small mechanical issues! I'm really proud of him! :)
Sorry for not documenting the trip as we went but part of the trip for me is unplugging myself from the Internet as much as I can afford.
Here are some pics...














dobryan Tue Jul 23, 2019 10:59 am

Awesome! \:D/

Steve M. Tue Jul 23, 2019 11:05 am

Great to hear and see after your rustoration!

tjet Tue Jul 23, 2019 12:09 pm

I like how the side window pops open 8)

I need to fabricate some type of table/stove/sink like yours so I can make my coffee, etc.

Is yours this?

https://pantherrvproducts.com/dometic-hs2460lus-tw...gcQAvD_BwE

Jake de Villiers Tue Jul 23, 2019 1:53 pm

Super cool trip, Ed!! And congrats on the mechanical victory! :D

jimf909 Tue Jul 23, 2019 8:45 pm

Hooray! Thanks for the pics. Looks wonderful.

epowell Wed Jul 24, 2019 3:09 am

tjet wrote: I like how the side window pops open 8)

I need to fabricate some type of table/stove/sink like yours so I can make my coffee, etc.

Is yours this?

https://pantherrvproducts.com/dometic-hs2460lus-tw...gcQAvD_BwE

Yes that looks like what I have. Pretty expensive to buy it separately. For my new Canadian tin-top van which I will start to camperize in September I will buy a different kitchen set up. I researched that all last year and found some good components but seem to have lost the text docs. where I had that info... :( Anyhow, I think I remember finding a 2 burner stove and sink both as separate items, and MUCH cheaper... so I will probably go with something like that for my new van.

The side window opens and stays open with a collapsible rod that turns... not sure how the thing works mechanically...

- - -

Regarding my trip and the van's mechanics. The only issues I noticed were that when I had to go in reverse gear for a longer stretch it made a pretty weird and unusual noise... the van moved backwards normally however. I think it might be that the shift linkage might be rubbing a bit while in reverse? I'll check that.

The other thing is that I suspect my heater core might be on it's last legs because I can smell a bit of antifreeze when the heat is on.

Also I think my steering column needs a rebuild. This is a problem I have had for a long time... when I go over a bumpy gravel road the whole column shakes a lot. Also there is a load scraping sound when I turn the steering wheel... there is something under there that needs tacking down.

Of course, we didn't actually drive all that far... less than 3000km total, and my GF doesn't like to go too far on one day so usually we'd go max 4 or 5 hours in one day - and there would be no problems. Cooling system, transmission, clutch, engine, electronics, etc etc everything worked well.
The only thing I notice is that if we drive longer - like around 7 or 8 hours, it seems to lose power a bit even though the temp gauge reads normal. My guess is that even though the temperature of the coolant is normal, the long long driving causes the engine metal to expand a bit which causes a slight power loss >>> anyway, I consider this normal for such an old engine.

From my rough calculation tell me that the engine is using about 7 liters per 100km and that is fully loaded going on rough roads.

Propane use seems to be about MAX 1kg of propane for 2 weeks constant use (no fridge).

What else......? Probably the main annoyance on the trip we mosquitoes at night and flies during that day (the more the further south we went). Albania and to a lesser degree Montenegro, and an even lesser degree Bosnia have a lot of garbage all around.... this seems to increase the flies.
For sure next year I will try to figure out some way to rig up some mesh screens or something to block those insects.



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