Buggeee's 1966 Sportsmobile Camper by Travel Equipment Corp

[Buggeee]

The great thing about a VW Bus is they like to work! Pulled the modular Sportsmobile Camper fixtures, loaded the missus' craft show stuff and put it to work to set up for the show. Just like Travel Equipment Corp intended.

And because they are compact, I was able to share a choice parking spot with a local golf cart. He turned it sideways for me while we talked busses.

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Big Time 1988 Vanagon Westy
Release the Krankenwagen! 1966 Sportsmobile Camper
Dr. Kompressor 72 Super Duper
61 Turkis Pile (adopted out)

[TDCTDI]

Dammit man, i didn’t know you got a bus. Now ima gonna have to read through the whole damn thread.
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Everybody born before 1975 has a story, good, bad, or indifferent, about a VW.


GOFUNDYOURSELF, quit asking everyone to do it for you!


An air cooled VW will make you a hoarder.


Do something, anything, to your project every day, and you will eventually complete it.

[Eric&Barb]

Great job!! Do redo the safety wire on the rear shift coupler. Each is best individually wired with the wire going around the shift rod. Wire needs to be wound so as each puts a tightening torque on the bolt heads.

Also better to get the hose clamps on the top and bottom of each fresh air tube to keep them from popping off. Had that happen a time or two, and that got the oil temp to shoot up.

A rubber seal goes on the lower end of each of the fresh air tube to seal the hot air under the rear tin to keep the engine cooler.
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In Stereo, Where Available!

[Buggeee]

Just a couple of working girl pics. Getting some straw for the chickens to play in

Bus in the background after delivering another full load of crochet craft show sundries to the county fair. The bus towel with handy topper is sold by the way.

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Big Time 1988 Vanagon Westy
Release the Krankenwagen! 1966 Sportsmobile Camper
Dr. Kompressor 72 Super Duper
61 Turkis Pile (adopted out)

[Buggeee]

So I've just been exercising my bus regularly as recommended by the German factory workers that strapped a seat to the front beam of a beetle chassis and started hauling thousands of pounds af parts around the facility with it, later calling it a Type II.

Here she hauls massive quantities of covid spawned cardboard to the recycler.

Here she hauls some tires for an American car, because she is open minded.

Here is her hauling the waste oil harvesting apparatus, to feed my barn furnace in the Ohio winter, her gift to siblings in que for resuscitation. As well as some shots at the local hardware store and my buddy's auto shop. Laden with about 900 pounds of oil and cargo she lumbered home with the black gold.

There has also been the odd beetle motor pick up, but you all have seen plenty of those.

And because all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, there has been the occasional pleasure cruise through the countryside.

All in all, a productive summer for the Krankenwagen.
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Big Time 1988 Vanagon Westy
Release the Krankenwagen! 1966 Sportsmobile Camper
Dr. Kompressor 72 Super Duper
61 Turkis Pile (adopted out)

[BarryL]

[Don66bus]

I like that flexibility to remove the interior and have a big space for various loads. I wouldn't want to do a dump run or carry my kayak inside in a Westfalia (much as I love them).

[Buggeee]

[Buggeee]

[BarryL]

Thanks for the explanation. The atomized oil I did not know about. Is there a lot of smoke coming out the roof? I love being warm when it's cold too.

[Buggeee]

[Buggeee]

A little bit of catching up to do....

This year was set to open with Krankenwagen at the Cleveland Piston Power Show (Autorama) in March. In historically gracefull Aircooled fashion, she threw a rod about a mile and a half from home before I could get into any real trouble.

I found this rod bolt sitting on the breastplate tin, which is never a good sign.

in this one you can see the little escape hatch in the top of the case, which the bolt punched through in a run for freedom...

So home she went on the trailer. I really cannot complain. I have beat the piss out of this engine like its a sports car ever since I built it. Drive it like you stole it! Its all fun untill it isn't.

Thankfuly, I had a roughly period correct 6v engine in very good condition, rescued from a friend who graduated to a monster engine/trans combo. The day has come little friend, into work you go...

So... swapped the 6v bulbs in everywhere and a new 6v battery. Not pictured is a new 6v starter that Amazon had in stock for delivery to my door the next day. Bizarre.

However, these 9 pin relays that run the turn signals and brake lights are seeming hard to locate in a 6v form as a very limited number of VWs used them, so it was just local daylight driving for a little bit until I could find a solution for that.

Still, the fan club was happy to see Krankenwagen back on the road, even if even slower than before.

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Big Time 1988 Vanagon Westy
Release the Krankenwagen! 1966 Sportsmobile Camper
Dr. Kompressor 72 Super Duper
61 Turkis Pile (adopted out)

[Buggeee]

I did eventually find a used 6v 9 pin relay in clean looking condition, and it kind of worked in all respects, except when it didn't. Sometimes everything would be fine, then sometimes somethings would not. It was historically Aircooled in nature being some combination of headlight or hazard usage would get things working again, or a left turn or a right turn or hit the brakes, or whaterver. Anyway, it was buggy buggy. So I tried cleaning the insides with phosphoric acid. Here's some pictures of the Buck Rogers laboratory going on inside a 9 pin relay.

Wow, no user servicible parts in there for this guy! The cleaning helped, meaning it was less buggy... until it wasn't.

So I had to find another solution and stumbled on a Samba 9 pin relay thread that contained a post with a link to instructions to build this contraption out of typical 6v automotive relays and a 3 prong flasher. (its the same logic for 12v fixings too) This worked!

I just plugged all the 9 pin wires into that contraption and it all functions. At first it only functioned properly when the rpms were up above 2,000 and so I figured the generator was struggling to generate enough amps to make all those relays open or close. Then I simply cleaned the tail light sockets with phosporic acid to get cleaner contacts, and then the relay system worked fine even at idle so it must really be on the fringe edge of what that generator can deliver... but it does work.

I also sprayed the inside of the tail lights with metalic paint and it throws out a reasonable amount of light, even at just 6 volts.

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Big Time 1988 Vanagon Westy
Release the Krankenwagen! 1966 Sportsmobile Camper
Dr. Kompressor 72 Super Duper
61 Turkis Pile (adopted out)

[Buggeee]

My spirit guide Athena loves this bus.

It never feels like work when a buddy comes along for the ride.

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Big Time 1988 Vanagon Westy
Release the Krankenwagen! 1966 Sportsmobile Camper
Dr. Kompressor 72 Super Duper
61 Turkis Pile (adopted out)

[vamram]

[Buggeee]

Krankenwagen at it again, hauling 1,000 pounds of oil to fuel the furnace keeping that barn warm this winter. A little 40hp 6v engine pushed this whole thing!

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Big Time 1988 Vanagon Westy
Release the Krankenwagen! 1966 Sportsmobile Camper
Dr. Kompressor 72 Super Duper
61 Turkis Pile (adopted out)

[clockworkbox]

Nice build thread! I'm curious to know how the Xion Labs rust converter has held up now that it has been in use for awhile. Would you still recommend it?
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'69 Beetle (pieces)
Learning the hard way is still learning...

[Buggeee]

[Buggeee]

A great day for a dog bath at Tractor Supply. Drive 'em if you've got 'em!

_________________
Big Time 1988 Vanagon Westy
Release the Krankenwagen! 1966 Sportsmobile Camper
Dr. Kompressor 72 Super Duper
61 Turkis Pile (adopted out)