Trip Report: DC to Brevard, NC

[4Gears4Tires]

Penny is leaving the stable! Off on its first adventure in 25 years! The first leg would be DC to Staunton, VA. Then after a few days, Staunton to Brevard, NC where I am meeting an old friend to go mountain biking in Pisgah NF.

I left late on Wednesday after adjusting the valves. I figured adjusting the valves would be easier on the lift than in front of the house in Staunton. Of course this delayed me by several hours because I checked and rechecked my work a dozen times. I finally left at 1045pm for the 3 hour drive down to Staunton. I was in such a rush I left my vacuum that I meant to bring on the back porch and several parts, e.g. spare fuel pump, on the work bench. But, I figured it's late, I am going to cruise on down because there will be no traffic. Which, on an untested waterboxer is best case scenario.

Wrong. I was met by a 30 minute delay going into Virginia on 495. I moved 30 feet then shut the motor off and sat for 2 minutes. I was very happy I had put the battery charger on the van while I adjusted the valves. Cranked strong even though I must have stopped and started the van dozens of times. Halfway through it got even worse. It went from shut off and go, which presumably kept the motor fairly cool, to a constant 3mph creep. Temps stayed rock solid, but I had grounding issues with the cluster and didn't trust any gauges 100%.

The van ran well, except for one time when I had a small hiccup. But it went away instantly and kept zipping along. I finally got into Staunton at 2am with a purring van and got about 17.5mpg.

Saturday morning I set off for Brevard at 6am with the goal of biking around Dupont State Forest before meeting my friend that evening at the campground.

The van was humming along! I was really impressed with how peppy this 1.9 is, 70mph easy on 81 which has some pretty good climbs. It hiccuped again, but kept on purring.

And then somewhere past Roanoke it suddenly died and I coasted to the shoulder with a sinking feeling in my gut. But I turned it back on and it roared to life and I pulled back out onto the empty highway on a cool morning. But, I knew I had to find an auto parts store asap. I had 6 miles to go to Christiansburg and two very long climbs to get there. But the van hummed along and I pulled into Christiansburg at 8am suspecting my fuel pump was dying or that the filter was clogged.

I went to Advance. They didn't have an any inline pumps, but they had a 5/16 in - 5/16 out inline filter so I bought that in case I found a pump and 2 feet of extra fuel line. My set up was the box filter 5/16 in - 1/2 out to the pump which was 1/2 in to 5/16 out. I went down the street to O'Reillys and they had an inline pump that I might be able to rig something up, but it used a proprietary push tab connector, not spade connectors. And it was $250. And it went out at 90 degree, not straight through. Still, that was something to keep in mind maybe. I went to Autozone. I thought they had a filter that 5/16 in and 1/2 out. I bought it, as well as floor mats to lay on and a oil catch can for the gas spillage. I went to install it and it is 3/8 out. No dice. I went back in and saw they had a universal fuel filter with 3/8 flare fittings in and out. OK, maybe I can work with that. I saw there was an Ace down the street...

After sorting through what fittings they had because they were half out of stock, I came up with this. It has 90s, but hey, if the filter is clogged, this will adapt my 5/16 to 1/2 lines to the pump.

The routing was certainly a mess.

Now to test it and...

Nothing. Nope. Nada. Not even a little catch. Completely dead. It is 945am.

A friendly stranger stops by to chat and he suggests checking for spark, which I said I wanted to do but I had I forgotten my spark socket. He offered to drive me to Autozone, which I gladly took. I bought a socket and a new universal ignition coil just in case. Back at the van I grabbed my socket wrench and saw my socket set that I had packed. Oh well. I removed a spark, he cranked, good spark. Back to fuel. I cracked the bleeder valve and fuel came out. I pointed out that it had fuel, yes, but I didn't know how much pressure it had and I needed to think about it. He gave me his number, said he lived nearby and if I needed any help just to text him. I thanked him and he went on his way. It is 11am.

I went back into Ace and bought a can of starter fluid, pulled the PCV, dumped a good bit in there, cranked and it started instantly. Ok, so spark, air, compression, are good. Fuel is verified as the issue.

I called dobryan and he agreed it sounded like fuel. I asked him if there were any fuel pump alternatives and he said he remembered a Ford fuel pump working and to check the forums. I quickly found a post mentioning a 1987 F-150 and called up O'Reilly's. They said they could have it by 230pm. Time to wait. dobryan also mentioned getting a can of carb cleaner and cleaning out the filter and pump. I went back into Ace, bought a can of carb cleaner, took everything apart, dumped half the bottle through both, but no luck. Oh well, at least it ate a bit of time.

The friendly local picked me up and drove me to O'Reilly's. I looked at the pump and it certainly looked like it would work. It even came with two input nozzles, 1/2 and 5/16 as well as o-ring terminals and spade connectors with holes to bolt them to the terminals. It's part number E16020 for an line 6 4.9 or V8 5.0. Apparently the bed size makes the difference, not the motor.

Grabbing the fuel filter I had bought 6.5 hours earlier I cut a small piece of hose so it went pump -> filter in the standard high pressure fuel arrangement. However, the existing set up was the low pressure box filter -> fuel pump. This meant the bracket to hold the fuel pump was in the wrong place and the ground wire just didn't reach. For the ground wire I loosened the body screw and rotated it and then it reached well enough. For the fuel pump bracket I removed it from the body and then using one of the power steering line bracket screws I attached it to the body. I thought about going back into Ace to buy a longer screw but it cranked down and held just fine, even if it was 1.5 threads in.

Crank...crank... crank... catch..stumble... give it some gas and the van roars to life! It is 330pm. I clean up my bush repair, shorten fuel lines, wrap connections with electrical tape, tighten screws, tighten clamps. Check, double check for leaks. Turn the van on, let it run, check for leaks. It's good. I text dobryan (and the kind stranger) that the van is running. Quite a few hundred dollars and 8 hours later I set back off towards Brevard. It is 4pm.

The van is running well but it really seems like the fuel is dropping too fast. I pull over for leaks and there are none. Huge downpours dump down on the highway and slow my progress, but the van keeps chugging a long. I fill up in Johnson City, TN and head towards the NC border. I see the mountains and I start getting excited, the van is putting down some serious miles.

The road starts climbing and the clouds start appearing below me.

But the 1.9 is peppy! And it cruised right up and over the pass on 26 at the TN/NC border.

Up and over the crest! It's all downhill from here!

And I pulled into camp exhausted, happy, and immediately headed for the showers to wash all the car repair funk off me. Getting hungry, I made one quesadilla and then the stove shut off. Out of gas. Hmm. And the faucet didn't work either. So no fridge, stove, or sink. Sucks. But that's secondary, I made it!

The next day my friend and I got some seriously sick Pisgah riding in. Upper Upper Black Mountain Trail to Avery Creek Trail, then Bennett Gap. ~15.5 miles, 3000' of climbing. We paid for those descents!

As we got back to camp a crazy storm came in and we hid in the van. It was much nicer than a tent and the Westy has so much more room than the tin top Syncro.

On Monday after a half day of riding Middle Black Mountain Trail to Lower Black Mountain Trail it was time to head back. Having checked out of the camp, I used the melted ice water in the bottom of the fridge as an adhoc shower. I soaked my towel in it, wipe down, wrung it out, and repeat. Brisk and refreshing! It started to ran just as we finished packing up at the trailhead. We were very lucky with the weather, always hitting after we were done riding.

Back on 26, climbing out of NC to the TN border. Good bye Pisgah!

The Syncro, with its tired 1.9, was at 38mph flat out on this section. Penny will do 50mph and keep accelerating. However, I kept it around 4k rpm because I didn't want to stress the motor.

I was so stoked to get back over the crest at such a high rate of speed I forgot to take a pic at the top. I apologize for the out of focus picture.

The van cruised easily along. I got gas at Mountain Empire and then again in Staunton having made it back successfully.

I averaged over 19mpg. I think Westy's are quieter than tin tops, or at least quieter than lifted Syncros with bigger AT tires. Penny handled well but the front suspension needs to be redone, of course. The Boss stereo I put in worked well with the Blaupunkt amp already in the van and the tunes were great.

Once back in Staunton I looked into the faucet, I just needed to reset the connector. Now I need to figure out why the tank went from full of propane to empty. I am not entirely sure it actually filled.

So, maiden voyage is a success! Obviously I knew the fuel pump was going to be an issue. I should have fixed it before and it cost me a day riding in Dupont. A stitch in time saves nine and all that. But thanks to dobryan for saving the vacation!
_________________
'87 Syncro Ferric Oxyhydroxide Superleggera Edition
'85 Westy Sciuridae Domus Edition

[dobryan]

Sweet! So glad you saved your trip!
_________________
Dave O
'87 Westy w/ 2010 Subaru EJ25 (Vanaru) and Peloquin TBD

"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." Robert Louis Stevenson

MD>Canada>AK>WA>OR>CA>AZ>UT>WY>SD
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=620646

Building a bus for travel in Europe (euroBus)
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=695371

The Western Syncro build
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=746794

[dabaron]

wow, what a first run. glad the trip home was smooth.
_________________
1991 Vanagon GL Camper
i had no idea i wanted to be a mechanic

[DanHoug]

[shagginwagon83]

Awesome repair and glad you got some awesome riding in Pisgah - love it there. We camped at the Carolina Hemlocks earlier this year.
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"Jo Ann" - '83.5 Westfalia EJ22e w/Peloquin
Instagram: @joannthevan

[4Gears4Tires]

[Xevin]

Very nice!! I love road trip threads.
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Keep on Busin'

[joetiger]

Great trip report, a little bit of everything! Thanks for sharing.
_________________
Joe T.

'86 NAHT Vanagon GL Syncro/ supercharged ABA 2.0 "Pigpen"
'91 Wolfsburg Carat "Barchetta"
'02 Baja-ish Beetle "Bubbles"

"get metaphysical with it. if it's simply a means to get to and from places, it will let you down. if it becomes your zen, it can't fail you." -dabaron

"Still, it's good to be afield."--VWagabond

Justice for Megan: https://linktr.ee/justiceformegantrussell

[MarkWard]

A Vanagon should be able to idle in traffic all day long without needing to stop and start the engine. That’s almost like asking for trouble. I’d work on getting your confidence in leaving the engine running. A running engine is exactly that. An engine that is switched off will need to restart.

A timing light is a quick way to test for spark and takes up minimal space. A noid light is handy to check for injector pulse. I know it happens where time doesn’t permit, but I always drive the van daily a week or two before leaving. This leaves time for problems to occur. Lecture over.

Glad you salvaged the trip. It’s not a story till the train hits the station.

[space]

Ive been running a Ford Mustang fuel pump in my subie conversion for 6yrs I believe its the 8cyl 2003
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82 westy
w:
2.5 JDM Subie
Rear discs

[Buggeee]

Epic! Absolutely Epic. That biking must have felt fantastic after powering through all the tests of will.
_________________
Big Time 1988 Vanagon Westy
Release the Krankenwagen! 1966 Sportsmobile Camper
Dr. Kompressor 72 Super Duper
61 Turkis Pile (adopted out)

[kamzcab86]

[4Gears4Tires]

I hope you also have a spare fuel filter, line, and clamps too. It would be bad to need to remove the pump, crack the line, and then be still stuck!

[shadetreemech]

Hey, man...

Nice job all the way round.

Dan
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'84 GL 1.9
'01 Volvo V70 T5
'88 Westy - "MZDRTHY"