Trip Report: Another Camper Special runs flawless!

[Bleyseng]

First trip out with my 77 Westy and Camper Special with 5 adults plus gear crammed into it on a 1000 miles trip.
The camper is still rough looking on the outside with rust and bodywork repairs underway, but that didn't stop us from taking off.

We first drove from Seattle to Mt Rainier Nat Park for two days of camping.

Had to take the long way due to road washouts and went up some steep ass hills in 3rd at 25mph. Engine ran strong hitting 360F CHT's once in 85F and 4000 ft elevations.

After two days of incredible weather, swimming and hiking we drove the really long way around to Yakima. We went the backroads past Mt St Helens again hitting some really long steep grades. Engine temps stayed normal no matter what! Best gas mileage of 25mpg+ on this leg.

Some of the gang!

We ended up driving along the Columbia River and then across Satus Pass in the 90+F heat at mostly 70-75Mph as we were running late to meet our friends in Yakima. On some of the steep long grades I could barely stay at 60 mph but engine temps were still 350-360F CHT's.oil did climb to 240F!

On Sunday we drove the back roads down to the White Salmon River to go white water river rafting. Here is the gang changing into wet suits.

After rafting we still had to drive back to Yakima in the late afternoon with temps in the 90-95F. I took it easy on the way back running 65-70 mph and averaged 21mpg going up and down all those hills!

Monday morning came and I needed to be back at work by 12:00. I drove from Yakima going 65-75mph and CHT's hit 370! Why, well I moved the big wheel two clicks to be greedy and see if I could squeeze out alittle more mpg! I did get a solid 21mpg when I got to Ellensberg for a fillup.
Time was running slim so I really punched it, going 70-75MPH when I could and one time up a long hill downshifted into 3rd revving it out to 5800 bouncing off the rev limiter to keep up speed!
Engine temps were steady at 350-370F the whole way..

One Little Miss Sunshine moment!

We had to stop for a highway temp closeure due to some machinery on I90. We sat there for 10-20 minutes but when I tried to start up the engine nothing!!! Idiot lights were on and lots of horns were honking so I yelled "jump out and push!" So out everyone went and pushed and I bump started it and they all jumped back in as we started going down the highway laughing their heads off! really pretty funny don't ya think?

All in all it was a great first trip in the Westy even if it looks like crap right now. Ran great with tons of power to go almost anywhere except those long steep grades which still slow me down some. (70 to 60 mostly).

Geoff and the gang
(None of us could believe how comfortable the Westy was with all the driving we did in 5 days!!)

Jake, how about a NOS setup for those damn long hills???
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70 Ghia Black convert-9/69 build date-stock w/133k 1600 SP-barn find now with a rebuilt tranny and engine
77 Westy 2.0L w/Ljet, Camper Special engine-95hp and with LSD!(sold)
76 Porsche 914 2.1L L20c, 120hp Djet (sold)
87 Syncro Westy Titan Red 2.1L 2 knob 100k miles

[Jake Raby]

Damn!! Not another one of these posts!! Thats 3 running at one time on the topic of the CS!!

Damn, the opponents must REALLY be hating life today.

Geoff, wanna post this over at the RAT forums??

Glad you had fun, it's bee a while since I went whitewater rafting...

Sounds like you might could use the old Ford starter relay trick for those hot re-starts...

I want to try Nitrous on my Bus- just to kill the purists that much more
_________________
Jake Raby
Raby Engine Development
www.rabyenginedevelopment.com
"I've never given anyone Hell, I just told them the truth and they thought it was Hell"

[[email protected]]

Geoff!!!

WAY impressed! Nice Sage Green BTW. and the rust is NOT bad. I wish my temps were closer to yours - but I'm WAY happy with them anyway. Going to be heading to the Mogollon Rim for the Mogollon Madness Campout this weekend. Me and my mastiff pup. LOL. He LOVES the VW as he can sit in the seat and look DOWN at people. LOL.

LOVING the CS engine!

Hope I dont have TOO many "Sunshine Moments" in Bonnie this weekend....
_________________
Ryan

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1963 Beetle
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[udidwht]

3rd gear at 25MPH... Are you certain? You'd be lugging the motor going uphill at 25mph in 3rd gear.

What type of CHt gauge are you using? VDO's are known to be inaccurate, due to their being calibrated at a said temp. Are you compensating for ambient air temperature differences?



72 Westy hardtop - 2056cc T-4

96mm P/C's (8.0-1) CR
42x36mm heads w/mild port&polish
71mm stroke
#73 Web cam w/matched solids
S&S 4in1 header w/quietpack
German 009 (re-curved) w/Pertronix
Dual 40mm Webers
002 trans
185R14's

[Bleyseng]

I am using the VDO Gauge as if you calibrate it first in boiling water then its good. Yes, I do figure in the 70F as a mean but most of the trip the temps were 70F to 95F and the CHT's didn't change. My CHT's were for the whole trip in the 350-370F range at any speed and any temp. I did hit some places where I did go 75mph but the rest of the gang didn't like it as it gets pretty loud with road noise, a whinning tranny and wind noise...lots of bitchin real fast if I went that fast.

Going up some of the hills in the Mt Rainier Park are slow with 25-35MPH speed limits following a guy with a trailer...Lots of switchbacks that are for 15MPH that I then can go 25 up the hill. Yeah I did go 25 in third and just loafed along following several cars...

My post is about how well the combo ran in my Westy and how much fun we had!
This was the first trip out for any distance in the Westy for us. The wife loved it and drove alot as she enjoyed driving the Westy. My Dutch guest drove it alot too and couldn't believe the power the Westy has compared to the Euro buses he has seen. (1600dp's).
_________________
70 Ghia Black convert-9/69 build date-stock w/133k 1600 SP-barn find now with a rebuilt tranny and engine
77 Westy 2.0L w/Ljet, Camper Special engine-95hp and with LSD!(sold)
76 Porsche 914 2.1L L20c, 120hp Djet (sold)
87 Syncro Westy Titan Red 2.1L 2 knob 100k miles

[renobdarb]

I'm wondering... how would ambient temperatures affect your CHT readings at running speeds?
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1978 Campmobile, 2000cc w/hydro lifters, dual Weber 44 IDF carbs (50 idle jets, 115 main jets), SVDA distributor w/Compufire.

[Bleyseng]

When it was stock the engine temps were greatly affected by the outside air temps. The hotter it was the hotter the CHT's....so I had to be careful.

Now, it doesn't make a difference what the outside temps are as CHT's just stay the same most hills don't faze it.
_________________
70 Ghia Black convert-9/69 build date-stock w/133k 1600 SP-barn find now with a rebuilt tranny and engine
77 Westy 2.0L w/Ljet, Camper Special engine-95hp and with LSD!(sold)
76 Porsche 914 2.1L L20c, 120hp Djet (sold)
87 Syncro Westy Titan Red 2.1L 2 knob 100k miles

[udidwht]

The stock cam really heats the heads up. Coupled with the stock exhaust it's a real choker.