My 76 Sportsmobile roadtrips, projects, vanagon interior+mor

[TweedLinn]

[TweedLinn]

Wednesday we drove through the park again, but since it is still early spring, most of the roads and things to see were still closed. We then unfortunately had to deal with the messes that are Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. The positives: a couple cool things to take pictures of, and the Ole Smoky Moonshine distillery let's you taste all 13... Also finding coozies with buses and vintage Coleman gear on them in the Coleman outlet. The negatives: you have to be in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. Jesus what an insanely ridiculous nightmare

After getting all shined up, it was on the road again to Chestnut Hill, TN, to the Bush's baked beans factory headquarters and Bean museum

It was then in into Virginia where we found another incredible camp site at Cumberland Gap National Park, and called it a night

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76 Sportsmobile

[TweedLinn]

It's Thursday, it's cold, I'm in a mixture of TN, KY, and VA, let's see the Cumberland Gap!

Now let's drive to the first KFC, and experience the Col. Sanders Museum

Let's sit in there and realize that the majority of the distilleries on the Kentucky bourbon trail close at 3. So let's drive just a little farther, find a small brewery, and then a Mexican restaurant with 2 for 1 margaritas, drink a bit too much, and call it a night
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76 Sportsmobile

[TweedLinn]

It's Friday, it's raining, it's all of 35 degrees, we're in Kentucky, there's one sure fire thing that will warm you up...

(If you haven't done these tours, make sure you go to makers mark, you can buy an undipped bottle and dip it in the red wax yourself)

After a few distilleries, and more than a few samples, our insides were warm, so we braved the cold and continued heading North.

Quick stops in Louisville (the giant David is a couple blocks down from the giant bat, the amount of bats and balls jokes did not get old to me)

Then we powered forward in the cold and the rain into Indiana, where we found an Indianapolis Fuel hockey game to go to.

Turns out it was craft beer night at the hockey game, where the samples were plentiful.. We made friends with a couple of the brewery owners, were given more than a few extra "samples" and ended the night with a cooler full of growlers, hats, coozies, and all sorts of nonsense. We figured we should just drink it all, not drive, and go see them again in the morning to get our new growler filled before heading closer to home. So that's precisely what was done.
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76 Sportsmobile

[TweedLinn]

Soooo piggybacking off the last post... we got on the road around noon. Oops. In our defense the breweries didn't open until 11, and we had to get the new growler filled for free!

We then blew home. 507 miles. And I do mean blew home. The ENTIRE day was spent in a wind advisory. And I do mean the entire day. Every single piece of every single road we were on in Indiana, all the way across Illinois, and halfway across Iowa. 20-60 mph winds. Of course all either headwinds, or from the side, never from the rear. It also rained the entire day, and the temperature maxed out around 30. But we made it in time for the girlfriend's dad's and nephew's joint birthdays.

For the record, this is located inside a fenced in, and secured parking lot at a Kraft foods factory. Psh nothing gets between us and a great picture, not even security guards and automated gates!

And now that we're home, it's snowing. We have gotten 4 inches so far.. Welcome home! When's the next one?!?!
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76 Sportsmobile

[TweedLinn]

Valuable-ish road trip stats...

Total miles: 4,872

Average miles per gallon: 16. Best: 19.8, worst: 11

302.8 gallons of fuel

States visited: 12

Longest day: 559 miles. Shortest: 0

Ferries taken: 1

National parks, forests, etc. visited: it's late and I'm tired, but I believe 12?

Memories made, photos taken, foods eaten, and drinks drank: all of them
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76 Sportsmobile

[Stuartzickefoose]

Love it man.
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Stuart Zickefoose

2011 Jetta Sportwagen TDi 6 speed manual

206-841-7324
[email protected]

[TweedLinn]

Air and water belong outside, oil belongs inside, and the mailman's getting sick of us..

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76 Sportsmobile

[KentABQ]

[TweedLinn]

[KentABQ]

Very nice find! I'm envious. My '71 had them, and I always liked the look. And they came in handy once in college, when I was parallel parked and boxed in front and back. I pulled forward and touched the car in front, got out to make sure I had good contact, then pushed the car about 2 feet.

In retrospect, it could have been a disaster if the two bumpers hadn't meshed well. But I was younger and dumber back then. I'm still working on getting smarter, but not having any luck getting younger.
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-Kent-
1976 Riviera, 1.8l FI chrome yellow VAN - "Chloe"

"I must say, how can you be in a bad mood driving this vehicle full of vibrant color.
Cars of today are so bland in comparison. It's like driving a celebration!" ---WildIdea

Bus ownership via emoticons:
---williamM

[Stuartzickefoose]

[TweedLinn]

[gelos]

Hey! I have an early bay westy interior in my '75 bus. It was installed when I bought it but it's not really attached to anything. The most it had was two bolts in the arms in back into the deck lid which were then had sealant of some kind to glue them in (no nut or anything underneath).

How did you physically connect the seat to the bus? Do I just drill holes through the body where I need to and then put a bolt and nut on it?

Any general advice on drilling through the body?

Thanks!
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1975 vw bus,
Camper Special engine with dual Dellorto carbs.
Mallory Unilite distributer

[TweedLinn]