keeping my engine alive / A/C solutions

[Humoudalhaddad]

Hi, so im planning on driving down from Colorado to South America this summer and was hoping to find some solutions for my trip. I was hopping if theres any solutions to keep my engine cool for the road and ideas of how to keep the engine going. I also have a question about the A/C is there any solution for the A/C since its really hot down there in the summer I wanted to put something that wouldn't ruin the look of the bus and also help the bus become cool from the inside and I would prefer it not being anything to do with the engine.

[SGKent]

A/C will be just one more thing to remove when the engine needs work on that long trip which it most likely will. You are new to maintaining a 50 year old car aren't you?
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[Wildthings]

AC units take horsepower and the engine in your rig is the sole thing that produces horsepower of any scale. If you need cool, just get a fan and use a mist bottle.

The way to keep your engine from overheating is to keep it in tune and to maintain the cooling system in tip top shape. I strongly suggest a synthetic oil with a high viscosity index (IV) oil like a 5w40 or 10w40 as a synthetic can take serious heat and because of the relatively low viscosity a high VI oil will produce less oil pressure which will keep the oil cooler from being bypassed. For a hot engine you want an oil that produces about 10 psi per 1000rpms or about 40 psi max.

[airkooledchris]

1. Drive slow.

2. If you camp where you have power available, a small window AC unit can be fitted into the driver or passenger window to keep the inside of the bus cool while camped.

2a. if you don't have plug-in access available, a generator to plug that AC unit into would be needed.

[busdaddy]

Driving a small vehicle (especially a vintage one) requires some sacrifices, you can't have all the modern conveniences you enjoy on todays cars. There are ways to put A/C in a bus but as mentioned it'll make roadside maintenance much more of a chore (and you will be doing roadside maintenance and repairs). Bringing a window unit and a generator will eat up space you'll need for everyday stuff if you are living in it so that's not going to work, you'll likely lose it the first time you get robbed as well.

If you are such a snowflake that you can't live without it consider Subaru power, or maybe just buy a Toyota land cruiser or a Sprinter van.
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[curtp07]

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/menus/ps/aircooler.html

Some of these work well in airplanes or you can make a swamp cooler on the cheap. Best in low humidity but better than nothing.

Curt
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Subaru

[danfromsyr]

how do the locals down in south america survive in the heat/humidity?
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[CarlosZ]