1974 Safare Custom Camper Build

[Cvannoy]

[Cvannoy]

Made some more progress today! We were able to get all the sound deadening in and I must say it's looking pretty clean inside! Tomorrow I think we are going to put some thin plywood down and then lay the flooring down. Exciting times! Once the flooring is in then I believe the bus will finally look like it's starting to come together even though it will still be completely empty...

Still need to paint the rear hatch and put sound deadening in it too, but pretty close to being finished with all this prep before building cabinets and benches!
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1974 Safare Custom Camper
1978 Datsun 280z

[vwwestyman]

If the alternator light isn't coming on when your turn the key on, that is likely your charging problem.

Or at least one of them!

It must come on when you switch the key on. 12v runs through the bulb to the alternator to "excite" it and tell it to get to charging. Then, once the alternator is charging, 12v starts flowing back the other direction. Now, the voltage on either side of the bulb is even, and it goes out.

Easy, lucky fix is the bulb is simply burned out. But if there is a wiring problem, you'll need to do some searching of the wires and looking for something that is unplugged or broken.
_________________
Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing

[Cvannoy]

[Cvannoy]

Put the sub flooring down! I used 3M 90 Spray adhesive to get the plywood to stay to the floor. I'll let it sit over night (or until I get to it again) and then I will finally put the flooring down. Countdown to the first camping trip with the bus is 15 days... It definitely will not be finished by then but I am hoping that we can at least sleep in it and that it will make the 2.5 hour drive.

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1974 Safare Custom Camper
1978 Datsun 280z

[Cvannoy]

These are my favorite posts! Progress with pictures. Finally finished putting the bottom portion of flooring down and I finished painting the window sills. 2 very large feats in my head on making the bus look nice inside and out!

The wife and Gatsby were both happy with the new flooring.

Per the many paint matching forums I read I decided to go with Dupli-Color's Stone White and boy am I happy! To my eyes it looks like almost a perfect match! You can see a small difference (newly painted sills look a little brighter) but I am going to attribute that to it being newly painted and am hoping as it wears it will start to match even more to the pastel white. Even if it didn't, I am very happy with the results and it looks so much better than the surface rusted sills.
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1974 Safare Custom Camper
1978 Datsun 280z

[Cvannoy]

Here are some more pictures of what those window sills used to look like.

Immediately after removal

After grinding off the surface rust

And now they look brand new-ish! Still have the dents and such from before, but at least the paint is nice.
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1974 Safare Custom Camper
1978 Datsun 280z

[Cvannoy]

So on Wednesday my wife and I took the bus to a park to hangout with high schoolers from our church (we are their leaders). This was a small test for the bus because on Thursday we would be leaving on our big camping trip and I wanted one last go at driving to bus to make sure it wouldn't fail on us. We ended up playing kickball with the students which then led to my wife trying to catch a ball and dislocating her pinky We then leave immediately to go to the hospital so they could put her back together since I didn't want to try to pop it back in just in case it was broken. Now, I must remind you all that I have still not fixed the fuel gauge on the bus... So, low and behold, we run out of gas halfway there I'm frustrated because I meant to get gas before going to the park but my wife is dying laughing because of the situation we are in. She's quite the champ haha so here's a picture of her showing off her hand next to the bus we are stranded with.

I'll save the more gruesome pictures of her finger being in a direction pinky's are not supposed to go. Our friends ended up bringing up a couple gallons of gas and she started right back up and off we went to the hospital to find out that she had broken her pinky in 2 places. It's a pretty impressive break and other than running out of gas, the bus was pretty impressive as well.
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1974 Safare Custom Camper
1978 Datsun 280z

[busdaddy]

Bummer about the finger and breakdown, good news it's apparently ready to go aside from the gas gauge, have a great trip! (and post pictures after too) (but not of the finger).
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[Cvannoy]

Now onto the big post! The camping trip we have been preparing for. The goal was to go 111 miles (2.5 hours) west to Westport, WA and camp for the weekend. I only got as far as the flooring so we planned to sleep on the floor with a mattress topper to soften the blow (that I will cut up and turn into our seat cushions). I made sure to bring a ton of tools, lots of spare parts, and a jump box with a tire pump. It was around 75 degrees the whole way and I must say, I am happy to announce that it went without a hitch! There were 2 very small sputters on a decently bumpy road that got me concerned when we were 45 minutes away but then it didn't have any issues after that. I can say this though. The bus is a wind sail. I know you all know this, but dang, having the high roof makes this bus push around so easily. I would love to upgrade the steering and will get a proper alignment to try to help ease this and gain better control so I don't completely feel out of control. Here are some pictures of the trip.

First Arriving

Our Camping Spot

Gatsby getting some shade because it was in the high 80's the whole time!

My wife has always wanted to sit on top of the engine bay with the hatch open and read a book. She finally got to do it (although she never makes it too far in her books before she falls asleep)

Half the battle was done! But I always had in the back of my head the fear of returning home and having to do it all over again. But thankfully, she already did it once so she can do it again, right?

The final day came and it was time to go to town to get something to eat. It's a 3 mile drive to get to town and I figured by this point we should be around half a tank. We get halfway to town, at a stop sign in front of a gas station, and she dies... Luckily everyone was going to town and a police officer was 2 cars behind me so my parents pushed the bus to the gas station (it moves a lot easier than we expected) and the officer stopped traffic for us so we could cross the intersection. It seemed just like the situation Sara and I were in when we ran out of gas the first time so of course my first instinct is that we may have run out of gas. Sleeping in the bus we could smell gas fumes which I attribute to not having the holes blocked off to where the gas tank resides. But then I thought maybe there was a gas leak and we were actually losing gas which is why it would've run out of gas so soon. I filled up a 2 gallon gas can and put it in the bus, tried to start her, and she would live for a second and then die again... Thankfully I haven't fixed the wiring for the fuel pump yet, so when I turn the key I can usually hear the pump going very quietly. I thought maybe I couldn't hear it so I told my wife to turn the key while I went down to the fuel pump. She turned it and I still didn't feel like I could hear it. So I opened the engine bay to look at the fuel pump wiring and sure enough one of the wires got unplugged! I plugged it back in and she fired right up! Here's some pictures of that fiasco.

Of course, the trip still wasn't over. I was blessed that this was an easy fix and I could recognize it very quickly and just re-plug in a wire. We still had 2.5 hours of driving to get back home though and little did we know it was hotter than before.

Our drive back though was just like it was on the way there. Everything was going very well! That was until we reached hour 1.5. Being in Washington you don't usually expect temperatures to get very high but on Sunday it was 102 degrees and we were stuck in 15 miles of stop and go traffic... This is not an ideal situation no matter the vehicle you are in, but I was especially worried for ours and stayed in the right lane so I could pull off at any moment. I tried my best to keep the bus moving at all times. There were a couple moments when the RPM's got really low and the oil pressure light flickered as if the bus was about to die, I would then give it some gas to keep going. Thankfully the traffic picked up and we were constantly moving at a really slow pace and then the traffic went away. We were once again off and the bus didn't die on us. From that point on it was smooth sailing all the way home! We had completed our first camping trip and the bus exceeded my expectations by surviving 102 degree weather in stop and go traffic (although I would not want to do that again).

So I again thank everyone who has helped me get to this point and I will continue to update this forum with the progress of the bus and getting it to look more like a camper!
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1974 Safare Custom Camper
1978 Datsun 280z

[busdaddy]

Ahhhh...., so you meant LAST Thursday....

Looks like fun despite the heat, good for you fixing the roadside issue, you are well on your way to being a full patch bus owner. The gas smell sounds disturbing, better look into that while you are digging for that fuel sender, getting stunk out while driving in the mountains makes all your passengers feel sick and hate riding along with you, asking them to push later seals the deal. The flickering oil light and low idle isn't a surprise, as long as it didn't stay on permanently it sounds like a typical healthy type 4. If you do find yourself in heavy slow traffic in the future rev it up slightly while sitting, some extra revs move more air through the cooling system.

The wind sail thing should improve when you load it up with permanent furniture, try to keep your center of gravity low, I drove a drastically lifted high top with a full Wesfalia Berlin interior and it really wasn't as horrifying as you'd think (aside from the tire noise).

Good job!
_________________
Rust NEVER sleeps and stock never goes out of style.

Please don't PM technical questions, ask your problem in public so everyone can play along. If you think it's too stupid post it here
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[wagohn]

Congrats on the trip. We are local to you and went over to Money Creek in Gold Bar a few weeks ago. Daughter/Father trip and we had a blast.

How about the relief when you realize you're in the "I could probably tow it from here." zone

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1976 VW Transporter, 2.0 FI Engine

[Cvannoy]

Yea, I meant to say it was last Thursday. I wanted to split the posts up because they were two separate experiences. The gas smell was only when laying our heads on the floor right next to the gas tank. When driving you couldn’t smell it at all and even turning around and laying with our feet against the engine bay you could hardly smell it. We also slept one night on top of the engine bay (like we would once we get the bench/bed set-up, except we were both just curled up to fit up there because we don’t have the bench/bed set-up yet and I couldn’t smell the fumes at all when I was up there although my wife says she still could. But it still is a little concerning because my dog will be sleeping on the floor and I don’t want to cause harm to him sleeping there at night. I’ll definitely be looking into it. Thanks for the kind words and I will be sure to keep the revs up more when in a high heat situation again. I was doing it to keep the engine alive and thinking it would help with airflow but I wasn’t absolutely certain that was right, so I’m glad to have reassurance.
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1974 Safare Custom Camper
1978 Datsun 280z

[Cvannoy]

[wagohn]

[Cvannoy]

I think that is one of my next plan of attacks. Cut out a hole so I can get to the fuel sender easily and could check fuel level as well. The issue is figuring out where to cut so I don’t have to make the cut unnecessarily large.
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1974 Safare Custom Camper
1978 Datsun 280z

[busdaddy]

Lucky for you others have asked the very same question: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/search.php?searc..._chars=200
_________________
Rust NEVER sleeps and stock never goes out of style.

Please don't PM technical questions, ask your problem in public so everyone can play along. If you think it's too stupid post it here
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

Слава Україні!

[Cvannoy]

Well it's been a while! I'm glad I have this forum going so I can look back at all the progress made and can figure out where to pick up based off of previous suggestions! I was finishing up my last year of school and finally graduated with my Mechanical Engineering degree so I have a lot more free time on my hands to work on this bus again.

I still haven't cut a hole out to access the fuel sender but that is definitely on my list of things to do.

I do have a couple new updates! I got a little purchase happy...

I finally found the A/C unit I've been wanting. These DPD overhead units are fairly hard to come by (for a decent price) and per Skills advice it's probably the only one that will somewhat keep the high roof cool. We will also work on getting the whole bus completely insulated (probably with havelock wool).

I was able to pick it up for $400 from the classifieds and then I need to ship it over from South Carolina... Since I'm on the complete opposite end of the country that will cost another cool $250 bringing the total to $650 which is still cheaper than the $1500 that I'm seeing these up for.

I purchased a cover that is specifically made for high roof buses. It was backordered for a long time on Bus Depot and cost $250 after tax and shipping. I ordered it in late January and finally got it at the beginning of June. Just in time for the rainy season to be over... There are a couple leaks that I need to fix on the bus.

I also purchased some solar panels. A Renogy 175W flexible panel and 50W flexible panel to line the roof and hopefully give us some power while off grid. The goal is to always try to find a place that will have shore power but since that will not always be an option I am hoping this can help with powering our refrigerator. The solar panels and wiring cost about $325 with 10% off and some other discount I'm not certain how I got which totaled $100 off. I also purchased an MPPT solar charge controller on their website which was about $100 after discounts.

If anyone would like 10% off their products you can use this link 10% Off Renogy! From what I've read their products are superior when it comes to solar panels.

The final purchase was an awning. I've been looking for the awning that these Safare's came with specifically because I want something that attaches to the bus and not to the ground (like the picture below) so I don't have to stake the poles to the ground. It's just a laziness thing over anything else. My friend sent me over a eurovan awning that was listed on facebook and the dimensions were exactly what I was wanting and the feet attach to the bus. So I picked that up for $150 and will need to fabricate a bracket to go where the old awning when that attaches to the eurovan awning attachment points.

Other than all of this, I have a parasitic draw of power somewhere that I need to figure out. The battery keeps on draining. But once charged the bus does start right up! My wife and I bought a new house and I was even able to drive it over. The engine is still popping a bunch when I release the throttle. I know there is a big intake leak so that may be the issue or it could be a combination of that and a jetting issue because I don't know if I ever fully fixed the carb jetting...
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1974 Safare Custom Camper
1978 Datsun 280z

[Cvannoy]

Now an explanation on my plan for the A/C unit with the bus. The goal is to purchase a hybrid A/C compressor that runs off of electricity and is belt driven. There are only a couple of these in production, the one I am specifically looking at getting is the Sanden HBC 198 from the 2015 Honda Civic Hybrid (Honda P/N is 38810RW0A01). The reason behind this is that I want to be able to use the A/C when the bus is running and when it is not.

"Why not just use a fully electric A/C compressor?" You might ask.

Well... they require a TON of energy and I am finding it pretty hard to get that much energy from an alternator that will go on the bus and also power my fridge full time, any other electronics I plan on having in the bus, and all the typical bus electrical stuff like headlights/wipers/etc. So my solution is to let the engine drive the A/C compressor so I do not need to somehow fit a second alternator in the bay or figure out how to get a 400 amp alternator where the current alternator sits.

I am certain that 225W of solar panels will not power any A/C of any decent size to cool the bus while still powering the fridge so I have accepted defeat on being able to use A/C while off-grid. It simply will not be worth it over trying to keep my food from spoiling. But I plan on having the compressor be able to run while connected to shore power instead of having my loud engine run all night to keep A/C going.

As per the usual, if anyone has a better idea I am all ears (or eyes in this case because this is a forum). If there is a way to get a super powerful alternator in the bus and I've just missed the forum for it I'll gladly look through whatever you send me. I know that buses also came with a 70 amp alternator and sometimes they got boosted up to 120 amps using a mercedes (I think) alternator stator but that's the most powerful one I've been able to find on a forum and those were purchased so there isn't documentation on how to make a 70 amp alternator into 120 amps. Also those 70 amp alternators are pretty hard to come by and the pully's with fans are even harder to find... If anyone has one for sale please let me know!
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1974 Safare Custom Camper
1978 Datsun 280z

[vwwestyman]

I'm super interested in how you get the AC thing accomplished. I was recently noodling over such a compressor.
_________________
Dave Cook

President, Wild Westerner Club

1978 Champagne Edition Westy, repowered to '97 Jetta TDI
1973 Wild Westerner
My Thing