Let's talk about oil!

Many people have different ideas as to what kind of oil to put in their air cooled VW.  John Muir says in "How to Keep Your VW Alive" that detergent oil should not be used.  He explains that the detergent oil collects dirt which will cause problems in your oil cooler.  My mechanic disagrees.  He thinks that detergent oil is just fine.  For a long time, I only used non-detergent oil but have since switched with no ill effects to my engine (none that I can detect anyway).  So, synthetic or regular?  What weight should I use?

Well, the weight will depend on where you live.  I learned the hard way that I should have changed the weight of my oil before winter came here to Colorado.  I had my starter replaced by my mechanic as I simply didn't have the time.  I asked him to adjust the valves and do an oil change while he had it.  This was toward the end of the summer when temperatures in my area were over 100 degrees.  He used 15w30.  The engine ran great until the first cold morning.  Then, my car really did not want to start.  The oil was too thick at such low temperatures.  The strain on the starter was so strong that my battery died trying to start the van.  A quick oil change to 10w30 and everything was back to normal.

Do I use synthetic or regular?  I use a synthetic but haven't had much feedback from anyone that professes a preference for either.  Why do I use synthetic?  Well, the summers here are hot and I do a lot of driving over the mountains.  High temperatures on the flat lands and the tough chore of climbing the mountains makes me want to have an oil that will not break down if the engine gets hot.  Am I buying into marketing?  Possibly but the price difference is minor.  I usually stock up on my oil at Costco or Sam's Club making the price the same as regular oil at my auto supply store.

What do you use?  Any feedback on this oil discussion?

GPS Navigation

I'm in love with a new navigation software.  On my iPhone, I'm using a free app called Waze.  Aside from being free (I love that), it is a user generated/social app that allows you to edit the map, record road hazards, and travel in groups or communities.  It works everywhere and is fun to use.  I have installed on my iPhone as well as my iPad. 

Another great feature for campers is that it allows you to go online and look at the routes that you have traveled.  It even lets me view my trips on Google Earth.  Soon, once I figure it out, I'll start posting these routes to the site.

I've tried several GPS navigation programs.  As far as a free program goes, it cannot be beat.  It isn't a Garmin but it gets you where you need to go and is fun to use.  My advice is to check it out.

The weather is finally here!

It was a cold winter in the Westy here in the Rockies.  The heat is not the greatest, as many of you know, and I wasn't able to find a great solution to heating the entire cabin while driving.  That is a definite goal before next winter.  So far, as I wrote before, my best idea is to hook up a small electric heater directly to the auxillary battery.  My budget will not allow for anything fancier.

When parked, I had great luck with a "tent-safe" gas heater that ran off of propane cylinders.  I've read about others who directly hooked up the heater to the camper's propane tank but I didn't want to deplete my cooking/refridgeration gas.  The Mr. Heater Big Buddy propane heater works great as long as you are not in motion.  The heater has several sensors to make it safe for indoor use including a tilt sensor.  Driving triggers the tilt sensor and turns the heater off.  Has anyone come up with any better ideas for heat while driving?

By the way, I have yet to find a heater that works off of the cigarette lighter.  There are many models out there but NONE of them do what they advertise.  My advice, save your money on these contraptions as I tried many and returned them all.

Long time No Post!

Sorry to whomever might actually check this blog, but there has been very little to post lately.  Winter has set in on Colorado and camping trips haven't been had in a long time!

The major problem is HEAT!  The aircooled vans are notorious for poor heating and I cannot afford a propex heater just yet.  I would LOVE to buy one but at $700 plus, it isn't happening any time soon.

I did learn a few key things about heating the vanagon that I thought that I would share.

First, on the driver and passenger side doors are plastic vents that should be open.  I thought that was counter intuitive but having them open helps with air pressure and the circulation of the *hot* air.

Second, the fresh air intakes on the front of the van are always open.  When you switch to defrost, the cool air mixes with the warmer air for the defrosting option.  Unfortunately, when you want to have heat only, the cold air is still coming in from the front.  After reading many posts and speaking to my mechanic, the best option seems to be to block the front air intake in the winter.  My mechanic specifically recommended that foam not be used as it has the potential to trap moisture.  I have not done it yet, but I plan on using some some vinyl or other heavier fabric like material.

My other idea, which I have not yet implemented, is an electric heater.  I purchased the secondary battery kit to be installed.  I plan on purchasing a high end inverter that is made to have connections direct to the battery terminals.  I will then use the inverter to power a small electric heater to help offset the cold.  I've spoken to my mechanic and even an electrical engineer friend who thinks this should work well.  Note, I will not be hooking this up to the primary battery.   If the heater pulls more than the alternator can replace (my guess is that it will), I don't want to be stuck somewhere unable to start the van.

Anyone out there solve this heat problem?  I'd love some ideas!

New Seats!

I got the new seats back last week from J & R Custom Upholstery in Montrose, CO.  I could not have been impressed with the quality of their work.  It took 10 days and the seats were completely transformed.  Here are the before and after pictures.

 The total cost for both seats at  $700.  I had hoped to spend less than this but it turns out it was a bargain.  Finding original seats for replacement is very difficult and the Recaro replacements are a small fortune.  I wrote about those before and just could not find a way to afford them.

There are several advantages to these seats over the incorrect aftermarket models that were installed when I purchased the van.  These actually lock into place!  I never realized how important that was until driving in a car that caused the seats to travel backward while in motion.  Also, they sit more than an inch lower than the others.  This didn't bother me too much but Cody is 6'3" and had a difficult time getting comfortable.

The padding is excellent.  I don't know how long these will last but I was assured that it will be quite a while.  I'm referring to them as the posture correctors as I have no choice but to sit properly while driving.

It is amazing what a difference that new front seats can make.

The next step will be to make new curtains and a matching covering for the the bench seat in the back.  I have a shirtless cowboy fabric that is a contender.  I post more on that as the project nears.

I've been home for two days unable to do much with a pinched nerve in my neck.  Otherwise, I'd be sewing like a maynad...  I love how each step of improvement or modification encourages me to do more.  Now, if I only I could muster that same feeling toward my house.

The VW theater system

How could I possibly consider an extended road trip without some sort of entertainment system?  While I love to read and enjoy the outdoors, I also love my "stories."  I'm not sure how long I could last without a few episodes of Futurama or American Dad.  Cody and I were talking about what would be best.  We thought it would be amazing if we hooked up a projector inside the van for movie watching with the option of moving it outside for warm nights.  It seemed impossible as projectors are a fortune and the replacement bulbs are almost as expensive as the machines themselves.  Well, it's not impossible.  Enter the Pico Pocket Projector from Optoma. 

I did a lot of research before choosing this model.  There are different versions but this one seemed to maximize benefit with cost.  From Amazon, I paid $280 including overnight shipping which was only $4 with my prime account.  The advantage is the size and type of bulb.  The projector uses LED bulbs with an estimated lifespan of 20,000 hours.  The size is similar to an ipod.  It can take a connection from a smartphone, ipod, laptop, or portable DVD player.  My android phone has tv out but I'm still waiting for the cable to arrive that I need to connect.  The projector came with many cables but the phone specific cable is up to me to locate ($5 is not too bad).  It has a small amount of internal memory but accepts microSD cards up to 16gb in size. 

I tested this in my home at several points in the day.  This will only work in the evening or in a very dark room.  It operates at 20 lumens which means it is not for daytime viewing.  Ambient lighting will diminish the quality and visibility.  In the evening, the picture was fantastic.  This is not an HD television but the quality surpassed my expectations.

Now, I need to figure out the specifics for setting it up in the VW or outside.  It will not be difficult in the warm weather to hang a sheet from a tree, or the VW, to use a projection screen.  During colder evenings, we'll want to use it indoors.  My thought, so far untested, is to have the poptop up with a screen hanging down from the cross bar.  This should give us a decent size viewing screen (the projector will produce a picture up to 66").  Once I've figured this out, I'll post a photo of our setup.

Why did I choose this over an LCD television?  Easy, the projector weighs less than a pound, has rechargeable batteries, and is as portable as anyone could want.  When I was considering televisions, I was deterred by their power consumption, weight, and storage when not in use.  The VW is not too big for full time living and every inch is going to count.  Plus, who doesn't think that it would be great to sit outside, under the stars, watching a movie while roasting marshmallows?

Next post is about the new seats.  I got them back two days ago and they are excellent!

Practice Run

Labor Day weekend was the perfect opportunity to do a practice camping run.  Cody and I left early on Saturday morning with the goal of camping at Half Moon Campground outside of Leadville, CO.  According to Don Wright's book, the campground is typically empty and only $10 on the holiday weekends. 

The drive was beautiful.  We left Montrose and headed on highway 50 through Gunnison and then north Buena Vista.  The VW ran wonderfully, albeit slowly uphill, and we arrived in good time.  First problem, the directions in the book were incorrect.  If you are using this book, you might want to make a note that the campground is 4.5 miles south of Minturn, NOT Leadville.  The directions also say to turn on FR707 or Tigiwon Rd.  Again, this is not accurate.  The road is now called Notch Mountain Rd.  It is a 2wd accessible dirt road with many potholes and a lot of washboard.  It is narrow and required pulling to the side several times for oncoming cars to pass.  Google Earth does have the site listed under Half Moon Campground for easier navigation.

There are several campsites off the side of the road that looked pretty good.  The actual campground has seven sites all spaced nicely.  We managed to grab the last spot (reservations are not taken).  I can imagine that this would be a terrific campsite when the campground is empty.  Being a holiday weekend, it was packed.  Our neighbors were a rowdy group of college kids that were up late and then up early to get going.  Remember when you were 20 and could have an evening of drinking and still get up in the morning for a hike?  I don't...

The pressure cooker was a success.  I purchased a medium sized Fagor pressure cooker years ago but rarely used it.  Being able to make a full meal in one pot in less than 40 minutes was terrific!  We had Mexican style chicken and rice.  The recipe, which will appear in the recipe section once it's up, was enough to feed five.  I'll cut it back in the future since there were only two of us.

On day two, we headed toward Denver and Colorado Springs.  We made a few shopping stops since we were in the big city and then headed to a campground about an hour from Colorado Springs.  I cannot remember the name of the site but it was just passed the Buffalo Springs campgrounds.  This was not a memorable campsite although we did have a good time.

Different from when I was a kid, firewood gathering is not encouraged.  We've encountered several sites, all of which were run by the park services, that offer wood for sale if you haven't carried it in with you.  This wood seems to be treated with something.  We have a terrible time getting it to burn well.  Perhaps it is just our imagination but we were frustrated.  Just before arriving at our campsite, we stopped at a gas station and purchased firewood for $3.00 a bundle (this is the half the price of the ranger station).  It burned beautifully.  I'll be bringing wood with us on the next trip but for a prolonged adventure, carrying your own wood isn't really an option.  We'll be trying to figure out a good way to make firewood gathering efficient and legal.

This was the first time that I was able to try the solar battery maintainer that I purchased.  We were parked in the shade the first day so I did not hook it up.  When I went to start the car in the morning, it groaned.  The battery was very low.  On day two, I plugged in the solar charger before going to bed so that it would catch the first morning sun.  It worked like a charm!  The battery indicator never dropped below the half way mark even after many hours of listening to satellite radio with the lights on.  For less than $30, it cannot be beat.

During the trip, we encountered another Westy.  This was a 1985 that had been converted to a Subaru engine.  Needless to say, we were jealous.  The vehicle can go up the passes in 4th gear without any problems.  Speeds can average around 75mph which leaves us in the dust.  The catch?  Well, their conversion cost approximately $10,000.  As much as we'd like to make this jump, it's not going to happen any time soon.

I'd be curious if anyone out there has any tricks to beef up the horsepower on the air cooled VWs.  I'm okay with the slow pace but it might be nice to not be the guy that has a tail of 20 cars waiting for him to pull over to let them all pass...