Aussieveedubbers

OUR Central Australian trip NEW IMPROVED WITH PHOTOS

kombikim · 2004-02-08T21:57:19+00:00

Sorry this has taken 6 months to get together, but here it is finally So this is it I guess, a full rundown PREPARATION began October 2002, for departure July 2003, Interior had to be modified from dodgy bed to seat 5 legally, full width bed sleep 3, reconstruct everything out of lighter materials, get everything working & increase storage capacity to hold everything for 4 people, Mechanically everything was finely scrutinised, the 1800 replaced with a reco 2L the whole front suspension assembly replaced, brakes stuffed around with until better than most & all electricals working perfectly. A 12v Flourolight was permanently fitted in the engine bay. I never did get round to getting the heater demistor working, no time, Gauges to monitor everything were fitted, fire extinguisher, electric fuel pump, & solenoid fuel cutoff , an invertor to run phone chargers Video camera Gameboy etc. & a small 1000watt fan heater was purchased for the desert nights. Water supply consisted of 22 litres in clear plastic jerry can in cupboard behind driver connected to sink tap, clean - & level constantly able to be monitored. With one month to go, my only concern was a lower than normal engine vacuum reading, but it was not at critical level & I could find nothing wrong, it was also stable & unchanged on a few high speed, long distance test runs. Tools were carefully selected, the minimum required to completely dismantle anything, except pullers. Added to this was tune up/diagnosis stuff such as timing light, multimeter etc The only Kombi spares carried were a complete distributor & alternator. A starter motor (our Kombi is Auto) was going to go but was removed at The last moment due to size & weight & the fact that our starter was perfect…..In view of the slightly suss vacuum readings I was going to take my one useable 1800 head for emergency but did not have time to remove it from motor. All other spares consisted of patch it type stuff like wire, rope, ducting tape, bluetack, epoxy etc until the spare tyre wheel well was full. I also took about 4 litres of HPR5 15-30 oil stashed everywhere in 600ml softdrink bottles. Tyres selected were 185 x 14 light truck due to the high gearing, narrow cross section & increased puncture resistance. A lightweight bullbar was constructed out of bits. By the time 4 people, food, liquids clothes spares tools & assorted junk was packed, the extra weight carried (as opposed to drive round daily) was about 500kg. WE GO NOW 7.00am SATURDAY & we were off to Bourke sitting easily on 100 – 105kmh 5.15pm arrived no problems 21 mpg, saw no other Kombi’s or beetles & managed to overtake a few cars & trucks DAY 2 Off again 7.am 100 –105kmh again petrol at Cunnamulla 21mpg no problems 4.00pm, pull in to fuel up at Blackall before going to Caravan Park, oh-ohh idle sounds fluffy- longer it idled, the slower it got. & 18mpg only. 8.30pm after checking all the optimistic things I checked the valve clearances #1 exhaust had closed up & #4 almost. Bumbumbum adjusted them & started getting stressed out Saw no other Kombis or beetles DAY 3 This was going to be a long day. Had to get to Mt Isa 860kms Reduced speed to 90-95kmh first stop Longreach, running perfect 23mpg GREAT. Next stop Winton still running OK, filled up with petrol but the starter motor was dead, pushed it out of the servo & checked all the connections – OK – but not even a click – get the HAMMER out – get under car, tell Jenny to turn key, BASH!! Started. This two people procedure became the norm for the next 11 days & approximately 80 or so starts. Finally reached Mount Isa at 7.30pm engine was running bad again & I could not turn off while Jenny booked in, in case the starter motor did not work.. Checked valve clearances & #1 & #4 exhaust had closed again, #4 not quite. We were now 2400km from home with a confirmed dying motor.Turn round & go home, no holiday & maybe not get home anyway, or cut 3 days out not go to Katherine, turning left at Three Ways instead & risk the extra coupla thousand k’s home & have a holiday? We opted to keep going, saw no Kombis, no Beetles Sitting on 90kmh had reduced fuel consumption to 24mpg, hmmmm. DAY 4 640 k’s to cover at the now decided on 80 to 85kmh & I was getting paranoid about leaving the hammer under the car after starting, & driving off. Arrived at Three Ways Roadhouse for the night at 5.30pm . 27mpg – wow, wind resistance has a lot to answer for! Still saw no other aircooled VWs – where the hell are they! We want to wave to somebody before ours is deceased!! Checked valve clearances, had only lost 3 0r 4 thou on each dying valve, thing were looking up. Three Ways Roadhouse was great, & only $11 for the night.The engine bay now had fine red dust in it. DAY 5 Travelling through Tennant Creek saw a Kombi Camper filling up with petrol, wave, beep beep, great, we are not the only one in N.T. then, 40ks south, I could see lights flashing from an oncoming vehicle YES YES another Kombi. Much beeping &…

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bugboymatt Custom Title Time!

1,405 posts · joined Aug 2002 · 16 Feb 2004, 3:37 pm

#140440

😀:thumb
Mate what a great read and great pics to go with it.
very envious.

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