2.8L Chevy Adventurewagen

[fastmc25]

Here's the newest addition to making Clyde.. a bit "Greener" ...

I removed the Incandescent rv dome lights i had for the cabin area...... and installed some custom LED dome lights that i made..... These are real efficient using only a fraction of the power the old incandescent bulbs use..... I'll see tonight if they are bright enough but i think they will be fine...

I bought the strips of LED lights from IKEA and made a custom mounts for them........ they are on independent switches so i can have one or both on depending on the need... and they run on the solar system batteries.......

[fastmc25]

I decided to finally upgrade the radiator from the 87 Caravan unit to a Griffin aluminum racing radiator....... Clyde always ran around 205 degrees on hot summer days which is ok but i want to better that...... I'm planning a summer trip in July around 3000 miles so i thought this was a worthy upgrade... This unit is much thicker 2 core and combined with a HD electric fan should give me numbers like i want... I had to refab the hoses..... I still need to come up with a different coolant expansion tank as the room beside the rad is smaller now...

I had to offset the radiator to the passenger side so the steering box arm would clear the lower outlet..... It's close but seems to work well....









I drove it today and it seemed to cool pretty well ..... I'll know more tomorrow when i bleed the system one more time....

[fastmc25]

Finished buttoning the frontend up and installed the lower airdam ........... bled out the rest of the air and refilled with 50/50 coolant...... I moved the Hella lights to see how it did without any blockage in front of the radiator... They may not stay there but who knows... I might just take them off completely..

Today was a perfect test day........ 100 degrees in the shade and 90% humidity....... hot as hell.....

Man.... It definately runs cooler........ at cruising speed... 45 - 60 mph it stayed at 185-190 degrees......(per the thermostat) when i sit at long traffic lights it climbs up to about 210 and then the fan comes on and drops it back down...... No burping from the overflow line at all........ once i start rolling the temp instantly drops back down... This is a very worthwhile investment for a conversion cooling solution...

Next i need to replace one of my parking brake cables......

[itlives]

It's about time you got around to that!

[fastmc25]

It seems to work pretty well......... I have a spare radiator now............

[chazz79]

The cables are cheap enough @ 10.00 apeice at bus depot. Do you still have all the ebrake parts inside the drum? Mine doesn't and I've found that most of the bus bone yards are proud of those brake levers and spreader bars that reside inside the drums. 170 was my quote from busted bus... You know of any venders that might have some of those parts? I'm getting sick of tossing a wheel chock down to keep it from rolling, kinda ghetto if you ask me.

[fastmc25]

Clyde just completed a 2000mi round trip to the Smokey Mountains in North Carolina......... the 4 bbl howling as we ascended through the mountain passes.... Very rarely hit 3rd gear as long as i held my speed above 60.......... but when hung in traffic at a slower speed it had to drop down a gear... The new radiator made all the difference in 100 degree weather... my engine temps stayed around 190 degrees the whole trip....... even at 75-80 mph....

On the trip up i was averaging 19 mpg pulling the trailer loaded with camp supplies and firewood.... but my total trip average was 17mpg...... but that includes a lot of mountain driving and high speed runs on the interstate...... I usually drive 65mph but Clyde has long legs and likes to stretch out from time to time....


It was a great week at HCBF...... I got there early on Wednesday morning but there were already 36 busses there .............. I found a nice spot in the primitive camping area to setup........ things got crowded by Friday afternoon ........... Busses were stacking up on every available piece of grass...

I went on a couple of river canoe trips while there....... we loaded up in a couple trucks and busses and went upstream for a 3 hour canoe trip down through some rapids and beautiful areas...

We had approx.. 176 Busses camping at this river......... Nestled in the mountains of Crumpler , North Carolina on the New River...... park on the water.... drop the canoe..... bust open some cold drinks and relax for 5 days..................... that's what i did...

.... I made it home on the 2000 mile round trip without a hitch.... Clyde had a couple of little electrical hiccups but didn't miss a beat on the drive home Via Lynchburg, Tenn..... I had to restock up on "Jack" ....

It is every year ...... here is next years page already... http://www.highcountrybusfestival.com/Welcome.html


My camera took a bath in the river the second day's canoe trip there so i don't have many more pics.................. I think it's a gonner ....... LOL

[itlives]

Nice trip! Maybe WE can go next year
Was that other Adventure wagon the only other one?

[Gerrelt]

Nice trip!!

This picture has an excellent holliday feeling to it!:

[fastmc25]

Nice trip! Maybe WE can go next year
Was that other Adventure wagon the only other one?

Yes "WE" need to go next year............

There were about 6 highroof variations of the Adventurewagen roofs there....... most were added onto Westy bodies though...

[fusername]

just checking in on ya to make sure you didn't go any lower! do you have numbers for the lamp draw vs the leds? my ammeter is toast and I have been considering adding a second light in my bay, and curious if it is worth the LED upgrade, becuase that stock light throws a lot of light around, and matching that with leds will be expensive. i need somethign small for the rear bed as the light doesn't make it that far that well, and sometimes you don't want to get up to turn it on, and I need a second bright one for in the pop top, cause the stock light does not help up there obviously.

also I just traded parts for parts and ended out with 930 joints, maybe someday i'll win the lotto and pick up a set of axles and boots to match, then I just need ot make my own flanges and i am good to go, and on a budget at that! only had to pay shipping!

[fusername]

oh and not to be a kill joy, but could you resize those photos? I need to scroll around to read your posts and it takes the fun out of it.

[fastmc25]

just checking in on ya to make sure you didn't go any lower! do you have numbers for the lamp draw vs the leds? my ammeter is toast and I have been considering adding a second light in my bay, and curious if it is worth the LED upgrade, becuase that stock light throws a lot of light around, and matching that with leds will be expensive. i need somethign small for the rear bed as the light doesn't make it that far that well, and sometimes you don't want to get up to turn it on, and I need a second bright one for in the pop top, cause the stock light does not help up there obviously.

Don't remember the wattage on the Incandescent bulbs.... the LED's draw 1.68 watts of power per 10 LED strip...... very low power.... I feel they put out plenty light and could be placed anywhere.... At IKEA they were $49.00 for the set of 4 - 10LED strips and wiring... not bad really.... Here is another LED place to wet your imagination ...... http://www.superbrightleds.com/

I'm eventually going to replace all of my incandescent bulbs with LED bulbs... they have some really good ones at that sight..

[fusername]

hey fastmc, why did you end out lowering your bus anyways? I am trying to get lift spindles for mine and it is apparently more complicated than just sending your money out... I also got a good deal on 930cvs, but it will be a long time before I can afford any more of the parts i need, but the price could not be beat.

also, I met a guy at a car show how said he knew you, and either he was taling with you when the idea for the rear arches came out, or it was his idea and he told you? any ways I lost all his contact info, and if you have any idea who i am talkign about I want to get in touch with him, he had some parts i needed! met him at a car show in CT, so he can't live too far.

[fastmc25]

I had planned some long distance trips in Clyde and didn't trust the cv's ........ they made more noise than i like and i had 2x 2000mi. trips planned this past summer..... The Cv's running at the 24 degrees were getting very hot and cv joint grease was leaking and splattering everywhere... Now with him lower to stock height it's quiet ....... so much so i like it more.... acceleration is crisper too..... I still run the 30" tires with no problems too... I had to downsize the fronts to 28" .... still no rubbing...