Drive a VW bus to South America?

Hi,

I've been dreaming for a long time about driving a vehicle from USA to
South America (I'm from Argentina). I wanted to ask three questions:

1) Do you know of any books, travel logs, etc. about this trip? The
only book I know of is "Road Fever". I know that many people have done
this before, but I haven't been able to find any travel logs about
their experiences.

2) If I decided to try this trip on a VW bus, what model year(s) do you
think would be most appropriate? I need a vehicle that will be very
reliable, that can stand up to hot weather, easy to repair, etc.

3) Is there any other aircooled VW message board where I should also
ask these questions?

Thanks in advance for any comments.

Franco wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I've been dreaming for a long time about driving a vehicle from USA to
> South America (I'm from Argentina).

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Franco,

The simple answer is that you can't. The Pan-American Highway isn't
quite as 'pan' as the politicians would like us to believe since there
is no road through the Darian Gap (ie, between Panama and Columbia).
Even worse, as of two years ago the vehicle ferry is no longer running.

-Bob Hoover

Thanks Bob for the reply. I wasn't planning on putting the car on a
ferry, but rather to ship it in a container from Panama to Ecuador. I
wouldn't want to drive through Colombia anyway.

Hey Bob, I wasn't sure you were still posting to Newsgroups. Anyway I
lost your notes on how to convert a VW 1600 SP engine to run on 2 and
compress air on the other two. I'm also interested in how to regulate
the air pressure.

Harbor Freight sells a belt driven 10KW generator head that I would like
to run off the same engine. The idea is to be able to weld and run air
tools wherever I need to. Do you think 2 cylinders of a single port
1600 would be able to compress air and have enough power left to run the
generator?

Tony

wrote:
> Franco wrote:
<snip>

wrote:
> Anthony W wrote:
>> I
>> lost your notes on how to convert a VW 1600 SP engine to run on 2 and
>> compress air on the other two.
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Google should find it for you.
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------

I tried googling it last night and I couldn't find it. I'll try again
and juggle the search terms.

>> I'm also interested in how to regulate
>> the air pressure.

<Snip>

> Regulation on the demand side is the same as with any other air
> compressor. The air in the receiver is fed to a manually adjustable
> pressure regulator.

I didn't think it was going to be so easy as buying a regulator.


> ------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>> Harbor Freight sells a belt driven 10KW generator head that I would like
>> to run off the same engine. The idea is to be able to weld and run air
>> tools wherever I need to. Do you think 2 cylinders of a single port
>> 1600 would be able to compress air and have enough power left to run the
>> generator?
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Not at the same time.
>
> The realistic output of half of a 1600 engine is only 12 to 16hp
> running on gasoline and as much as 25% less when running on natural gas
> or propane. (And don't even ask about this political 'E85' ****
> they're pushing nowadays. [I wonder how long it will take the dummies
> to figure out that the biggest producer of alcohol is owned by Exxon
> :-)] )
>
> No generator is 100% efficient; you gotta put in more hp in torque than
> you can take out in electricity. An honest 10kW will need 16 to 20hp,
> depending on the ambient temp and method of coupling (ie, belts vs
> gears, etc.). However, if you read the fine print you'll probably find
> your "10kW" isn't, except for momentary peaks.
>
> Even though your engine is only producing power on two cylinders it
> still has all the 'overhead' of a four-banger. That is, the engine is
> still pumping cooling air and delivering pressurized oil, probably
> generating enough electricity for its own igntion, and so on. Even at
> an idle that overhead amounts to about 3hp... and about twice that at
> full throttle.
>
> (Ideally, with that amount of overhead and only two cylinders, the
> flywheel mass should be about 4x greater than stock.)
>
> A VW engine makes a dandy high-output air compressor. Cheap, too,
> assuming you have a shop full of junked VW engines and know how to
> twirl a wrench. But don't be mislead by the advertising hype regarding
> the VW's power. Read the specs closely. The most powerful carburetted
> Type I developed only 57hp @ 4400 rpm... and then only for a couple of
> minutes under 'Standard Day' conditions. After that, thermal
> limitations take over, leaving you with a sturdy, reliable 45bhp or
> thereabouts. Exceed those thermal limitations and you'll be giving the
> thing a valve job every couple of months.
>
> -Bob Hoover
>
> PS -- My little Hobart migger runs just fine behind a 1.5kW generator.

Thanx that's all good info. I have a 220v 150 amp welder. I know the
10k generator is more than I need but it's also the only generator unit
that I've found so far that's sold ready to bolt up and use. I may
scrap this project for an electric compressor and a used gas powered
generator.

I have all the parts to build a 1600 single port engine less a few
bearings. I'm sure I'll find a use for it eventually.


Tony

In article .com>,
Franco > wrote:
>Thanks Bob for the reply. I wasn't planning on putting the car on a
>ferry, but rather to ship it in a container from Panama to Ecuador. I
>wouldn't want to drive through Colombia anyway.
>

You wouldnt want to drive it alone through Ecuador and Peru either. Once
you get to central Peru you can drive it all the way to souther Chile,
then cross over to argentina, go to the southermost cities and get back up
to uruguay, paraguay and brazil...

Be sure to say hi when in Santiago, thats were I live.

A couple of years ago an English couple did a trip in a VW van they
bought in Chile for around US$3000. They had 16 visits to different
mechanics on the 3 month trip, with me doing as translator and fedexing them
parts to remote citites, but they made it back to Santiago and sold the
van for US$2000 to another crazy couple that did it again....

Search google for messages in this group whith 'John Reid' for the
story.

I still have some pictures online.... http://www.nn.cl/Fotos/Autos/JohnReid/


--
Eduardo K. |
http://www.carfun.cl | Freedom's just another word
http://e.nn.cl | for nothing left to lose.
|

Eduardo:

What do you mean by "You wouldnt want to drive it alone through Ecuador
and Peru either"? Are you talking about safety? Thanks.

Franco

In article . com>,
Franco > wrote:
>Eduardo:
>
>What do you mean by "You wouldnt want to drive it alone through Ecuador
>and Peru either"? Are you talking about safety? Thanks.
>

Yes. North of Peru where the border with Ecuador is is not safe
for driving. The rest of Peru, from Lima south, is ok.



--
Eduardo K. | Some say it's forgive and forget.
http://www.carfun.cl | I say forget about forgiving just accept.
http://e.nn.cl | And get the hell out of town.
| Minnie Driver, Grosse Point Blank