Vana does Denver and gets pretty high along the way, twice..

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the miz
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Vana does Denver and gets pretty high along the way, twice..

Post by the miz » Wed Jul 08, 2015 8:37 pm

...so after much tinkering, re-torquing, worrying, consulting of the forum...and supportive response frm the group, we finally left Eagan at ~6 PM on Friday night...day 1! We pulled into Blue Mounds SP in SW MN at close to 11 PM...it was too dark to take a picture, so I waited until I was having my coffee the next morning:Image
...we were camping...in the bus...it was pretty awesome! The previous evening's drive was uneventful. CHTs near 350*, except during a cold thunderstorm when they dropped 100*! Oil temps were 220*. Pressure ~50 +/- 10. It all seemed good. Shortly after the picture I did the 250 mi. engine break in oil change...while our camping neighbors watched, munching their bacon. There was a fellow Vanagonian 2 sites down...in a 81 tin top...with that heinous 2-tone brown paint scheme. He came by to chat...we commiserated about oil leaks...I noticed he was under his bus about 10 minutes later.
Day 2 brought a departure from Blue Mounds and an epic day of driving...it was at least 11 hours...maybe 12 if you calculate for the gained(?) hour crossing into Mountain Time. We started off on I 90 through southern SD, but then I figured we shouldn't hammer the new engine and opted to drop down to US 18. The southern tier of SD is a lovely and empty place...I was watching the gas gauge like a hawk and stopped at every infrequent opportunity to top off whilst crossing the Rosebud and Pine Ridge reservations. We were travelin' and everyone seemed to be enjoying it:
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Eventually we dropped down into Nebraska, en-route to some really good Mexican food and a night in a hotel :cheers: . I have a new found appreciation for Nebraska...the roller-coaster ride through the Sand Hills on NEB HWY 27 is not to be missed...it is beautiful...and fun!
Alas, it was too challenging of a drive to take photos, so I had to wait until we were out of the hairy part of the Sand Hills:
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...there were all of these "ponds", maybe they were spring fed? One of them had several pelicans hanging out...like I said, it was a beautiful drive...and no one else was out there...
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The aforementioned Mexican food(and grande cervezas/margaritas) and hotel room with AC and swimming pool were much needed at the end of that day...it was a bit too long to be in the bus...with no ac.
Day 3 dawned and we were out onto I 80 heading for the Wyoming border...shortly into Wyoming, we started to have some anemic performance, which I attributed to the altitude increase. I hate it when I have to down shift into third on what might be best described as a rolling hill on the interstate. I took some of Colin's PM notes and stopped to "lean" the carbs a bit. It kind of worked...after we got onto I 25, we stopped at the rest area...and I leaned them again...much better! We were cruising...holding 60+ into a headwind on I 25! CHT and OT looking good, ~300 and 220 respectively. I should mention that Vana loves cruising with the Wailers Burnin' album playing...it was fun.
Everything was pretty hunky-dory until we got into Loveland, CO...it seemed the the carbs were spitting back...had I leaned them too much? I didn't sweat it, we were on our way to ~8500' for the night. We cruised up the Big Thompson Canyon, no problem...and rolled into Estes Park...which was jammed with Sunday afternoon tourist traffic. It was a long wait to get through such a small town. On the way out of Estes, I stopped for fuel...at start up we had some serious problems. I attributed it to the altitude and a long day of driving; we limped up to the Glacier Basin Campground...at like 25 mph max speed. It was time to take a break...and what a great place to do it:
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I got the LP fridge fired up to keep the beer cold...we had some friends in the campground, with their kids...everyone had a fun night...except for one friend's 5 year old son...he had thrown up once or twice...as flatlanders in the high country, we blamed the altitude. Later, after some family members from each group vomited at least once in the next week...we decided it was a bug...also, we later found out that 2 of the kids had picked up lice! Although our 5 year old would barf his guts out a few nights later at 2 AM :pukeright: , at least we seem to have dodged the "lice bullet"!
Day 4 was mellow. My wife and kids hiked Sprague Lake together...I took care of Basil, our 11 year old lab, who wasn't allowed on the hiking trails:
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...and Vana...who seemd to need more carburetor fiddling(?)
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I was kind of at a loss, she was not running well at altitude...and the crux of the trip was to go over the Trail Ridge Road. I spent the afternoon adjusting the carbs and toying with mild timing advancements, per Colin's suggestion. Alas, I hadn't made it quite clear where we were or what we were doing, so I might have been too conservative(?)...maybe? Fuel and air mix was obviously a problem up here...as evidenced by the fact that I now could not get the LP mode on the fridge to work...this would be the case for several days.
We rolled into Moraine Park CG in the evening:
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That's Long's Peak in the background...this was a fun time to regale the kids with mom and dad's mountaineering stories...we had summited Long's about 6 or 7 years ago.
Moraine Park was OK...but not as nice as Glacier Basin (my absolute camping recommendation for RMNP). It was huge...and crowded...but the mule deer and elk were still hanging about.
It was an amazingly brightly moonlit night...2 AM was like broad daylight...I've never experienced that bright of moonlight without snow on the ground.
Tuesday, day 5, dawned in Moraine Park:
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After the previous evening's 2 hours of fiddling with timing and carbs...I thought we could give the Trail Ridge Road a shot...everyone was happy to try...at this point I'd spent most of the vacation working on the bus...and not enjoying the vacation...it was time to do what we were there for! After a brief dip back into Estes Park for fuel and provisions we made our push up Trail Ridge Road. On the lower reaches, my biggest problem was a gaper from Missouri, in a Jeep Cherokee, who was doing 20! Vana was aok as long as we could keep in in 2nd or 3rd gear...but this guy was cramping our style. We climbed...9000', 10000', 11000'...suffering now...had to downshift into 1st...we were maybe doing 15 mph...and we had a sweet 50 car parade behind us...I kinda felt bad about it, but I knew that if we stopped, we wouldn't start again. We limped over Iceberg Pass (12183')at 15 mph; the Wailers were "Burnin' and a Lootin'" on the stereo, this was now our "good luck album". Fortunately, there was a downhill stretch to the Alpine Visitor Center, where we planned to stop and let Vana rest (CHT 225, OT 260+).:
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I felt somewhat accomplished when we pulled into the visitor center parking lot...this had been possible, albeit barely.
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We took in the spectacular views, walked to the highest point...bought souvenirs...and let Vana rest for nearly 2 hours.

We started back up nicely, but the way down brought poor performance...lots of backfiring...almost no power. We got down to the Timber Creek Campground...where there were plenty of sites, but where we didn't really want to stay and had a tough time starting again. Somewhat to my chagrin, we briefly stopped in the Kawauneeche Visitor Center...but both boys were deputized as Jr. Rangers there ...so it was worth the tough time getting started again. We continued down US 34 and limped into the Stillwater Campground...after several miles of driving on the shoulder."Vana's tired", I thought..."let's give her a rest". It was a great place to rest, especially behind a wild rose bush:
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We had a late lunch in the bus as this incredible storm rolled in (check the hailstones):
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...this was much more than the garden variety mountain afternoon storm...we were glad when it left, so we could go back to enjoying the view:
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Day 6 brought the 1000 mi engine break in oil change...and a much more private place to do it!
The rest of the family enjoyed a swim in Granby Lake, while "mechanic dad" worked on the bus...they were starting to sense a theme. We decided that the campground was sufficiently lovely to warrant another night...but we were out of food, etc., so we decided to pop up the road a few miles to Grand Lake to get some supplies before picking a new site for the evening.
Well...that was when all of the trouble started. I was having a tough time holding 20mph...bucking and backfiring up US 34 on the shoulder. Finally...cruising at 10mph, I found a nice pullout and stopped. I tried fiddling with the carbs some more...but at this point, despite taking notes, I had kind of lost track of what I'd done. I gave it almost 2 hours...I watched, jealously, as several families whizzed by, problem free in their water boxer Westies...it started to storm again...everyone was losing patience for "mechanic dad"...I gave up. That's when we met Gary!:
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He was pretty cool, I'm sure he bent several AAA rules about towing to get us out of there for no additional cost. He had a nice Border Collie named Montana who rode with him in the cab and seemed to like riding on my 5-year-old's lap. Montana was the alpha of the tow truck, though...at least according to Gary, so Basil would have to ride in the bus, as we got towed into Granby.
Luckily, by the time Gary arrived, we knew where we were going. The folks at the reception desk of the hotel I had booked had very highly recommended Bill of Bill's Auto Place as the finest, most honest and most reasonable mechanicanywhere. I found this to be true, and would recommend him to anyone who breaks down in Grand County and just can't fix it themselves. Bill was super friendly...and willing to try to help me with my air cooled Volkswagen...I was pleasantly surprised and simultaneously relieved to not have to figure it out myself.
The Inn at Silver Creek is a ski lodge 2-3 decades past its hey-day. But it was clean, nice, had friendly staff, had a bar/restaurant, an indoor-outdoor pool, allowed dogs and had this view from the balcony:Image
I wasn't going to be picky, this place was great...and the fact that it was built in the 80's just reminded us of riding in Vana...so we were at home.
We ended up spending 2 nights. As with Bill at the shop...if in Grand County and looking for an affordable place to stay, I'd recommend it.
Bill worked on Vana the next day (day 7) and discovered that my real problem was that the catalytic converter had plugged. This explained a lot, instantly...and again, I was relieved, as I would probably not have figured that out on my own and certainly not so quickly; furthermore, it was something which couldn't have been fixed roadside. He'd put in fresh plugs, ordered a cat from Denver (which was due to arrive in the morning) and stated that we'd be on our way then.
Day 8 dawned...and as we were about to have to check out of the room, I called Bill...who stated that the cat that he had ordered hadn't showed up on the delivery. I was quietly happy, as he had suggested the fix that I had really wanted: hollowing out the cat...I just hadn't mentioned it, as I was happy to let him install a new cat to "do the job right". He achieved the hollow out after lunchtime and went to give a test drive....at which point the muffler plugged with some residual catalyst material...back to square one.
The day was dragging on, luckily the staff at the hotel allowed us to hang out in the pool and patio area all day!
Now Bill is a resourceful guy...especially in a town like Granby...where vintage Volkswagen parts don't grow on trees. He found a glass pack...and some Frankenstein-y clamps and pieced together my exhaust...while band-aiding the leaks in my cross-pipe! Check out Vana and her new ch ch ch ch ch ch Cherry Bomb!:
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...well, it worked really well and with the exhaust leaks fixed...it sounded pretty sweet too. It was 5 PM on the Friday before the 4th of July...and we had no campsite reserved...and we were heading towards Denver...while the teaming masses escaped the city, likely occupying every campsite along the way. Feeling that enough was enough and that discretion was the better part of valor, I decided that we should just go down to Denver and camp in the driveway of some old friends, who live on the Stapleton side of town.
Carbs being carbs and altitude lacking oxygen, we crested Berthoud Pass (11306') in 1st gear at 15 mph; Bob, Bunny and Peter were lamenting life in the Concrete Jungle on the stereo. Fortunately we'd spent the entire lower reaches cruising near 30 in 2nd and occasionally a bit faster in 3rd. The way down was a breeze...we saw a moose on the shoulder...it was huge...head-high as tall as Vana (so like ~83")! The lower we got, the better Vana ran; I felt this was a good choice. Bonus: our friends have a great craft brewery in their neighborhood: Station 26. It is in an old fire station and has great beer, they had a great food truck (Big Kiwi) that night. It was a fantastic stop...if you are on the east side of Denver, near Quebec St, it is definitely worth the 2 min detour from I 70 to check it out. We saw our friends and hung out for a while, before I and my 9-year-old went out to the driveway to sleep in Vana. The neighbors were out in their driveway chatting until the wee hours...luckily, I don't understand much Spanish...so it didn't keep me awake.
PS-the LP mode on the fridge also "magically" started working again in Denver...oxygen, who knew? :scratch:
Day 9...we stopped quickly at Starbucks and hit the road...all the way to Omaha...in a cross headwind...it was tough. Hotel room with pool and some BBQ at Famous Dave's and everyone was happy.
Day 10...fighting the same cross headwind across Iowa on 80...and it was getting hot! CHTs still hovering arond 300-325...OT still 220. It was amazing to finally catch the tailwind as we headed north from Des Moines on I 35...75 mph?! Vana...I forgot you had it in you! What a fun, triumphant way to end the trip...passing folks in modern vehicles tearing it up back to the Twin Cities Metro.
It was a good trip...and eventful,as I said: a mitigated disaster. I told you there was more to the story...and now you know...
-miz
1982 Westy- Vana White

Jivermo
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Re: Vana does Denver and gets pretty high along the way, twi

Post by Jivermo » Thu Jul 09, 2015 1:05 am

Great write Up! Thanks!

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THall
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Re: Vana does Denver and gets pretty high along the way, twi

Post by THall » Thu Jul 09, 2015 5:54 am

Great read, thanks for sharing. Ya mon...lively up yourself
'78 Westy 2.0 FI

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airkooledchris
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Re: Vana does Denver and gets pretty high along the way, twi

Post by airkooledchris » Thu Jul 09, 2015 9:59 am

the CAT clogging while you transition into higher and higher elevations? ugh. that would throw most anyone off of finding the true source of the problem. assumptions are bad and all but for a clear issue like higher elevations and poor running, it's amazing even Bill tracked it down quite so easily.

congrats on getting back on the road. The CHT"s sound terrific btw, if you can muscle some more power out of it you can probably afford it with those cooler head temps.
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wcfvw69
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Re: Vana does Denver and gets pretty high along the way, twi

Post by wcfvw69 » Thu Jul 09, 2015 7:30 pm

What a fantastic trip report. Well done. Glad you had the patience to preserver through the challenges as well.

I posted about my pretty fresh, 1776 type 1 engine losing about 40% of it's power going from 2000' to 7200'. It was a gutless wonder at those elevations. I can't imagine how your ride did at 10-11000', with a clogged cat!

I'm glad it had a good outcome!
1970 Westfalia bus. Stock 1776 dual port type 1 engine. Restored German Solex 34-3. Restored 205Q distributor, restored to factory appearance engine.

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Re: Vana does Denver and gets pretty high along the way, twi

Post by Squeebles » Fri Jul 10, 2015 6:39 am

Great write-up indeed, and a great attitude on your part! sounds like you guys made some lifelong memories along the way, and that's the main goal. And now you are one of the only Westy drivers with a cherry bomb muffler!
1977 VW Bus, 2.0 FI

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the miz
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Re: Vana does Denver and gets pretty high along the way, twi

Post by the miz » Fri Jul 10, 2015 6:46 am

Squeebles wrote:Great write-up indeed, and a great attitude on your part! sounds like you guys made some lifelong memories along the way, and that's the main goal. And now you are one of the only Westy drivers with a cherry bomb muffler!

Thanks to all of you for the positive feed back. I'm glad you've enjoyed the read!
We'll see how long that cherry bomb stays on. I have a brand new Ernst exhaust that I could put on...if I could just modify the blower pipe that seems to be preventing it from fitting... :scratch:
miz
1982 Westy- Vana White

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