Short list of bus related items:

Got back in May of 2018 and Tristan (owner of Further Performance) and I decided we still need some more power so we put in a new cam and upsized the dual carbs. Net result is I’m now putting out about 150 horsepower. Added a 356 Porsche style oil filter for greater capacity and cooling.

As an air cooled vehicle, more oil to circulate can help with cooling.  Can’t tell you how cool it is to be able to pass someone now 👍

The big silver box on the front was replaced with a lower profile box, making me more aerodynamic (a word that has never been used in conjunction with VW Bus).

Tweaked a few other items and we were ready to hit the Minnesota and Wisconsin summer spots.

Since we parked the bus in Orlando last year as a winter base, we thought going west was best this year, so in October, I headed out for Phoenix. Conveniently, I had a program running in Palm Springs in February and also it was a good embarkation point for desert camping.

The trip to out west took me through Boulder CO for lunch with M’Lyn, one of our Production Managers living there.

Then down through Denver to visit my sister and brother-in-law and into Taos for a night in the ‘historic’ Taos Inn.

The singer in the lobby was nice when I was eating in the bar, but when I went to my room and realized it was an interior room overlooking the lobby going to bed was impossible. And his last two sets sounded like Marc Coen doing Billy Joel performed in my room!

Over the winter, made a couple trips to Palm Springs for work and Linda and I camped at Picacho Peaks State Park. To cost average the trip we spent half our time in the desert camp for $30/night and the other half at the Ritz Carlton Dove Mountain for $$$!

A little more maintenance required…

…so, with all that power and performance what reveals itself is the weakest component in the system. In this case, it was the transmission. In the course of the build, we inspected the tranny but did not feel it needed rebuilding. Now, I’m not saying it was directly related, but when you can now cruise at 65MPH and accelerate more quickly than before, the weak parts will begin to fail. I could have driven another 10,000 miles this way, but who wants to hold the gear shift lever constantly to keep it from popping out!  

And, since my Westy was stored in Phoenix, there are very reputable shops performing this type of major work. Doug’s Bugs and Bunnies did the rebuild on the transmission and yesterday I hit the road to begin a great adventure!  

More on that from Joshua Tree National Park.