SunBug got us home, ~1200kms

Hi All,

On Saturday, my friend Eric and I flew down to Vancouver BC and drove a 74 super SunBug home to Edmonton Alberta. The trip went very well, mostly due to our "overpreparedness". You can never be prepared enough for something like this, and all the tools and stuff we brought really paid off. The car had been parked for a year and a half, the owner started it up recently, but when we got there, it was in no shape to drive.

We used almost all of the extra parts and tools we brought, including:

Carburator, coil, points, fuel hoses, filter, oil strainer and gaskets, valve cover gaskets, changed the oil (it was black and gummy), bought an air filter and oil when we were there.

We had to drive through the mountains for about 75% of the trip, and the old

1600DP did really well. Didn't burn or leak a drop of oil for the first 4.5 hours, and it was driven pretty hard. Got 30mpg too!. That was without a thermostat, the extra one I brought didn't fit, and no VW shop in town had one.

The next day, we had about 9 hours of driving to do, and for some reason, it started to leak a little bit of oil, so by the time we got home, it needed about a litre of oil.

The only real problem we had on the trip, is when we got to our day one destination (Kamloops) the car wouldn't start. I figured the wire came off the starter, and sure enough, that is exactly what it was. Managed to get the sunroof working (didn't work for years) and the weather was so good, we had it open most of the time.

That trip was a lot of fun, I would do it all over again in a second. It really pays to be prepared, and to cover all the bases before you do something like this. I also never would have been able to accomplish this ALONE, if my friend Eric didn't come along, it would have been difficult to pull this off. If anyone ever does this, bring someone with you.

Reply to
Ryan Lester
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......................Sounds like you had a great time Ryan. I flew to Colorado from NY and drove my '77 home a year ago this past August. It really was a great experience, getting aquainted with a bug while seeing the countryside. I was confident that it was in excellent condition because the seller was a regular here at RAMVA. But in your case, it was a real 'leap of faith' to start out with a bug that hadn't been on the road for a signifigant time prior to your purchasing it from a stranger.

Reply to
Tim Rogers

"Tim Rogers" wrote in news:blsu3f$ftjl2$ snipped-for-privacy@ID-46866.news.uni-berlin.de:

If anyone wants to see pictures - I put an album up at imagestation:

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Eric.

Reply to
Eric

Eric,

Glad to hear things went well. Kirin and I were worried about you guys going over the Rockies. Any snow around there yet? I've yet to make a trip over those Rockies in an aircooled, maybe I should do that next summer.

-- Anna

65 Bahama Blue Bug "Bebe Jones" 79 Auto Westy "Avy" 58 Panel Van "Glenn" 58 Panel Van "Selah"
Reply to
BugBum

"BugBum" wrote in news:3f832879$1 snipped-for-privacy@binaries.vphos.net:

It's an awesome trip. We took old highway 1 instead of the Coquihalla cause the hills are not as long and steep (although there are a lot of them) and there are more opportunities for help along the route. It is slow going though, so don't look at a sign that says 350km to Kamloops and expect to get there in 3.5 hours....

Great scenery, great roads. No snow yet - in fact the weather was perfect for driving - nice and bright but not too hot.

You and Kirin could come for one of our VW shows in Alberta. It would be a blast.

Eric

Reply to
Eric

I am junking out my 74 Sunbug. The original interior is in good condition, steering wheel. Need anything?

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Reply to
Dennis Wik

That sounds like a great idea. Looks like you found a great little bug out in Langley. The fire damage is so sad, I'd almost forgot it happened being over here on the island.

-- Anna

65 Bahama Blue Bug "Bebe Jones" 79 Auto Westy "Avy"
Reply to
BugBum

Yeah, I could use some parts.

The seats are beat, steering wheel is falling apart. The carpets look ok, but are a little faded.

I couldn't get that link to work, does it have pictures of the bug? I am definitely intersted in some parts.

Ryan.

Reply to
Ryan Lester

Hey Ryan.. so you did take highway one. I drove down it sunday and saw a metallic blue super with a sunroof pulled over.. Was that you guys? Felt pretty bad because I didn't pull over but a Malibu was behind it.. I'm up for going to alberta for a vw show..

-Kirin

Reply to
Kirin Jacobsen

No, that wasn't us. My bug is metallic gold. We never saw a blue super though. If we did, we would have stopped for sure, we had enough tools and parts to rebuild half the car.

We were heading north of Kamloops by Sunday. Where abouts did you see it?

Ryan.

Reply to
Ryan Lester

About 15 minutes south of Cache creek where the highway was 4 lanes wide. They did have a malibu pulled over behind them. It was around

3:30-4:00 timewise.. PM

-Kirin

Reply to
Kirin Jacobsen

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