GoBigEmma Pan-American Roadtrip log

[andrewtf]

I figured I'd hedge my bets and subliminally make you want to continue to schlep all the way to the middle of corn and beans to just to grab a fleeting flash of memory of the Road Warrior.



Ok - not really. But I'll take any advantage I can scrounge up.
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'75 Riviera - 'BIG EMMA' (Pan American highway trip paused for a make over)
'77 Riviera - Murphy' (being reborn.... slowly)
'63 Austin Healey

[Amskeptic]

[Stuartzickefoose]

How many angles did you try before getting that tank in the background to look like it was on your roof? nice pic!
_________________
Stuart Zickefoose

2011 Jetta Sportwagen TDi 6 speed manual

206-841-7324
[email protected]

[Amskeptic]

[andrewtf]

Then where's the diet Coke stash?
_________________
'75 Riviera - 'BIG EMMA' (Pan American highway trip paused for a make over)
'77 Riviera - Murphy' (being reborn.... slowly)
'63 Austin Healey

[tristessa]

That looks like a nifty roof vent. Got a link, or at least a brand/model?

[andrewtf]

The brand is MAXXFAN DELUX,
Model 5100 K
Purchased thru Amazon.

It was pretty easy to install and I'm sure you 'could' do it with the top in place. After getting over the fear of cutting a gigantic hole in the top, it was easy. We redid all the wood in the top and we used marine construction adhesive 'jut in case'. We also installed a 1 x 4 frame around the perimeter of the hole so we could suck the fiberglass and the interior ceiling together when we installed the fan.

We'd be happy to offer more info if you want it.
I think Emma is going to do a topic on the top rejuvenation... soon.
_________________
'75 Riviera - 'BIG EMMA' (Pan American highway trip paused for a make over)
'77 Riviera - Murphy' (being reborn.... slowly)
'63 Austin Healey

[tristessa]

I've already got a 14x14 hole in my AW top, just looking for something to possibly replace the existing Ventline unit I've got on there right now. Will look into that one. Thanks!

[Stuartzickefoose]

Trstessa, there’s a unit that Micah used that’s a automatically thermostat controlled and humidity controlled fan. Remote control so you don’t have to reach and very effective. Give Micah a holler, or Kirk, who sees Micah regularly. Figure out what it is because it was awesome.

And make sure you get every detail on his second battery...it’s a custom one off battery that’s stupid effective...
_________________
Stuart Zickefoose

2011 Jetta Sportwagen TDi 6 speed manual

206-841-7324
[email protected]

[GoBigEmma]

[Brian]

I have to say, that window we made will last too long.
_________________
Wash your hands

'69 Bug
'68 Baja Truck
'71 Bug
'68 Camper

Only losers litter

[andrewtf]

Brian - you get a gold star... that cardboard window is still in place and Big Emma sat out in the light rain for........ at least 2 days with nary a leak while I worked on Murphy.

Deborah still has nightmares about answering the door. so..... keep in mind... paybacks a bitch - especially when it comes unexpectedly. Wait til your mom gets the surprise Christmas gift from her loving son of a Breitbart subscription because you have now 'found thew way' and can't wait to convert her.
_________________
'75 Riviera - 'BIG EMMA' (Pan American highway trip paused for a make over)
'77 Riviera - Murphy' (being reborn.... slowly)
'63 Austin Healey

[Stuartzickefoose]

I hope you all decided to upgrade your lighting finally...




Remember that convo from pre Alaska?

Looking great! Holler when you come back to the west coast....
_________________
Stuart Zickefoose

2011 Jetta Sportwagen TDi 6 speed manual

206-841-7324
[email protected]

[GoBigEmma]

Hello Sambaverse, it is time for the next installment of Big-Emma-Buildout updates

First of all, greetings from Germany, where currently 2/3 of our buildout team resides. Aka I (Emma) made it over to Germany to spend some time with Sven after a long year of not doing that. Andrewtf is still in Illinois and can finally concentrate on getting his Bus Murphy all polished and shiny. If only that nasty Midwest winter wouldn’t make being in the garage so damn cold….

So what have we been up to for the past forever months since my last post? A number of interesting things!



1) Hydraulic struts to lift our poptop: I would say our biggest accomplishment was attaching some hydraulic lifting struts to Big Emma’s poptop.

As a refresh, we have wanted to add these for YEARS because I have not - no shit - been able to lift our poptop on my own since we added our solar panels in June 2016 (and remember, we went from Illinois to Alaska to Belize in that time camping with our top popped nearly every night). Basically, Sven was a pop-top hero, even when sick, exhausted, or annoyed, because without him we had to sacrifice our headroom. Thanks Sven!

Thankfully, with this addition, I can now pop our top all by my tiny self

While this type of project seems to be extremely common on Westys, we found exactly 0 examples of this project on Rivieras like ours. We ended up putting two 81 lb struts on each side of our poptop, mounted with 13mm ball studs/stud brackets attached to the upper bunk and inside of the wooden poptop frame (if unfamiliar with the terminology here, feel free to read it here on our post about refurbishing our poptop: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=709845&highlight=). They now rest INSIDE our canvas. While this placement may seem odd, it was the only one that was really workable, especially since we were reluctant to drill extra holes into our tintop.

I will post extra specifically about this project because it was pretty unique on our roof restoration thread, so I will leave the intricate details for over there, but you get the gist.

2) Upper bunk: We also installed the upper bunk above the tintop. Because of warping and endless dirt, we left the old one back in Belize. Obviously, we did this before we put the struts on We have not installed the boards that fold out as of yet, because we are still discussing their properties of multifunctionality and that should be a quick job come spring. More on that when I return to Illinois!

3) Propane tank: One of the things that drove us nuts before was that we had our propane sitting in the middle of our cab for most of our previous adventure (after learning that the little green propane tanks were both ridiculously expensive, practically unrecyclable, and hard to get below the border).

We decided to invest in an external one and went for the larger Vanagon model (larger than the Westy model). We ended up attaching it to the chassis below the slider via two 1/16” x 12” angles. We will run the propane hose below the Bus and feed it in behind the driver’s seat. Don’t worry, a shut-off switch will be built in there, too, as well as a carbon monoxide detector. We have also attached a splitter to the tank so we can cook inside or out.

4) Garage box: This might just be my favorite one! One of the things I really wanted before hitting the road was to add some external storage, especially for things that I didn’t particularly like storing in my “house” like bigger tools and our ever-dirty leveling boards. Hence the “garage”.

We basically decided to do this by having a local metal shop make us a big steel box that now hangs between the driver’s side wheels. It is recessed to sit up below the chassis and bolted in at five different locations (green). It is made of 1/8” steel and sturdy as shit. In retrospect we would have made it a bit thinner to avoid the extra weight, but oh well…

Here is a rough sketch:

The parts drawn in red are the corrections we had to make afterwards to make it fit perfectly. Because the underside of the Bus curves oddly in that spot, preventing a complete upwards recess, we had to lop off the front corner with an angle grinder. We have replaced that corner now with a sturdy layer of duct tape.

And oh how much I can store in there!

As the propane tank also hangs quite low (about 1/4” below the lowest part of the engine) we did not have the clearance for this area of the Bus anymore anyways, so we felt that was worth the sacrifice. We will see if future-Emma and future-Sven agree when we are trying to navigate tricky bumpy roads in South America. I guess they will just have to learn to be careful going over pesky topes.

5) Mosquito nets: We finally installed the absolutely amazing mosquito net Sven’s mom made for our slider. Since he is ridiculously sensitive to mosquitos and no-see-ems, we wanted to make sure our new solution would be really solid. We accomplished this by screwing the frame of the nets directly into the Bus around the inside of the slider. The nets themselves (made with the finest mesh we could find) zipper on to those, making them removable without stressing the frame. Those suckers won’t be getting in this way! We are very happy with this solution so far (although we have had no actual mosquitoes to test it on as of yet).

6) Steering Wheel Cover: We had some extra marine vinyl left over from our bottom mattress cover and our old steering wheel cover was falling apart, so I made us a new one. Murphy got a similar one in blue.

7) Extra box: We wanted somewhere discreet to quickly store valuables while driving, so we came up with this box and painted it black to blend in with the floor. I personally find it very comfortable to rest my feet on as the passenger.

8 ) All hooked up! Last but not least, Big Emma is all wired up with all lights, usbs, 12vs, and fans that are possible/installed at this point. Yeah!

We have also done tons of minor things, shivered in the garage a lot, and been catching up on Murphy projects. I have also added some nice touches like this one to help us combat the potential dangers of parking garages:

At the moment, I am scheduled to be back in the USA mid-April, after which the final touches of our Big-Emma-Buildout can commence. That will include everything involving our big cabinet (across from the slider door, currently being built by someone else), finally installing our poptop canvas, hooking up solar and other lights, and a thousand small adjustments to cabinets, etc. Oh, and upgrading our lighting And popping out top a for fun, just because I can

But more on that later….

Greetings, Saludos, Grüße and cheers to all!

Emma, Sven, Andrew, and Big Emma
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1975 Bus "Big Emma", 1.8 FI, Hydraulic lifters
Interrupting our Pan-American Roadtrip for post-flood repairs: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=657738
Follow the trip on our blog: http://www.gobigemma.com

[advCo]

Love the mosquito net for the slider! Going to save that and hopefully can throw one together for my Westy.
_________________
"He pulled the mirrors off his Cadillac ‘cause he doesn’t like it looking like he looks back"
'68/'70 Ghia Coupe Project
'70 Westy Project - Champagne I Wannabe
A bunch of vintage Japanese motorcycles
"Much ingenuity with a little money is vastly more profitable and amusing than much money without ingenuity." -A. Bennett

[airschooled]

Good to see you laminated your fuse diagram so it's now waterproof…
Robbie
_________________
Learn how your vintage VW works. And why it doesn't!
One-on-one tech help for your Volkswagen:
www.airschooled.com

[GoBigEmma]

Yes.....wouldn't want that to get ruined in any stray mishaps.....actually wait.....THERE WILL BE NO MORE STRAY MISHAPS! (with that much water, at least! )
_________________
1975 Bus "Big Emma", 1.8 FI, Hydraulic lifters
Interrupting our Pan-American Roadtrip for post-flood repairs: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=657738
Follow the trip on our blog: http://www.gobigemma.com

[andrewtf]

New question/search:

We are in search of two 'parts'
I may also post this as a separate thread - if no one stumbles on this post with insight.

We are (believe it or not) seeing light at the end of our seemingly endless tunnel of Big Emma rebirth. There are just a few larger items to deal with - such as installing the awning and hooking up the solar. There are, of course, a million little project and bits to finish up, and we are painstakingly attending to those.
We CANNOT wait for Sven to arrive, get over jet lag, and pick up some tools with us.

Part #1 - Front vent wing window locks.
These are not the latches, but separate actual locking mechanisms.
I have searched and cannot find info on them. I looked thru a lot of threads but searching a thread with 850 posts to find the one about a vent wing window lock is fruitless.

I know these are available in some form, but I don't think I have ever seen them. The front vents are a prime 'break in' point and locks are essential. The old ones were good, but also home made and sort of jenky (sorry Emma and Sven). Something proper and strong would be ooh so beneficial.

Part #2 - metal trim piece for the walk thru lip.
This is really a 'trim' piece that goes at the rear side of the walk thru where it steps down about an inch. It goes over the heat openings in this lip. It is an inch+ tall and about 16" long. I have no idea what this is called, so I don't know how to search for it.

Thanks all - And as always, we appreciate our Samba family and all the support we are given.

Big Emma Build Team.
_________________
'75 Riviera - 'BIG EMMA' (Pan American highway trip paused for a make over)
'77 Riviera - Murphy' (being reborn.... slowly)
'63 Austin Healey

[notchboy]

These?

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2154659


And I have the trim piece - like below or is yours the regular bus version cuz mine is Westy.

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[andrewtf]

Locks?... I think so.
At this point, if it says 'Vent Wing Window Lock', I want to investigate.
Thank you so much for that tidbit. I"ll look into that.

On the other part - PM to be sent shortly.

thanks - Andrew
_________________
'75 Riviera - 'BIG EMMA' (Pan American highway trip paused for a make over)
'77 Riviera - Murphy' (being reborn.... slowly)
'63 Austin Healey