Adventures with a Different Kind of Hot Rod

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In 1971 we bought a 1970 Volkswagen Bus. We had four children and wanted to travel with them. Our '54 Ford Ranchwagon just couldn't handle six or seven people plus camping and fishing gear for the family. I had installed a pair of Olds buckets in the front, so it was strictly a 5 passenger car.

We made trips from our Illinois home to and from Canada where we camped in our 12'x20' cabin style tent. It even towed our 16' jon boat. But. . . .

Even though it had plenty of room for what ever we needed, it couldn't get out of its own way.

A few years later (we had moved to Texas) I saw an article in one of the car mags about solutions to that trouble. One idea was to replace the engine with a Porsche or Corvair. The Porsche involved a lot of money and the Corvair involved modifying the engine to reverse the rotation. Both used the VW transaxle with 5.17 final gearing. That had either engine revving high at 70mph. I didn't like either idea.

But there was another idea. It was a kit to convert the VW to a Corvair drive train, transaxle and all. It was called Transvair. I ordered the kit and went shopping for a Corvair 110HP (recommended) 4 speed drive train. I found one with low mileage and a 3.27 final drive ratio.

I hired a local garage to install the kit. I watched the procedure carefully. The Instructions were so good I could have done it in my garage. It only required hand tools and a floor jack. He also installed air lift rear shocks so that we could keep her level regardless of load. I sold the VW engine and transaxle for more that I paid for the Corvair drive train.

Oh, my gosh!! The change was miraculous. We suddenly had a car that could keep up with traffic, enter the freeways at 70mph and get better fuel mileage than with the pipsqueak VW engine. We had a bumper sticker that said, "Transvair equipped, I don't have to pedal any more."

I could transport half of our entire PeeWee Football team at highway speeds (this was before mandatory seat belt use), tow our bass boat and load up the whole family, plus a BFF, for camping and fishing trips. I am sure a lot of folks were surprised when a VW bus loaded with teens and towing a boat passed them at 70mph. going uphill on the Interstate.

In time, as they always do, our girls grew up and got their own cars. Son John outgrew PeeWee Football and the LOML and I went our separate ways. The bus was traded for a conventional car with AC.

I then found myself living alone in a cabin on Lake Minnetonka, MN. The LOML and son lived a few miles away. My Boston Whaler Sakonnet, Sunshine, lived at a dock by my door. I yearned to fish other places, too, and I missed the Transvair bus. I thought a Transvair version of a Westfalia VW Camper would be just the ticket for fishing/camping in Canada or during the salmon run at Sturgeon Bay, WI.

After a search I found a slightly ratty 1971 Westy (the '71 had been upgraded to power disk brakes on the front) with a bad engine. I decide to use the Corvair Powerglide 2 speed automatic with a 3.55 final drive instead of the 4 speed with the 3.27. I found 2 bad Corvair drivetrains in a junkyard and bought them both. New rings and gaskets, plus a compression ratio reduction and some part swapping produced one pretty good one.

The Transvair kit for the Powerglide was even easier than for the 4 speed. I did part of the conversion on a table in my back yard and the rest in a friend's garage.

The Transvair Camper towed Sunshine just as well as the 4 speed bus. I visited Sturgeon bay several times with companions and/or my son. Camping in the Westy was a lot easier and more convenient than a tent, particularly during bad weather.

Eventually I traded the Westy for a car with air in preparation for a move to S. Florida.

Even in Florida I missed my Transvair vehicles. I gave up and purchased a '74 bus (not camper) with a blown engine and put a Powerglide drive train in it. It proved to be just as useful as the others had. It towed my Whalers and had a cavernous interior in which I could transport furniture or anything else I needed to move. Lack of air conditioning turned out to not be a problem; the fresh air ventilation was adequate.

When I moved back to Texas it carried a load and towed a trailer full of my "stuff". I blew the engine when only a few miles from home and limped in on 5 cylinders. I parked her and never drove her again. I ended up selling her to another Transvair fan who repaired the engine and may be driving her yet.

[EDITOR'S NOTE] Find all your fishing supplies at iboats.com

(JB Cornwell writes from "The Hideout" in Whitt, TX, and is also an expert moderator, instructor, and fountain-of-knowledge in the iboats.com Boating Forums, where he may occasionally share a yarn of his own.)