VW camper van - what d'ya think?

[speeder]

Hey Island, I almost forgot, can you explain how the dark colors are colder at night? Not doubting it, just never have heard this, sounds interesting........ Also, would it affect how cold it gets in real cold weather, or just cool nights, or what?

TIA.

[Doug Zielke]

Denis....
Of course island is FOS.
Our Westy camper was blue. We used it for winter camping adventures every year. Mrs. Z would tell you it was *not* any colder at night. She would just turn on the gas heater!

[cegerer]

Was at a VW drag race and show with Cornpanzer (his VW bug runs low 12's in the 1/4 mile ) today and there were several dozen VW Campers on display. Mostly 60's and 70's vintage - some VERY cool stuff. This was my favorite: the Skankmobile!!!

[Jim Richards]

Great pics, Curt...and nothing skanky about that pilsner-mobile!

[speeder]

Yeah, those are awesome photos, Curt. Thanks for posting them! The "Skankmobile" is beyond cool.

[Jim Richards]

Hey guys, was the Vanagon / Westy / Eurovan available without the pop-top but still with a camper interior? Thanks.

[speeder]

Jim, I don't think so. They made a pop-top w/o stove and fridge, called it a "Weekender". I've toyed w/ the idea of adding some Westy equipment to a regular (low top) Vanagon, if you could find a donor it would not be difficult.

[cegerer]

The guy with the 'Skankmobile' even had matching original 60's wood cases of beer inside. This vehicle was absolutely perfect in every way.

BTW, I had a little fun chasing that Spyder on a 2 laner on the way out of the track ......

[Jim Richards]

That's a great suggestion, Denis.

Curt, that sure was a nice looking spyder.

[island911]

Originally posted by speeder
Hey Island, I almost forgot, can you explain how the dark colors are colder at night? Not doubting it, just never have heard this, sounds interesting........ Also, would it affect how cold it gets in real cold weather, or just cool nights, or what?

TIA.

Radiant heat will move thru air & space from a hot source to a colder source.

For example we all know a trible black cab. is a bun-burner when the sun is out. (sun=hot radiant source . . . black car=(relatively) cold; radiantly speaking.

However, a black night sky is relatively cold, radiantly speaking, with respect to the black car. So, it (the black car) looses heat radiantly, to the night sky.

If you have cloud cover, it acts to block the radiant heat transfer . . .just like one of those silver blankets.

. . .a longer explaination.
(This article is really FOS, Doug. )

[Jim Richards]

island, I was thinking a bit about this and I have an opinion about this vehicle color stuff. Light colors reflect light, and along with it, energy. Dark colors absorb light and energy. If you wear a black shirt in the summer, you're hotter than if you wore a white shirt. If you have snow covering the ground in the winter, light and heat are reflected back into space which is dark and absorbs the reflected energy. If you have a dark colored vehicle, it absorbs light and energy, winter or summer. Obviously, there's more energy to absorb in the summer, but I think a dark colored camper would be warmer than a light colored one. Of course, I might be just babbling nonsense; however, I've at least convinced myself.

[island911]

yeah, it may not seem too intuitive. Think of it this way, the "blacker" (darker) something is, the more it absorbs heat. Space is as black as it gets.

"Black" objects easily trade heat radiantly, where light colored objects are usually more inert.

Oh, and remember, there is a lot more light than just what we can see.

[nostatic]

Originally posted by island911
Space is as black as it gets.

no, "Smell the Glove" was as black as it gets. I mean, you have to ask the question, "how much more black could the cover be, and the answer is 'none'". None more black.

Obviously there are holes in your education Island...

[island911]

Originally posted by nostatic
. . . .
Obviously there are holes in your education Island...

Hahaha LOL! This is what happens when I'm serious for a second.
.. . and here I thought I was showing huge restraint, on that post, by not responding with:

"It's a BLACK thang, YOU wouldn't understand."

[Jim Richards]

Smell the Glove? What the? Is this OT topic veering wildy OT? What happened to finding psychadelic(sp)-painted camper vans, Todd?

[Drago]

Todd must be a Spinal Tap fan...Smell the Glove was the title to one of their albums which happened to be all black..no cover art, just black.

I still think they should have stuck with the original cover...

[Jim Richards]

Thanks Marc. Actually, the Spinal Tap ref wasn't lost on me...I was just wondering how an "off topic" topic can so easily veer "off topic"! Or was my wondering, in itself, taking this topic "off topic".

[nostatic]

The increased gravitational effects from Planet X create an intellectual "tipping point". As such, topics easily veer "off topic". When starting from the "off" area, the tipping is exacerbated since the topic stability is proportional to the intellectual content.

S = (IC * Spq)/(ns * IE)

Where S = stability
IC = intellectual content
Spq = sensible poster's quotient
ns = nostatic
IE = Island talking engineering

[Jim Richards]

ns, I think your term in the denominator is missing something...shouldn't it be (ns * IE) ^t, where "t" is the idle time of "ns"?

[CHILI]

I love the old ones, but they are so damn slow. Although with a rebuilt 2.7 motor...hmmm..

There was a VW van (about a 79ish) at the last Pomona swapmeet with a 3.6 in it! Hell ya! It also had fuchs, 4 point harnesses, etc. Nothin' like blowin' the doors off of the ricers that pull up next to you while you're in the 70's VW van! If I had a camera I would have taken a couple of pics.

We had a 71 when I was a kid. It was cool. Bed, sink, refrige, closet. I wanted it, but my dad sold it before I got my license