A couple of weeks ago we just returned from a 5-day, 870-mile trip to the northern part of our province (Nova Scotia) with our '71 bump RV. We were on Cape Breton Island to be exact, and drove around the scenic mountainous seaside drive known as the Cabot Trail. We were supposed to have a tune-up and electronic ignition installed before the trip, but we ended up getting our mechanic to do a brake job instead and he didn't have time for the tune-up. There were only two instances that the truck "hiccuped" so to speak. It started hesitating/losing power, and sounded like it backfired through the carb. It only happened twice, and lasted for a couple of seconds each time, then seemed to fix itself. That was the first and second day. Then for the next three days, it never did it again and worked flawlessly. We only averaged 8.5 mpg, but we we were driving through mountains 50% of the time and hauling a full tank of water, and like I said we never had our tune-up and electronic ignition done before we left. Gas was the only thing we spent money on for the next five days. We didn't stay in campgrounds - we "boondocked" at beautiful seaside spots we found. We filled our 20-gallon water tank before we left home, and we just started to run out of water on Day #5 on the way home. For any who might be wondering, the dry weight of the entire rig is 7220 lbs.
People were worried about us going on a trip like this in a 41-year-old rig. They were worried if the truck would have enough power to climb the mountains....they were worried if the brakes were powerful enough to slow it down coming down the mountains. We were concerned about power too at first, as we originally thought the truck had a 360 in it (the air cleaner lid said 360). The VIN said it was supposed to have a 390. By using the info on this site, I found that the engine could be ID'd by a metal tag on the coil bracket. I found it, cleaned it off, and sure enough it said 390. So now we felt a bit better about it having enough power to climb the mountains. About the brakes, I contacted a fellow '70 Scamper owner in Alberta and asked him about the brakes. He said these rigs have really big brakes on them, and as long as the pads were good we should have no problems going though the mountains. He's had his through the Rocky Mountains without any issues. The truck has the optional front disk brakes too, and we replaced the calipers and pads before the trip. We dropped to lower gears on the hills and had plenty of power climbing and good engine braking on descending, and the brakes worked great - no brake fade whatsoever. The truck has a 3-speed auto transmission with a transmission cooler. Just for extra peace of mind, we purchased CAA RV before the trip (it's like a roadside assistance plan).
I thought you all might enjoy seeing some pics of our trip.
This first pic is at Auld's Cove, just before we cross the causeway to Cape Breton Island. We got to see pilot whales breaching here and chasing baitfish as well as Northern Gannets diving for mackerel.
This is my husband Jeff, just as we head onto the Cabot Trail. He's never been to Cape Breton before so he was pretty excited!
Jeff and I:
This was a fly-fishing trip too. Fly rods and fly boxes stowed perfectly above the dinette area.
These next two pics are on Cheticamp Island:
Various pics from on the Cabot Trail:
One of our boondock sites:
Back on the trail:
We stopped at bridge over the North Aspy River, and had a peek. We saw these guys:
And decided to do some fishing:
And they were bitin'! We each caught three good sized brookies.
Next boondocking site was right on a beach in Ingonish.
Woke up to this:
Stopped at a beach park for an ice cream, and parked behind another Class C RV. The two rigs are probably 40 years apart!
Back on the trail, heading down one of the mountains called Cape Smokey:
This is where you want good brakes!
Last day, back on the mainland now at Cape George, Nova Scotia:
The lighthouse at Cape George:
We had such a fantastic time on our trip, we're doing it again next week. Although this time the tune-up has been done so we're hoping we might get 10mpg.
We love our old RV so much we wouldn't trade it even if someone offered to trade it for a new one!
