On the way to South Bend

[Pat Dilling]

Stopped at Wendover last night, so this morning made a pilgrimage to the Bonneville International Speedway. Here is Stu Cool looking wistfully at the salt flats, but I said "no. You can play when we get to South Bend."



Here is a picture of his "wrap" hopefully will save some of the road rash, I got that from the folks at California Car Covers. Seems to be working well. Though I did manage to scrape my freshly painted lower scoop this evening in Laramie.



Trip so far is good with one major exception. The new cross flow radiator I installed is not up to the task. On level ground it does pretty well, but with desert heat, and the mountain climbing across I-80 so far i have had couple over heating instances. I almost aborted the trip while coming across Nevada. But, after trying just cruising at 65 without the AC on we are plugging along. Bless my wife for being a trooper and agreeing to suffer through with AC. We are kickin' it "old school" with our arms out the window. So, looks like once I get back to CA, which will also be no fun climbing those mountains in reverse, it looks like I will be shopping for a new and bigger radiator. We crossed the Continental Divide today, so it should be down hill from here right?

[Lou Van Anne]

Pat, did you check the power steering hose clamps before you left? I sure hope so...

[plwindish]

Pat.
You've got a neat travel log going! I'm sweating just thinking about using the 2-65 air conditioning through the desert. I hope you splurged and got the wife a big frozen margerita at the end of the day's travel! The air crapped out on my 76 Avanti going through Ohio last year on the way to Gettysburg. A trip was made to Walmart to get a few cans of R34 before heading back made the trip home much more enjoyable. Is the wrap the 3M product? I had it put on the Avanti in May and I've been very happy with it. Keep us "short haulers" posted on your progress. Good roads.

[woodysrods]

Hi Pat
Wish were as far down the highway as you.
We have been working day & night on "Miss Piggy" our new teardrop trailer.
But as of tonight we are in abort mode.......tomorrow we will load the tent in the Stude and hopefully head out early Saturday morning for a race accross the country to South Bend.
Have not even had a chance to look at the Stude....might change the oil before we leave.
Hope to meet some of you Forum guys there.
I have not been on the Forum much lately as have been spending 12 to 20 hours each day working on the trailer.
Good Roads
Brian

[Pat Dilling]

Ironically our AC works just fine, but you can only use it if the weather is cool ;-). Lou it was the transmission coolant lines that were the problem before and they are holding just fine. Car is running great except for the over heat issue, which I believe I have a handle on now.

[jclary]

Wow! Usually, a photo that has the subject "backlit" with the background being so bright is not very pleasant to look at. However, this one is fantastic! It is magazine cover, wall art, and post card worthy!

Best of luck on your trip. Wish I were there.

[JRoberts]

We are working down to the last minute to get the Cruiser and Christine ready to go. I think we just about have it. The '57 pickup that is going with us was getting some tweaks last night as well. We gather for breakfast tomorrow morning at 7:00 and then hit the road.

Great report Pat. Thanks. I too think your Bonneville picture should be a Cover Picture. Absolutely beautiful.

[41 Frank]

Let the annual pilgrimige begin. We depart the Omaha area Saturday AM for an evening South Bend arrival.

[JoeHall]

That's what I discovered when living in the desert before. With a radiator that works perfectly well everywhere else, it become marginal in the desert. Then, just when you need the AC most, can't use it because it will exceed the marginal radiator's ability and overheat. On the return trip, you could cross the desert at night, and/or you could turn the "auxiliary radiator", a.k.a. heater, on. (That will drop the engine temp 5-10 degrees.) At night without the sun beating down, and the temp a few degrees cooler you should be OK though, and may even be able to use the AC except on long upgrades.

[2R5]

Brian and all ....safe trip , hope to see and meet everyone in SB....we leave monday am before the chickens crow....see you there.

[Lou Van Anne]

Sure wish South Bend was just down the road...oh well, maybe when I'm retired.

[starliner62]

Christine now has air and a condenser fan, water wetter in the radiator and she is ready. I noticed the temp guage was running really high but no boil over. I got home and checked the top outlet and top of the radiator with my heat detecting device. Around 193 degrees. Not too bad since it is about 101 here today. Hitting the road bright and early in the morning!!

[mbstude]

Christine now has air and a condenser fan, water wetter in the radiator and she is ready. I noticed the temp guage was running really high but no boil over. I got home and checked the top outlet and top of the radiator with my heat detecting device. Around 193 degrees. Not too bad since it is about 101 here today. Hitting the road bright and early in the morning!!

My favorite post on this forum lately. Can't wait to see you guys and Christine again.

[BobGlasscock]

Matthew, no drooling allowed over ex's.

[plwindish]

Matt,
I guess your ex's don't live in Texas!