4k on the road and she's running fine.

[69vettester]

Hi all on the forum, I see lots of new faces since I last logged on
Some of you may know I hit the road in my 69 3 weeks ago for a business trip to AZ. Somehow I managed to log close to 4 thousand miles getting there and Im still not back home yet.
Thanks to all of you who helped with my suspension and motor .upgrades.The car has performed great, with only a few malfunctions.

Heres the list.......
1....The headlights started flickering and wouldnt switch from high to low beams, so I had to curtail night driving until I pulled in to a friends place in reno. I redid some of the crappy wires in the engine compartment and routed them better, they had been getting pretty hot where they were , ever since the hooker sidemount install. But the problem was just a shorted dimmer switch. I got one at Kragen for 5 dolla works fine now, what a deal.
2...My brakes deteriorated to the old peddle to the floor situation again :eek
I had replaced the master cylinder and got some better brake peddle a month ago and mistakenly thought it would be good enough...big pat on the back to those of you who advised "dont venture out till the calipers are rebuilt or replaced w/ss sleeved ones, and the system is fully functional" you were right, dont trust half a__ed brakes on a c3.
I got a delco morraine caliper rebuild kit (raybestos). it was around 40 for the fronts and 25 for the rears. The good thing was, when I took the first caliper off and separated it, I found my calipers had allready been ss sleeve upgraded..yipeee..I dont have to replace them. The rebuild I did has restored full brake peddle to the car, Its never been optimal since Ive had it, and I gotta tell you, its great joy having the car stop on a dime:Twist

3...My tachdrive failed sometime back, now the manual speedo has gone south too. It started fluctuating wildly for a few minutes then died
Im just going to live with it till the summer and think about replacing them with electrical units.

Thats about it for the bad stuff..OH except 1 speeding ticket( but I got a decent break with it).

The good stuff is the car runs and handles absulutely tops, IMHO, and cruises beautiful and passes "almost" anyone I want . with the exception of....
...C5 vettes( I dont mind that).
...the BMW Z3's
...the new mercedes sports types..
...theres a large audi road car out there with big tires and big HP...
...and I dont like this one. those damn new Mustang GS's(I think theyre called?)..they just walk away from my 330hp SB ,on the straight away too easily Not sure how they do on the twisties?
I had several smuggly dust me , one was this guy with his 8 year old daughter in the car, looked like they were going home from shopping. Gad Was I embarrassed!!
Im going to put in a 400+ crate motor and an overdrive sometime in the future to see if I cant remedy that mustang problem.

OOps I see this has turned into a book please forgive..
Later..
TC

 

[Stingray74CC]

Road trippin it

Congrads on the relatively few problems on the road. I just took a 500 mile trip in my 69 427. Surprisingly, no one tried to race me. I felt like I could pull away from any of the cars but then again didn't try too much. I really enjoy the highway driving with the tops off. Lot's of fun to feel the power snap your head back. Enjoy the rest of the trip. I did learn that it is a car that you definitely have to drive 100% of the time. No forgetting you're on the road in these babies.

 

[Bullitt]

Test Driving

Congrats TC, on the mileage rack up. Problems come and go, but it's the overall trip you'll remeber the most. Unfortunately, I haven't had the most luck with road trips. Seems like I'm always trying to make some deadline or something. The Mustang passing problem reminds me of when I was looking for a car, years back.

I went out to see a 1970 Chevelle with a 350 Supercharged Chevy. I'm just tooling along checking the mechanicals of the car, when the owner in the passenger seat eyes this 5.0 'Stang. The Ford pulls alongside, honks his horn and gets on it big time. This complete stranger sitting next to me says, "Get on it Brother! No one beats my car!" I just nailed it and this huge whine spools up. Everything got real noisy real fast in no time. The Oval got wasted and then the Chevelle owner shouts, "The brakes ain't worth a damn! Start pumping!" I never thought I was going to make that Stop sign, but I guess luck was on our side. Talk about fun and scary! :eek I wonder what happened to that guy?

--Bullitt

 

[69vettester]

Re: Test Driving

Originally posted by Bullitt

I went out to see a 1970 Chevelle with a 350 Supercharged Chevy. I'm just tooling along checking the mechanicals of the car, when the owner in the passenger seat eyes this 5.0 'Stang. The Ford pulls alongside, honks his horn and gets on it big time. This complete stranger sitting next to me says, "Get on it Brother! No one beats my car!" I just nailed it and this huge whine spools up. Everything got real noisy real fast in no time. The Oval got wasted and then the Chevelle owner shouts, "The brakes ain't worth a damn! Start pumping!" I never thought I was going to make that Stop sign, but I guess luck was on our side. Talk about fun and scary! :eek I wonder what happened to that guy?

--Bullitt [/B]

Hahahaaa..Thats to funny Bullitt..Glad you survived!!Ive hauled butt into town off the interstate pumping the brakes and gearng the motor down franticly, hair standing up, a few times these past months:eek ..hahahaa..I dont want to be doing that anymore.
TC

 

[78SilvAnniv]

I loved reading about your trip!

...and I liked Bullitt's story, too!
Silver

 

[69vettester]

Thanks Heidi,
Ill post more after the trip if anything else eventful happens!
Sorry to hear about the crowded highways on your spring break trip
I get bummed when theres to much traffic also. Theres nothing like the open road .
TC

 

[69MyWay]

So how many of the 4K miles did you get to enjoy with the top down?

Man, you are living my dream! Keep on rollin!

 

[69vettester]

Other, on the road, observations

When I left eureka the forcast was for rain on the west coast and sure enough I was in torrential downpour by Monterey the second day. the next day it cleared, the top came down and has been down ever since. For the most part, its been ideal weather out here in Nevada, Calif. and AZ.

.....Other obsevations Ive found interesting....
Ive found Its not a problem to drive right through scattered (isolated)showers conditions with the top down, The rain passes on over so long as The cars moving at 40-50+, not a drop gets in the cab.

Theres lots of vettes out there earlybird cruisin. 68-72's are a pretty rare sight though. Ive seen a few C2's in towns but none out on the highways yet. and no sign at all of a C1 anywhere.

Many if not most of the C5 owners have waved, Thats cool!
Of course "all" the C4 and older drivers have waved.

Ive washed or cleaned the car, to some degree, twice a day average, when on the road.I found Folks get snotty towards me and their heads dont turn anymore when they see I let my vette get funky:L This is true, Im not imagining it. Anyone else notice this same thing??

Tomorrow Morning I leave Reno and will be in Cheyenne Wyo. by late Monday afternoon(I figgure?) Then on to Dallas at the end of the week. Thats as far as I go for this test "er" business trip..ha.
Im much more confident now than the first couple days.

Ill be optimistic about Sharkfest if I finish this trip with no major, "need a tow type", failures..yipes.... Ill know soon enough.

Heres a pic of my "business trip", Its taken on Route 66 by Flagstaff AZ.
With a bit of luck, My Business partner(with the balding head) will Have a drive in Movie Theater called "Get your Flix on Route 66" at that location. We are shooting for an opening time of this time next year. The best part is it will also be a "swap meet" and "car show" on the 20 acres.

http://www.weavermill.com/tcmv.jpg

Sorry Rob, I know this thread has gotten off tech topic and should be at the lounge:eyerole
Thanks for listening to my babble..
Take Care all..
TC

PS__Checking in with the CACC like this has made me feel like Steinbeck's "Travels with Charlie" If anyone is familiar with that:L :L

 

[Bullitt]

Arizona and Snow

Man, I haven't been to Arizona since I was a kid. My family traveled from Houston to Phoenix in a cramped rental minivan. We stayed in El Paso, but went to Phoenix for some sightseeing. We picked up another four relatives which caused my two brothers and I to ride in the cargo section. It was during the winter, but everyone was so cramped inside that we begged for someone to crack open a window. God, it was hot back there! ad My father turned off at some Rest Stops, but we ended up playing in the snow. We had the greatest snowball fights ever. We were kicking the curbs to get the biggest chunks of snow and ice. Heaving that "snow rock" at someone was awesome. It would then break into smaller pieces that were excellant for more combat. Even when we stopped at near the top of a mountain, in which most people stopped to admire the scenary, we were still "snow mad!" They must have thought we were crazy as we broke into battle. Espceially when we stuffed snow down each other's shirt. :L We wouldn't stop will we were coughing with exhaustion and laughter. That had to be the highlight of the whole trip for me.

You'd think that all these years later, we would've grown out of it. However, back in '97 when we visited Chicago, it was the same story. Around an outside ice rink that they have downtown, we ran to a snow mound that was nearby. It took about 10 seconds for me to grab a fistful of snow and heave it at my brother. We turned the calm little sidelines into a battle zone. People just made room as we chased each other down to smother each other with snow. My father was launching snowballs like John Elway. We tackled each other into the mound and fell over laughing. God, that was fabulous! We even got other families to start their own "snow wars." That's two memories that will stay with me forever.

--Bullitt