Road trips: They highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the car.

[Kern Dog]

The goal for your car can be whatever you want. Some buy a Mopar to go racing with it, some just want a nice cruiser to tinker on.
I wanted a fast car that handled well and was reliable. I planned on driving the car miles away from home and wanted it to do it without breakdowns.
Back in 1988, it was either Hot Rod or Car Craft that had a magazine feature titled Americruise '88. They took an early 70s Camaro and worked on it to make it presentable and reliable and drove it all over the place.
Now, I haven't had the intention to go from my place in California to Maine but I want it to be able to if I were so inclined.

*Sometimes in the name of reliability, you have to make compromises.
Things we choose in the name of performance, appearance or cost savings may present a problem on a road trip.
Case in point:
*I like a lowered stance and I love a great handling car. The roads don't always agree with lowered cars though and the trip I just took proved just that. I had tools, a full tank, 2 people and other stuff in the car and dragged the mufflers when crossing over speed bumps. One time, it knocked the muffler back enough to cause a massive exhaust leak requiring repair once I got home.
*I had front tire rub at the top of the fender at the wheel opening...again, due to the lowered ride height.
*Maybe you love a jacked up rear end and fat tires. Who remembers the guy that used air shocks to boost up the rear of the car but then freaked out when the plastic air line burned against an exhaust pipe and the car slapped down on the tires?
*It used to be thought that high performance cars didn't need nor want air conditioning. I used to think that. The compact aftermarket parts have made it possible to have A/C without having to live with a rats nest of clutter under the hood.
*Some guys had to have the high compression and huge cam in the name of performance. That stuff becomes a liability if you can't find premium fuel on the road. I have a cam that is too big for what I want to do...I used it because I already had it and it was broken in with the matching lifters stored in order. At speeds below 2000 rpms, it isn't all that happy. My last cam, before it lost 10 lobes, was milder and allowed acceleration from idle with no hesitation. I'm looking into options for camshafts to get back to an idle to 6000 rpm range.
It is likely safe to assume that the closer to stock, the better the car will be for road trips....at least it will be easier to live with.
Who has built their car for this sort of thing.....Road Trips?
What have you learned?

 

[66 Sat]

For sure I built my car to be a "go anywhere" type of deal.
To the beach
To the city
To the shops
To the track
To the car shows
With a 3.23 rear it cruises ok and will still run 100 mph in the quarter mile.
It's got just the right amount of power for the chassis, and gets decent gas consumption too.

I'm like most people and get excited about 600 hp Hemi cars that run super fast, but they would have compromises I'm not willing to make. I still admire those cars and love reading about them or watching them, but I'm happy owning a lesser version.

Your car is a pretty good all rounder too, maybe some electrically adjustable shocks are available to be able to raise it over speed humps?
Other than that it sounds like you're just a camshaft away from automotive bliss.

 

[furious70]

OEM low back bucket seats suck for all day adventures =)

 

[Dennis H]

Allentown to San Jose 1991. Gulfport, Mississippi to San Jose 2019. Vegas, LA, many times. Forgot a lot of them. Learned A LOT. When told “I drive my car” it’s usually bullshit. Bought the car with 59k original miles. I think. Shows over 60k now so that’s 101k miles during ownership. About 36 years. EFI and oversize fuel tank increasing range probably the 2 best changes fo peace of mind on the road. AFTER finding a submersible fuel pump.

 

[ckessel]

The 67 wagon wasn't too bad this last week but for sure the cooling system needs to be proper sized and not boogered up like it is currently. When I have the scratch, thats number 1 to get squared away. After that, the 15" wheels with tires I've chosen, put the larger rotors and rear drum units on[ after I buy the needed pieces to complete]. Later on, get the car scaled so I can choose t-bars, springs, sway bars etc and redo the suspension. Make some SFC's but not to the extent I put into the 65. Get the seats redone as they are original. A/C. De-cam it, the Comp unit thats in it is too much for this car.EFI swap. And I'm sure there will more as time goes on.

 

[67SniperHockey]

Having a semi-accurate fuel gauge would be nice - ha!

In addition, being cognizant of gear ratio - some steeper gears are fine for the street and short drives but on a road trip - you will be taking alternate/longer routes and potentially avoiding interstates.

 

[68BabyBlue]

The original owner of my GTX ran a dealership that sold many Hemi cars. Back in the day, I found it interesting that he didn't set his personal ride up for high performance. The GTX was used as a tow vehicle, so he removed the factory high performance cam, and replaced it with a station wagon spec piece for maximum low end torque. When it was new, I wondered why it had such a smooth idle. Good highway cruiser with a 3:23 rear and working factory A/C.

My Hemi car got more attention, but I never drove it out of town. I've kept all my GTXs stock, not out of snobbery, but because with my level of expertise, they've all been dependable drivers with the aid of a factory service manual. I've owned a factory 4 speed with a 3:54 Dana, which I drove 1300 miles from Iowa to Pennsylvania after I bought it. After that experience, I'm sold on a 3:23 with A/C.

 

[MWbirdLOVER70]

The goal for your car can be whatever you want. Some buy a Mopar to go racing with it, some just want a nice cruiser to tinker on.
I wanted a fast car that handled well and was reliable. I planned on driving the car miles away from home and wanted it to do it without breakdowns.
Back in 1988, it was either Hot Rod or Car Craft that had a magazine feature titled Americruise '88. They took an early 70s Camaro and worked on it to make it presentable and reliable and drove it all over the place.
Now, I haven't had the intention to go from my place in California to Maine but I want it to be able to if I were so inclined.

View attachment 1652254

*Sometimes in the name of reliability, you have to make compromises.
Things we choose in the name of performance, appearance or cost savings may present a problem on a road trip.
Case in point:
*I like a lowered stance and I love a great handling car. The roads don't always agree with lowered cars though and the trip I just took proved just that. I had tools, a full tank, 2 people and other stuff in the car and dragged the mufflers when crossing over speed bumps. One time, it knocked the muffler back enough to cause a massive exhaust leak requiring repair once I got home.
*I had front tire rub at the top of the fender at the wheel opening...again, due to the lowered ride height.
*Maybe you love a jacked up rear end and fat tires. Who remembers the guy that used air shocks to boost up the rear of the car but then freaked out when the plastic air line burned against an exhaust pipe and the car slapped down on the tires?
*It used to be thought that high performance cars didn't need nor want air conditioning. I used to think that. The compact aftermarket parts have made it possible to have A/C without having to live with a rats nest of clutter under the hood.
*Some guys had to have the high compression and huge cam in the name of performance. That stuff becomes a liability if you can't find premium fuel on the road. I have a cam that is too big for what I want to do...I used it because I already had it and it was broken in with the matching lifters stored in order. At speeds below 2000 rpms, it isn't all that happy. My last cam, before it lost 10 lobes, was milder and allowed acceleration from idle with no hesitation. I'm looking into options for camshafts to get back to an idle to 6000 rpm range.
It is likely safe to assume that the closer to stock, the better the car will be for road trips....at least it will be easier to live with.
Who has built their car for this sort of thing.....Road Trips?
What have you learned?



View attachment 1652255

Great story and write up. I’m the Hi Po guy but stay local or go 3 hours out now and then to a show. I love torque and burn tires at will. Glad you wrote this KD with the season upon us

 

[Kern Dog]

I'm anxious to read any and all comments others have to add.
It is smart to build your car with parts that are not exotic and rare because finding a replacement when on the road may be difficult. A stock type alternator or drive belt can usually be bought at any large chain auto parts store. Summit Racing can ship an MSD distributor or BF Goodrich tires in a couple days. What about a broken control arm from one of those companies that sell coil over suspensions?
You can keep going if the radio craps out or if the window won't roll up but what if your electric fans puke a relay or your budget EFI system suffers a failed "brain box" ?
I've read stories on this very forum about guys that have driven their cars across country. I'm pretty sure I remember they has small issues that popped up that they had to deal with but they did and they kept going.

Yesterday, I addressed a few issues that nagged at me. I raised the car up by removing the 1 " lowering blocks and cranking up the torsion bars.
I had to "roll" the front wheel opening inner flanges in the fenders since they bent a little from contacting the tires. I know, some will advise to have the car realigned after adjusting the ride height but check this out:

I was well below stock ride height, lets assume 1 3/4" below as shown above. By raising it up an inch, I lost 1.6 degrees of caster and the toe increased only a tiny amount. This isn't enough to be a problem. I had 5.5 degrees of caster before.
I also fixed the loose muffler, changed the oil and filter, the oil in the Tremec 5 speed and looked for oil leaks. I sure "found" some dirt and grime from actually driving the car. It was clean when I left home and pretty dusty under the hood when I got home.

 

[68BabyBlue]

One of the reasons I chose 1960s Imperials for drivers in the 90s were that mechanical parts were readily available at most auto parts stores. I fixed stuff in the parking lot more than a few times. I liked the fact that the cars were exotic looking even in that era, but the mechanical stuff interchanged with a generation of cop cars.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Greg, I know not of what you speak...

I think this past weekend we saw enough trouble for the next few years... Nothing serious but it slowed our pace some...

My advise? Get a good towing plan... And bring friends to keep you amused while waiting for the tow truck...

Back in 96 I had an impeller fall off a brand new water pump... Had to get towed home.. About 60 miles...
In 98 I lost a fuel pump on an Holley EFI system, towed home... Another 60 mile tow...
The next adventure was years later in 2015 when a FiTech controller froze up... Towed home... About 100 miles....
Tow plans are good... If you actually drive them stuff happens... My car has gone over 100K miles since I restored it...
Then I got another car and on it's first long drive (prior to a planned much longer drive....) It overheated severely & got towed home... 200 miles...

 

[Dennis H]

Tank from Ricks Tanks was about a million dollars. Beautiful craftsmanship. About 21.5 gallons oversized. Perfect fit. Aeromotive Pulse pump with Pulse Width Modulation. Fancy. Failed due to bad lines installed by Ricks. Ended up broke down in Mississippi because it failed. Replaced it with proper high pressure submersible lines and an over the counter GM Delco pump for a Corvette that is in to this day. The EFI is Edelbrock Pro Flo 4 and has been flawless. Computer plug and play. Was somewhat of a pioneer as this was over 10 years ago IIRC. ALL other EFI’s are ONLY glorified electric carburetors. Mine is the real thing. Fuel Rails like a modern car. Also, don’t try to cheat and try to pressurize under the hood.

Also finally have a reliable fuel gauge. Well over 225 miles on tank before panic. Exception is running home from Ojai fuel to San Jose. Didn’t make it 2 years ago. Reason? Running triple digits up 25 to Hollister put the mpg in single digits showing off. Use common parts and don’t fluck around with the suspension too much. Extra leaf. Tubular UCA’s. Bilstein. Coppers. Firm Feel.
Shake down thoroughly before trips. Vegas and LA are under 800 miles round trip and don’t qualify for extended road trip from my 10:20.

Tremec SST 5 allows running about 72 mph at 2100 to keep up on freeways. AC, modern seats, Radar, Garmin, Electric Life PW’s, etc. Beer, 38, and Linda screaming.

 

[Dennis H]

Greg, I know not of what you speak...

I think this past weekend we saw enough trouble for the next few years... Nothing serious but it slowed our pace some...

My advise? Get a good towing plan... And bring friends to keep you amused while waiting for the tow truck...

Back in 96 I had an impeller fall off a brand new water pump... Had to get towed home.. About 60 miles...
In 98 I lost a fuel pump on an Holley EFI system, towed home... Another 60 mile tow...
The next adventure was years later in 2015 when a FiTech controller froze up... Towed home... About 100 miles....
Tow plans are good... If you actually drive them stuff happens... My car has gone over 100K miles since I restored it...
Then I got another car and on it's first long drive (prior to a planned much longer drive....) It overheated severely & got towed home... 200 miles...

Got towed from Auburn years ago. AAA. Fed the driver and thru him a 20. Didn’t have to drive, saved gas.

 

[Kern Dog]

I know a guy, he used to live in this.....

....He was fearless. He was the type to jump headfirst into unknown situations and then just find a way to get through them.
On his first trip to and from Van Nuys with his "restored" car, he had several breakdowns.
The crankshaft pulley FELL OFF while on the freeway. He had some weird arrangement where pulley alignment was an issue so he welded three spacers on the back side of the pulley and then only used THREE bolts to hold that pulley on.
The power steering pressure hose moved and touched a header tube, burning a hole through it.
The engine vibrated so much, it rattled stuff loose including the shifter linkage.
He lived 3 hours north of me, Van Nuys is south for both of us. When he got to my house, he had 2 hours of wrench time fixing various things but it only got worse.
He had 4.56 gears in the Dana, an axle that was absolute overkill for a stroked 340. To make it "streetable", he added a Gear Vendors overdrive which resulted in a 3.55 final drive. Not terrible but it is when the GV barfed and left him to drive almost 580 miles home with 4.56 gears! He bought the GV used and never added oil to it!

Same guy, same car.....another trip to Van Nuys, he was on the Malibu Cruise and the threaded stud that retains the air cleaner rattled loose and fell down the carburetor and into cylinder #6, splitting the cylinder. This required a sleeve to fix. He also found that the engine was WAY out of balance, something that he was told by several car guys but he refused to believe it until a shop employee convinced him of it. He had an 18 hour stress induced experience finding a U-Haul truck and trailer, loading, driving then unloading when he finally got home.

The last time he tried to make the trip, he stopped for gas in Tulare. I saw grease oozing out of his right front hub. He had replaced his wheel bearings the second time in 2 weeks and thought he had defective bearings. It turns out, he torqued the bearing nut to something like 70 ft/lbs! Who actually torques wheel bearings ??? The spec (if you actually DO want to torque them) is in inch/lbs ! He ruined two sets of bearings and blamed the manufacturer until I showed him a factory service manual with the actual spec. This resulted in yet another long afternoon and evening towing it back home. THIS guy would have benefitted from an AAA towing membership!
He was a well meaning guy for the most part but had some real blunders with cars.

 

[68BabyBlue]

One of the fringe benefits of being a truck driver was the guy who did my maintenance owned a towing company, and gave me discounts. But I never had to use his services on a GTX.

 

[Kern Dog]

I've only had to use my AAA towing service once....

This was just to make it easier. I could have gone home and got my other truck and load it onto the trailer.

This was another instance where I developed a "No-spark" issue.
What the heck, man!

 

[BeepBeepRR]

Had to have the Road Runner towed to the house after a lifter failure which turned out to be a cam lobe worn. Still ran but didn't want to hurt it any further. Which by the way was my fault had a Caddy CTSV right behind me and he opened his exhaust and ripped up behind me. So I pegged it and let her rip.. After that rip I heard a distinct lifter tap. Anyhow got it home and swapped the cam and lifters.

 

[66 Sat]

I think the "suitability" of these cars on long trips is also dictated by the age and condition of the owner.
In '97 I drove this Barracuda from San Diego to Vegas, Vegas to Sacramento, then on to San Francisco and finally down to LA. Maybe 1,300 miles? Admittedly it had 2.76 gears but the the only issue I had was a missing fresh air door on the driver's side freezing my nuts off until I blocked it. It was January, freezing cold at times and snow through the Sierra Nevada mountains, but that was my only complaint. Why? Because I was 23.
Now I'd probably be complaining "oh my back's sore, my hip's killing me" etc.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

I think the "suitability" of these cars on long trips is also dictated by the age and condition of the owner.
In '97 I drove this Barracuda from San Diego to Vegas, Vegas to Sacramento, then on to San Francisco and finally down to LA. Maybe 1,300 miles? Admittedly it had 2.76 gears but the the only issue I had was a missing fresh air door on the driver's side freezing my nuts off until I blocked it. It was January, freezing cold at times and snow through the Sierra Nevada mountains, but that was my only complaint. Why? Because I was 23.
Now I'd probably be complaining "oh my back's sore, my hip's killing me" etc.
View attachment 1652670

Sounds like a great drive!! I still enjoy taking them out but gotta admit, it hurts more than it use to....

Oh as an added informational point... When I restored my green car seat foams weren't available.... My red car has new seat foams, the difference on longer drives is night & day... I now have new foams for my green car, waiting for the new covers to arrive...

 

[Kern Dog]

Oh yeah, seats are very important!
I made 3 trips to Van Nuys with the stock ‘70 Charger seats and 3 with these newer ones. I know these SRT4 seats look out of place in a classic car but they are comfy and they hold me in place in the corners.
Sound deadening! Yes… some people like it for the reduction in heat but for some reason, my car has never felt too hot inside. It was loud though. In 2013 or so I added sound deadening inside the car and it helped a lot.
On the recent trip, my A/C wasn’t blowing cold so almost all of the driving was with the windows down. Freeway at 70-75 too. This solid lifter cam makes some noise. I have a car here of Dwayne’s… ‘68 Satellite with a hydraulic flat tappet and it is much quieter inside. A helpful car buddy took a look at my A/C and got it working so I had it for the last 90-100 miles or so. With the windows up, it was still louder than I like. I don’t mind driving with the windows down for awhile but for 6-8 hours??!