What happened on your road trip...

I have been lurking here a while, and saw a thread that asked "what happened to everybody?" To that end I thought Id ask about what your best (maybe top 10) road fix stories were. I've been traveling in a hot rod a while, and pulled heads in Oregon and the desert of California, nursed sick parts all the way home, patched stuff with tape, JB weld, sticks (wedged an alternator in place with a piece of wood I tapered with a had axe a guy passing had) and done things that I wouldn't advise, but HAD to do at the time.
One of the funniest was something that happened to two of my pals... taking a Southwest Tour car to Phoenix for the Copper Classic one year, most of us flew, but two loaded up in the Ford 460 powered van, trailer, car, tools, spare engine and gear sets, tires galore, and off they went in the middle of the night running from Santa Cruz California to Phoenix. About zero dark thirty the alternator on the van gave up the fight, so it was determined to run it as far as possible on "total loss"... battery only. Then one of the guys figured out that there was a Honda generator on the trailer tongue, so why not fire it off, plug the 110v battery charger into it, charge the battery that way, and run with all accessories... cold time of year. That went well until the battery charger puked, and then the brain trust figured that by running without lights, on ignition only, that they could make sun up and an auto parts store. So, they plugged a drop light into the Honda generator, and duct tapped the cord up over the roof of the van, and dangled the light off the front of the van and blasted out across Arizona. Since it was still dark out, but with a full moon, the boys did well until an Arizona cop stopped them.... he laughed really hard when he heard the story, but made them park it until sun up.... They made Phoenix in time, and the car got qualified, once Kenny Schrader helped sort it out, and we still laugh about that whole weekend every time we get together.
Next.....
Clarke

My lovely wife still talks about the time when the throttle return spring on her pu truck broke and I used one of her hair elastics to get her home.
Then there was the time a friend of ours called as the fuel pump quit on his old pu. We duct taped a lawnmower gas tank to the top of the roof with a gas hose to the carb. It would only do about 15 mph and had to be refilled every 2 miles, but we made it home..

Russ

OK, here goes, I bought my Olds Cutlass convert in Phoenix last February with the intention of driving it home following my pickup and trailer at the end of March. Medical emergency (Gall bladder removal) changed the plans. Flew home and then flew back with Hunter to ferry the vehicles home. Well after the "first" overheat on the first hill, we tried going a little slower. The second overheat was disasterous, with nowhere to pull over, we made it to the top with water/antifreeze everywhere. After a cool down period we refilled the rad (thank God I had the trailer with a full tank of water) and carried on. The next time it overheated we pulled over and Bob said the trans was going in to neutral, so we thought it needed a little trans oil. We put in 2 quarts after not seeing anything on the dipstick, but everytime it went up a slight incline, there was smoke pouring out the bottom. Seems the oil was now overfilled and it puked it out on the exhaust. Found out later, it had the wrong dipstick in it, too short.

We got to Flagstaff and noticed when it got hot, the fan was almost freewheeling. Got to a NAPA store and got a new clutchfan, installed it and put in new plugs after it developed a slight miss. Didn't make a difference though. Alright, we will start fresh in the morning. Next morning it would not start, turned over and tried, but no luck. Back to NAPA, got new points, condenser, rotor and cap and put it all in. Fired up nicely. After going about a mile through town it quit right on the railway tracks. Bob let it roll back just in case a trial comes and sure enough, one did. I drove on a little looking in the mirror, no Bob, shyte! I had to find a spot to drop off my trailer so I turn around and go back to see what the problem was. Bob was standing in front of the car waiting for me, said it quit on idle at the last light and then again here. After trying to start it again, he said it backfired through the exhaust. That's it! I said lets pull it into that small mall across the street and leave it there so I can come back with a flatdeck trailer to get it.

On the drive home, I called a friend who had my old flatdeck if he could come and meet me somewhere to get the car? After checking with the Boss (Wife), he called back and said yes. We met in Deer Lodge Idaho. Bob carried on with my pickup and trailer homewards and by buddy and I headed back to Flagstaff to get the car. I was on pins and needles that the car would still be there or in one piece at least. I could not relax until we rolled in to that mall to find the car was still there, thank God!

We made it home in two days from there, albeit at about 2:30 in the morning.

Turns out the points we bought were hardly opening. Dont buy points with the condenser built in, you cant see them to gap them without the distributor removed.

I have taken the rebuilt engine out after determining that the one overheat could have damaged the rings and the miss was caused by the cheap intake gaskets. The tin gaskets have a press to yield impression built in and with the overheat it pressed them down to much so when it cooled down, they started to leak.

Oh well, its only money, right. Must have spent a couple of thousand on gas though, sheesh!

Carl

Not too much adventure with old cars, snowmobiles and airplanes maybe. Old car story, took the 59 ford truck to the car show in Watrous. Hot, 5 hour drive dragging the Boler. One long uphill I watch the temp climbing and it never came back down. Some cooling stops but it was a nervous rest of the drive. Get to the camp ground, I know the rad is plugging but I took out the thermostat anyway. Had a nice weekend, baked in the heat. Didn't get half hour out of Watrous and the temp is pegged. Great 4 1/2 hrs more to go. Decided to remove the hood and toss it in the back of the truck. Helped a little but regrettably every time it got too hot now it puked all over the windshield....slimy glycol. Then in Prince Albert a police person wheels in to where I am stopped and reminds me the truck should have a hood....Doh. A brief explanation and I just want to get home. A new rad was never purchased, I sold that truck later.

The only story I can think of is this one whilst on a fishing trip in BC.
I was boogying up a logging road I'd never been on before.
I was doing about 90k as I could still see the road climbing ahead of me off in the distance.
As I crested the first leg of the hill to my utter surprise and horror, the road suddenly took a sharp left and in front of me was a cliff dropping into a deep ravine.
I hammered on the brakes and cranked the wheel left.
The truck spun around sliding sideways in the gravel and the back right tire started over the cliff.
I tromped on the gas pedal with wheels spitting rocks and gravel out the back.
My heart was pounding I thought I was a goner, but to my relief I kept the truck from going over the cliff.
Needless to say I slowed down after that.

You boys like road storys and miss haps? You need to start watching Roadkill on Youtube. Its the editor of Hotrod Magazine, David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan and they go on lots of wacky hotrod related adventures! I Love it and wait for every episode to air! Just start click the link and watch from Episode 1 on

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOYlloxcRZA&list=PL12C0C916CECEA3BC&index=30

excellent timing and a feel good story

Clarke

What good timing for a topic.

We have just got home from touring route 66 (5400Miles)

In a small town New Castle outside of Denver, we are tripping along at 80 mph it feels like we just ran over something when changing lanes Everything seems to be ok Di says "need a pit stop" About a mile up the road there is a Micky D's . Let everyone know on the CB's A nice straight off ramp, start to slow down, touch the brakes and nothing Luckily a quick downshift to 1st is enough to make the corner with all kind,s of grinding. We limp to the parking lot. Front left wheel bearing is totally gone We start pulling it apart with each car contributing tools.

Within minutes we had a number of people stop to offer help The best of which was Jimmy who owned his own shop 10 min away and was having a delivery from Napa. They had to get off at the same exit so he calls and orders everything we need. They delivered it to us in the parking lot !!! He then takes the rotor/hub to his shop cleans and installed the new races bearing and seal. He drove 20 miles to the next town( Riffle) to pick up a new nut, washer and cage. Brought back his files and thread chasers ( A roller had gone under the outer bearing race and scored the spindle). Filing took 1/2 hr but finally the bearing sort of slid on. With everything back together we tried the brakes all was good. It seems the piston got pushed back with the rotor wobble.

Back on the road again we checked the wheels (felt my nuts !!!!) each stop.

The best part was on Sat we were having supper and the phone rang, it was Jimmy checking to see how we were making out ( this all happened on Tues) We picked up a new spindle and bearing set at Speedway on the way past just in case ???? Ordered a new Billet Specialty centre cap from Hortons when we got home.

Going to Kingston and pickup Timken bearings for both sides !!!!!!!!!!

Again a big thanks to James Wallace of Silt, Colorado for all his help and concern.

I have one ( unfortunately its a looong one,,,) but it became know as the first annual "Knuckle head tour". A friend of ours sold his rod to a fellow in California, but needed drivers to tow it down there and he would meet us there. So four of us volenteered to relay it down in his truck and trailer unit.
We loaded up the whole rig and while doing so asked where the load leveler bars were for the trailer/hitch. My friend (the owner) says "ah you won't need them" so with my towing knowledge (at the time) said ok after all it was his unit, truck (Chevy dually, 454), trailer(24' enclosed) and six figure 33 ford 3 window coupe inside. Well we hit the road. Well with the Chevy dually we had to stop and refuel every 200 miles or so, so it felt like we were spending as much time at the pump as we were on the road! Anyway we got down just past Idaho Falls, up into the mountains in the rain and pulled in for one of our many fuel stops, when I noticed the trailer wheels were smoking. Thinking it was just steam at first from the rainfall on the brakes. But soon smelled something that was much more then just steam so I mentioned it to the rest of the knuckle heads and we discovered that the brakes were fried on the trailer due to the fact that the hitch load levers were not used. As a result of that the hitch ball had slumped down and was aplying the brakes for who knows how many miles. The hitch was pooched, couldn't even get it off! We could have lost everything down one of the canyons in the mountains! So we asked a guy at the station if he knew where we could get it looked at/fixed. So he gave us a name and a number, we got it fixed which included some welding but no fix for the brakes on the trailer. He had no parts.
So back down the road we go. Thinking that we could baby the thing for the rest of the way to L.A. and get them fixed there. And so we did. No further problems on the way down,,, to bad we were only half way through the trip.
We dropped the car at the new owners place and as we rolled up to this 10,000 sq ft house on a private golf coarse, he opened the garage (one of 4) in a square courtyard and revealed another car (32 Ford 5 window) I had done years before which he had purchased from another fellow down in L.A. Not to mention a track T with a Donovan small block in it, Ferrari boxer and two Rolls Cornish. Oh and he also had a brand new Chevy dually lowered and totally redone to match the 33 just to tow it to and from.
While we were touring a number of different atractions in L.A. (Boyds, Fat Mans, California Customs, Pamona swap meet etc.) Another fellow took the truck/repaired trailer (to the tune of $1500) to load up some things he was picking up in Phoenix that we would be bringing back. He was building a new home and found some carpet etc at a deal.
I made a stop at Mike Nordals (Willy's replacement parts) and picked up a few things and while we were there a friend fell in love with a jet boat that Mike had for sale so he bought it! Now we needed a way to get it back, right, so he made a few calls and found a guy he knows had bought a car (lincoln) in L.A. and needed it delivered to Minnesota and it had a hitch. So we figured we could always make another trip down to Minnesota to get the boat another time, it would be a whole lot closer to home. So now we are back on the road, Two teams of two, truck and trailer myself and friend and the other two with the boat and lincoln. So its down the highway between L.A. and Vegas about a 4 to 5 hour drive. Back on the road again now about two hours into it and the truck overheats, they (Lincoln and boat) blow past us giving us the thumb to nose thing. Well about an hour after that we pass the Lincoln on the side of the road and at that time my friend was driving and just kept going using the appropriate hand signals.
Well you know what they say about Karma? By now it was dark (pitch black, no moon) and I noticed from the passenger side rear view mirror that it appeared that the trailer was now shooting fire out the side behind the wheels! So we pulled over. Turned out that the rear tire on the tandem blew and we were running on the rim, now shooting sparks off the pavement. Spare tire? Didn't matter the rim had curled back around on itself so far we could not even get a wheel wrench on it!! So we thought we would wait till the Guys in the Lincoln catch up and we would ride into Vegas and deal with it in the morning! Well we actually fell asleep waiting in the truck. We were awakened by a tow truck driver that had picked them up as they had blown the engine in the Lincoln. He had the car and boat in tow. As we assessed the situation we were standing on the edge of the highway in sandals and shorts, prarie boys, that was when the tow truck driver (clad in high top leather boots) says to us "ummm I wouldn't be out here standing on the road if I were you!" Oh why is that we thought to ourselves? he says " the rattle snakes come out onto the hot highway at night!" Needless to say we went and sat in the truck. We had to wait for him to drop them in Vegas and come back for us. When we finally got into Vegas (12 hours from the time we left L.A.) we crashed at the Motel 8 and said we would deal with it in the morning.
Morning arrives and we got the tire fixed and that is when we noticed that the trailer looked bent,,, thinking that it couldn't be from the flat we decided to run it up onto the weigh scale.... the weight came in at 19,200 lbs.!!! The trailer was rated for 6,000 lbs.! It was no wonder the truck overheated in the heat of the day and that the tire shredded itself. So we had no choice but to rent a uhaul cube van both to tow the boat and to share the load on the trailer. It was no small feat to unload it either we had to bum a fork lift with the long single prong for carpets.
I told you this was a long story and it ain't over yet! So now we are once again on the road headed north. We get back into the mountains and it starts with freezing rain, black ice, turning to snow, fun! We made it through now just a snow storm and we arrive at the border. We had arranged to meet (at the border) another fella that had bought a Bug and was also bringing it back (the fella that overloaded the trailer btw). Anyway he was not there as yet no sign of him. Of course you can't cross the border with someone elses stuff and he had stuff in the trailer.. right! Anyway that is when we learned from his father via telephone that he had had fuel pump troubles and had stopped roadside to fix it. He had just gotten back into the car when a drunk driver in a Caddy had slammed into the back of him putting him in the closest hospital.. He was banged up pretty bad but he was going to eventually be ok. I don't know if it was because the border guy felt bad for us and him or what but they let us through.
It stormed all the way home and when we went through Swift Current it was so slippery that the truck couldn't make it up an on ramp. I got out of the truck and literally pushed the front end of the truck sideways until it was pointed back down hill it was that slippery! From there on home it continued to storm and about an hour out of Saskatoon the truck developed a miss. We limped it home and found out it had dropped a valve,, so the engine would need a rebuild!
Talk about Murphys law this trip was one not to repeat! In subsequent years the group has reunited and gone on other trips being dubbed the "knuckle head annual tour" one being Bonneville salt flats, and other than some problems with Grey Goose proved to be trouble free!

Thanks for reading all the way through I told you it was a long one!

Bash

Wow Bash, that outdoes anything I've done. Good story.

CArl

Holy cow, can't top that story ...

Here's a bit of a laugh.
Late 60's I chased this fox from Berkley down to California, we shacked up one summer in Vancouver ... I was a love struck Romeo
I drove down there and to my utter dismay, I found she had a boyfriend and was not happy to see me.
I almost blew her secret lustfilled summer with me by showing up unexpectly.
So there I was, broken hearted heading back north when hundreds of miles later I discover I had lost my wallet.
No plastic in those days, but had enough cash in my pocket to make it home.
Just south of Seattle I blew a head gasket and left the car ( 1960 Zephyr ) on the side of the I5 and hitch a ride into Seattle.
I caught a Greyhound heading for Vancouver, that's BC not Washington.
At that time Vietnam was still going strong and draft dodgers were skipping into Canada, so when we arrived at the Border,
all passengers were instructed to disembark from the bus , go inside and show ID.
Well me, not having any ID I was taken into a back room for further questioning.
I stated I was a Canadian citizen, lost my wallet in California and was born in Saskatchewan.
The Custom Officer had heard all the stories so figured he may have a draft dodger.
He figured if I was, I wouldn't be able to answer the questions he was about to ask.
" How do you spell Saskatchewan," he says. to me.
So I spell it with out hesitation and in rapid succession.
" Hmmmm," he says, " can you name the capital of Saskatchewan."
"Regina," I reply.
Ah haaaa, I have him now, he thinks to himself.
" What does Regina mean and/or stand for," he quirps.
" It another name for the Queen and/or the ruling head of the Monarchy," I reply with a smile.
He looks at me, thinks for a moment, "OK," he says, " not many Americans could have answered those questions, you're free to reboard the bus."
I breathed a sigh of relief, " thank you," I said, and I was out the door.

Some good stories have come up.... I'm sure you guys have more than one!
In 2004 I decided to attend an event called Northwest Deuce Days up in Victoria. I'd met a fella named Al Clark at a friends place (Rick Davis) in Chilliwack on Canada Day 2003, and Al had mentioned his shop and gathering and that I should run up and see what was going on.
The master plan was for me to run up in my 27 roadster, with my teardrop trailer, and pick my wife Cher up in Seattle at the airport on Thursday evening. On Wednesday morning I pulled out of a camp area on 101 in northern California, nailed the throttle a little at it dropped a cylinder... dropped it HARD! A quick valve cover removal confirmed a bent valve, and I had to pick up my wife the following evening in Seattle.
I limped it north, finally in Coos Bay Oregon I had to do something... as I was fueling at a Shell station a guy pulls up in a Ranger pickup, starts telling about a cruise night, I say what I really need is a machine shop and an exhaust valve. He says "...follow me to my place..." I say".. you wife is going to kill you.." he says" She left a long time ago!" To make a long story short, Frank Rivers helped get the head off, to a shop that had tools and parts, all the while one of his hot rodding buddies came over and was cleaning parts. We tossed it back together, and after having met Frank at 2pm, about 8pm that night I drove north, and he insisted that I get cleaned and grab a shower before I left. I met my wife in Seattle the next evening, we crossed over to Victoria and had a great time at DD 2004, and she rode home to California with me and we had a ball.
Yes, Frank Rivers is still on my Christmas card list, once in a while we talk to each other, and every time I pass through Coos Bay we sit down to dinner. It really isn't about the cars, but it is about the people....
Clarke

Great story and memories of comrodderie. That is what makes this hobby so much fun. And, yes, it is all about the people you meet.

Russ

I almost hit a bear today with the Cobra, then blew a rad hose apart a short while later lol.