and Good Times :thumbsup:

.........mpg's? :popcorn2:

It's probably nearing it's aerodynamic limitations at that speed!

Sieg,
they probably never made it to the next gas station, that's why we haven't got the numbers yet :popcorn2:

This is awesome, good luck guys, totally envy you for this "most excellent adventure" :D

602 successful miles total on Betsy. About 500 today. Not too shabby.

Battled through just a tad of snow.

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/f...psd392d5f0.jpg

Thanks to Ron Schwarz and his family for putting us up (and putting up with us).

More tmrw... way past our bedtime. :cheers: (I see it says 1:10am but it's actually 4:10am for the record :sieg:)

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/f...ps119cdf52.jpg

Awesome progress!
 

"The role of Kim Darby is being played by Betsy..."

3 days and 602 miles traversed... 2800 miles left....


The math doesn't work no matter how much Sieg fudges it.



I liked Rob's text best... "This trip SUCKS". That should just about sum it up. And that was day ONE.

I think they are crossing their fingers that if they can get it up to 88mph that it will travel back in time!

What!?

By my calculations they'll arrive at their destination around the end of February.

They'll also both have gained 12-17 lbs.

His text is one of the most accurate.........related to beer and speculative fuel consumption.

Do you suppose they've turned around and headed back to Philly for just one more "The Heater"? AKA Heart attack/gas attack disguised as a sandwich.

This is like an episode of Roadkill.

ARE WE THERE YET???????????:goggles:

Define "there".

"There" for them is -- Joe's Grog House - watching football. So yeah... They're "there".

He also runs 'Joe's Blunt House' in Colorado...

:relax:

Then they're there!!:bang:

New avitar & new screen name...HIT THE NEWBE THREAD:hello:

After a nice evening of bs and beer till 4am, the boys had a really late start. We wrenched on the truck today, and hopefully made the thing a little more safe. Fixing gas leaks, a bunch of wiring issues, and overhauling the carburetor. I think the excellent adventure is on its way south, Butch and Sundance should be in our nations capitol by 9:30. Look out secret service.

http://57hemicuda.smugmug.com/Cars/A...DSC00887-L.jpg

Fess up Dave.........SHOW ME THE NUMBERS! :guns:

No way I'd push any of my stuff outside and let those two boneheads in my shop. Glad it was you and not me. I may have just fired off the plasma cutter and put an end to the whole ordeal.


Good stuff Ron! I hope there's more great guys like you along the way.... <sly "knowing" smile>

So Ron only had one beer? I know he wasn't doing Lagunitas IPA's...lol

A moderate response. ;)

:thankyou:

Ron, that is great you could help...nice timing. :thumbsup:


:lol:

As if things in Washington D.C. couldn't get any worse............

Kill'n It! LOL!

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
:tv_happy:

Fred always made Barney push.

:popcorn2:

:captain1: :captain1: :captain1: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Nice picture guys!!

At least there's no snow on the ground!

:lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao: :lmao:

That is about what is budgeted.

Not the worst idea I've heard in awhile.

Ron, thanks again for having us in your home man. Great house, family, shop, dog.... and you ain't too shabby yourself. I can't wait to see that AMX completed.... so killer in person. :thumbsup:

The key words of our stay with Ron are: "stranger danger" :lol:

Early numbers WITH the gas leak ranged from 6.2 to 8.3 mpg. But with some work we are hoping for double figures. Stay tuned. :D

Ron can put down the Coors Lights at a healthy ratio to our IPA's. :cheers:

Pics tell great stories don't they? :popcorn2:

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/f...ps3a99d4e4.jpg

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/f...ps44a2ada2.jpg

Ron donated a Chevy orange air cleaner. Of course it will be faster now.

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/f...ps7ffb2769.jpg

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/f...psa273a496.jpg

Ron showed us what he does for fun in MD.... drives his pickup truck through rivers.

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/f...ps51bf05b1.jpg

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/f...ps2190106d.jpg

This guy denied just us from getting a block closer to the Capitol. How dangerous do we look? :getout:

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/f...psf767f4a8.jpg

Bill Cosby's preferred Chili Dog at Ben's Chili Bowl

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/f...pse7a56406.jpg

Can you say front row parking in downtown DC?

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/f...psa1029926.jpg

Should arrive in Charlotte, NC tmrw..... :flag2:

Ron's talent as a car builder can only be outdone by his hospitality. Thanks Ron it was a great day of "stranger danger":king:

Yea we need more good Ron and less bad Ron and Weld:action-smiley-027:

[I hear he does a number on fresh baked goods also:lol:

DC police are the best, Yea that parking and the chili dog Suck just like the trip :sarcasm_smiley: :D

Tomorrow we see if we can net a solid 10+ on the gas milage. DG you forgot to mention the dirt and rust soaked air filter element, dirty fuel filter, mucked up vacum advance line. There have been quite a string of mechanics "improving" the truck.

Bars are all closed so I guess it's time to catch some sleep.

:flag2:

:cheers:

Great post 'Rob in DC'. :thumbsup:

Aside from the mechanical/electrical issues, how does it ride and drive?

How did it handle in the snow?

Like a Furd. :D

Actually, it really does purr and sound good. Brakes are solid. Steering is that old school loosey goosey but just fine. Plenty of power it and pulls fine up hills without needing WOT. Rarely if ever have to downshift for that reason. The back end can be a little tail happy but nothing worrisome.

It really is just like driving a big truck but just a little longer. Really liking it.

I probably passed 85-90% of the cars on the road in New Hampshire when the heaviest snow was coming down. So I'd say it did pretty good.

Oh, and we needed a new tail light... because I backed up into Ron's neighbors' dirt hill and crushed it. (hey, it was dark out) :smiley_smack:

I'm going to have my daughter phone Payton, and give him the stranger danger speach.LOL Good meeting you guys, sorry if I was alittle out of it, no sleep at all Fri night very little Sat night, by Sunday I was in a bit of a funk. Dawn still doesn't get it. She doesn't understand how guys that I have never met could stay at the house, and we act as if we've know each other for years. I just said, you wouldn't understand, they're car guys.

I do think that 10 mpg with that rig is a bit optomistic, but hey if your going to dream dream big. I'v already started looking on L.A. Craigslist for something I need to buy and drive home. LOL

Ron S,


Gwen is just now starting to understand some of the texts and phone calls I get. She'll say - who's that? I tell her it's so and so from such a place... and she squints and says "how do you know him".... Oh - we met at SEMA.... She shakes her head.


I think where it turned the corner was Rodger and Shannon spending time with us when we were both in Hawaii..... and going to the "after race" dinners with Charley and his group. Then she started to "get it". She's certain of ONE thing -- we're all idiots. LOL

Ron,

Saw the wiring pic. :disgusted:

Could you give us a rundown on what you did?

(I understand if you need some stranger danger recovery time first...lol)

Seems Rob and Dave have managed to find civilization.... and then it was time for a fill up --- This is where they get GAS... you know... the noxious kind...







http://i919.photobucket.com/albums/a...G_00000928.jpg

This is so true. I've made some very good friends on these car sites, and from first introduction it was like we knew each other for years. :thumbsup:

Oh my!!!


http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/f...psa273a496.jpg


At least there is some copper leftover in that bucket to recycle to help offset the labor...

What do you guys figure was installed on the truck that took all of that mess?

Well Skip back at Jakes when we were winching the car I saw the bottom pic. The 4 ga wire to the 12000lbs winch that was twisted together and almost melting on the muffler. So disconnecting the wire at the battery and a zip tie got us back on the road.

At Rons I took a look at the overall underhood wring. Holy **** the top photo is the negative coil lead. The 14 ga + coil lead from the ignition was spliced into a 10ga hot wire to the Duraspark box. (Ford put electronic ignition on these back in the day = no points).

Of course then they ran the whole "custom" wire harness across top of the PS pump just waiting to commit suicide on the fan belt.

On the firewall the 10 GA wire for the Duraspark is staring us in the face. Ron gets the voltmeter up and it's hot with the key on. Off to the parts store to get filters and such so we figure a bullet connector and we are in bussiness.

Fast forward a lunch at Grog house, 3 hrs and a few beerrs later and we are back to wire the truck.

Luckily we double check if the lead is always hot or just keyed hot. F@##k. Always hot. No problem Ron busts out his Copper retirement stash and has a relay in hand.

While he is soderring the leads I find a green wire laying on teh front shock. Oh the tac lead. A quick end connector and the tac is hoked up. We get everything buttoned up. ROn says " i don't know if this relay is set for off without power or on" Hey we have a 50/50 shot. FIre in the hole......

Now two blind old guys in the dark are swapping pins in the relay. Success. We are back on the road.

Well there was the carb thing but ............ That story if for later.

Gotta go Skip. Need to see the Smithsonian.



http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/f...ps3a99d4e4.jpg

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/f...ps44a2ada2.jpg

I wish you'd have said you had time for the Smithsonian.... our good friend Patty Stonesifer is the ex Chairman (chairwoman) of that institution. I could have gotten you into some places.