Hot Rods Winter Driving

That's a very cool pic for me... A Connecticut broadleaf tobacco "shed" as the farmers call those huge barns. A lot of those still have an occasional antique car or two stored inside. (I worked one summer in grade school in tobacco valley harvesting)Great photo scene idea.

I had mine out today running errands and forgot one brake light is out until I got home...salt got in one light socket. Oh well...

.

 

I also worked tobacco as a kid. Culbro tobacco company.

My storage barn is an old tobacco barn and yes, cool cars and parts can be found in these as some are no longer used for tobacco but they built quite a few new ones back 20 years ago or so for the resurgence of cigar smoking.

Thanks on the photo. That was taken this winter on my way back from Rockville one evening.

Cliff Ramsdell

 

I'm a believer in driving my cars, however I'm not going to take my big block 4 spd fairlane out in a snow storm purely because I value my life. But a clear bluebird day in January, why the hell not... I did two days ago.

My wife, young daughter, and I take "Miss Daisy" out every Christmas to pick up the tree, snow or no snow.




To each their own but part of my enjoyment of having the cars is driving them. I guarantee they saw rain and snow before I owned them and they will see it again (I hope) once I'm gone.

 

https://www.goes.noaa.gov/dml/west/nhem/weus/rb.html

Hello,

An angry Coatimundi coming at you Northwest guys...So, stay safe. The weather pattern for us in So Cal is rather odd, so far this winter. Some rain, but, relatively mild. When it does rain, the Pacific Northwest gets the brunt of it, as we get whipped with the tail end of most storms. (a big comma) Not to downplay the intensity of the rainfall, but the Northwest obviously get the frontal attack for days. This adds to the colder temps and of course, snow.

As any of these storms attacks the Westcoast of the USA, the rest of the country is usually waiting for the same storm (plus a friend or two from the subtropical areas to join) to build up once past the Rockies and hit with a vengeance, again. So, this storm front is hitting the Pacific Northwest now and So Cal later in the week…so get ready Midwest/Eastern areas!

In So Cal, it does rain...not enough spread out over the whole year, but when it does rain, it does not mess around. Last week, we had "sideways wind/rain" ...something we only experienced just outside of Kansas City on the way to Colorado one summer. The result of this period of rain is flooding. Since most of So Cal is in a flat plain, there are plenty of areas that are ripe for flooding. The streams from the local mountains also adds to the down slope run off and causes more flooding and mud.
710 Long Beach Freeway at PCH
Recently, because of the coastal fires, the LA area was going to be a mess when the rains came. It did and caused the major artery road closures in the Malibu-Oxnard areas, again.

Jnaki

So, winter driving is snow in the mountains and rain/flooding in the lower elevations is expected with every rainfall out here. Those big wide tires are ripe for the old "hydroplaning" effect. It is something to be aware and know how to stop it from happening. If it lasts a long time, it is like driving on air and easy to get out of control. During the time we had the 1965 El Camino with wide Inglewood Pos-A-Traction, Redline tires, one learns car handling, (very quickly) in the rainy conditions and slick streets.

 

I don't even drive my regular car when it is cold and shitty out.

 

Still waiting...……...

 

Hahahahaha...
BLUSHI can't get out even if he wanted to.

 

Believe me I don't want to, too much salt & liquid calcium on the roads for my comfort.
These old cars are to hard to find to just drive them in the salt season.

 

I'm in my 2nd winter and the road chemicals took out my taillights. The 41 Chevy bulbholders were not designed to be waterproof on the back sides. So I did find some here and got them fixed, and decided they needed roadtesting nah...I just love driving it and had not had it out in a whole day. Nearing dusk, late in the day:

^^ the old brick train depot building ahead.


^^^Looking the other way, the river was pretty high due to a lot of rain and some minor snow melt.


^^^^Somewhat milder than normal temps lately, and the millpond only has a very thin later of icing...but it's getting much colder soon.

.

 

A short read on the related subject of road salt concerns...............

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/12/06/road-salt-water-pollution
..

 

I truly am in awe of the fact that you drive that roadster in all conditions.
I myself would never consider driving a real live Deuce roadster under anything but perfect conditions, but that is just me.
I would never drive my o/t in these conditions & I know that its value is a fraction of what a Deuce is worth.
It must be nice to drive something cool year-round.
Good on you!

 

In the Wichita Mountains wildlife preserve, 230 miles from my house, this past Monday. There was no chance of snow, but it IS winter, lol.

 

Southern California winter temps today high of 78° and low of 50° winter drive your hearts out

 

Decided to pull the Willys out of storage and start driving it. If the roads are clear of ice and snow, why the hell not....It is toasty with the heated seats, no shiny paint to worry about, and after a classmates’ funeral last week, I realized that I will probably rust out before it does....

 

Great mindset...although off season driving is not for everyone. I never planned for mine as a daily driver...it just was that my 1970 former daily of 11 years ended up needing major complete resto and at 67, I'd rather start enjoying life outside of a garage...before it's too late. So your mention of a classmates funeral should hit home to others here.

You also then meet so many different types of people than you do if you only go to car related events. I take mine late in the day to recreation places, trails, rivers and lakes. The people that go there are possibly more into getting the most out of their spare time, rather than sitting and watching so much negativity on the news.

My State has always seemed like that the people born here are not outgoing to strangers, but I always had the thought that if these people have a reason to drop their guard, then you'd find that they are friendly beyond words...and a vintage car will usually break the ice.

Today I will finish fixing the heater motor, and I will be good to go. It was 15F this morning with a high of 28F today. Roads are dry....let's go..

 

For years, my late wife and I had the same tradition - take the old car out for a spin on New Year's Day. Weather made no difference. A few years it was just around the block, some years if the roads were clear it was a full-blown cruise somewhere. Great stories in this thread, and I applaud all you guys for driving 'em! That's what they're built for.
Our '39 Ford, sometime back in the 1980's...


You can read more about my winter driving story here.

 

Kansas City got hit last night. Doesn't change the fact that I need to go to work today. Let's dig it out

 

Well it's below zero and constant snow squalls in Pa. Sucks! No driving.

 

Again, thanks to everyone who's posted pics and thoughts here. My cars seem to spend more time apart in the garage than they do on the road so I try to make the most of the driving time. It's said that Minnesota generally has six months of winter and six months of poor snowmobiling...
This was a frosty February Saturday morning breakfast get-together a few years ago. Everybody there thought I was nuts. They're right. That's a frozen lake in the background.

 

I had the car out earlier today even though it snowed a bit last night. I went to buy some new work shoes...I went to the nearest city to a "real shoe place", they still even fix shoes. I parked right out front and the owner then says he also has prewar cars... A 22 Model T centerdoor sedan and a late 20s Whippet. He was happy when I told him I have a Whippet too.



I was back home for an hour and it was near 50F so I just wanted to go out again. I stopped at the Dam, lots of people go there to relax and take photos...


I sat there quite a spell..thinking..

I know most don't drive in winter, but at my age, I just need to drive it...as often as possible. I know there is some ongoing damage, but then a thought came to me: "For every day later in life, that you choose not to go out...you simply won't get that day back later".

.

 

Amen.

 

We had snow 3 days ago, maybe 1" but it turned to rain. Most of the brine is off the roads after a good rain. They brine the roads prior to an expected snowfall or freezing rain. So I run the Ford as long as the road surfaces are dry. A bit of a calculated risk, the car should outlast me with a little care.

 

Hey hotrodman303 your 34 is awesome! I'm right next to you in east boulder. Got a couple early fairlanes I drive a ton. Hey whos close to us that does good suspension work on early fords? Aslo might redo the 289 in my Ranchero and looking for machine shop. My other guys are in Fort Collins. Love to find someone closer. thanks

 

14" new snow yesterday at dawn, but roads were bare & dry by late that day. That 14'' had settled quite a lot by then.

I went out late afternoon today....for gas...well, if I did not go out, I would not have needed gas. Any excuse is good.... right?

 

Man, I've really enjoyed all your pics out in the winter weather! I don't really have the time or space to tear my '60 down again this year for more work to the drivetrain, so I think instead I might just get the heater and wipers working and give it hell! It's just an old four door sedan, after all. The NADA value on it isn't much more than my winter-beater Corolla, so its not like resale value is even relevant.

 

I did drive my '60 through some snow once a couple years ago. I had just moved to Minnesota the previous fall and left my car and tools down in Arizona. In April I flew down and rebuild the rear end (blew it up literally the week before I was going to move) and a few days later my now-wifey flew down to meet me and we loaded up my entire roll cab worth of tools plus a few sets of SBC heads, a couple intakes, and a spare 3rd member for my car (in addition to a cooler full of food and all the loot we acquired from all the antique malls in Kansas and Missouri) and hit the road.

This was that April that we had the bad blizzard that shut down I35 for a few days, which landed us in cheap Missouri motels for longer than any person would want. The rest of the trip through Iowa and Minnesota was VERY chili with no interior or heater or window seals. I probably drank more coffee and hot chocolate in that last 400 or so miles than I had in my entire life.
We were using the David Freiburger wrap all the way home, if any of you guys watch Roadkill you'll probably get that reference LOL.

First pic is somewhere in eastern Colorado or west Kansas when it really started getting windy and cold, next pic is in northern Missouri, and the pic at the Kum and Go is somewhere in Iowa. I wish I would've got more pics that following few weeks as that car was my daily driver for the rest of the year.

Last pic in my driveway was last Friday when I went for a little jaunt around town.

 

Need to bring this thread back! The '59 Merc does great in winter. There's not much salting going on out here and this car already has 60 years of daily driver duty under it's belt (rocker?). Planning on giving the wipers and heater some attention and driving it in the off hours this winter.

 

My 49 Dodge pickup is a 4x4 truck. It is my year around driver. I have pictures of it sitting in snow, and pictures of driving it down the road on a bright sunny winter day with snow in the ditches, but the road is clear and dry. I didn't get any pictures of driving it in the 6" show covered streets along with the snow plows, or making the 1st path down the country road after a different 4"-6" snow storm, but it does get driven in the cold, the snow, and the salted roads. It was built with this winter driving in mind. My old 50 Dodge 4x4 went 12 years being driven year around (it even was used to plow snow) and it survived pretty well before the lady turned left right in front of me and it got totaled. Other then the frame being shortened 12" in the front after the crash, the truck was in good shape and would have easily made it another 4-5 years. I'm 67 now, if this one makes it 12 years from now, I'm probably not going to worry too much about it. I'm not the least bit concerned about what the next guy does with the truck.

The truck has an awesome windshield and side window defroster. The cab is fairly well sealed, but the air drafts can make it a chilly ride, even with the fan on high speed, if the outside temps get down below 0 degrees F. I do have a blanket to cover up with, behind the seat, if it gets too cold to be comfortable riding in it. Having clear windows is more important then being warm. The truck also has very good windshield wipers. Its going to have great windshield washers as soon as I can find a place to locate the washer bottle, things are a bit crowded under that hood. Good winter tires and good brakes are a must.

 

I hope the moderators leave these but winter salt driving is nothing like summer salt driving. But it does dry out a little.

 

My 48 at my Ex sister in law's in November or December 1982 or 83. My Avatar photo. We had driven 35 miles in the snow to get there but I drove it year round as my daily driver.
My son John in the middle in the sun glasses, he was killed in an accident in 1989, the boy with his back to the camera was my sister's son who passed away and the little blond bomber is my sister's daughter who is a top rated lawyer now.