Driving from California to Illinois--with 2 X H.A.M.B. friendly vehicles

You'll have a blast!! I also recommend Rushmore, as well as the Crazy Horse monument.

 

Harold... I'm from Antioch, Illinois--- right at the Wi/Il border..

And, thanks for the tips... My Rushmore was on the list already as I hadn't seen it since I was 12 on our one big family vacation... So, that's definitely a place to see... Just landed in LAX... next updates will probably be tomorrow!

 

I'm so jealous. I wanna do a roadster cross country trip one day. Good luck.

 

Sounds cool ! Wish I could do that!

 

When I was 18 I drove an o/t car from Missouri to the coast line of Virginia that my friends wouldn't drive out of the county. Expect the worse but be prepared for the unexpected !

 

Oh Man, that is way too awesome....I am retired, and not too far from you....would love to do that trip with you......
And you should have PovertyFlats along just for narrating you trip too !!!!
You have the right attitude...take your time, and enjoy it....
Take lots of pictures for us....and good luck,
Cheers.......

 

Awesome man.. I've done a couple similar trips before. Really quite fun!


If you end up going through Nebraska and need anything in the Omaha or Lincoln areas, let me know. My cell # is: 402-681-3088.

Also, if you go the northern (South Dakota) route that you mentioned, and end up needing anything, I can get you in contact with a few people up there.

Good luck!!



Malcolm

 

Any updates ????
Cheers..........

 

are you broke down yet......???? Just kidding.,,, Let us know whats happening....

 

good luck!!! keep us updated

 

I hope I didn't subscribe for nothing.. Are you on the road yet?

 

That's a blast in a car!
Think about doing it in an airplane. A friend of mine sold a pair of old late-30s Lockheed twins to two different people. They had been sitting for several years outside at the local airplort but were maintained.
One guy sent a pilot and mechanic crew who spent 2-3 days pulling cowlings, changing fluids, checking everything out and then left for a 1000+ miles trip.
The other guy showed up with one helper, got the plane started, fueled up, aired up the tires, taxied around the field for 20-30 minutes then waved bye and hit the airways for a 1000+ mile trip home.
And they both got home happy and healthy.

 

Maybe this guy got stuck already OR we got suckered in OR maybe .....

 

I got a email from him yesterday saying that he was in Oceanside CA visiting some friends.

 

good!

 

Hey Povertyflats....why don't you tell the rest of the class how adventuresome you got when you picked up your '57 from my parent's place...lol! Just messing with ya of course!

 

I'll be watching this one. Sounds like the trip I took at 16 years old with a stock Model A from northern Michigan, across Canada to Niagara Falls, NY and down into Pennsylvania to my grandparents place. Spent the summer helping out on the farm while Grandpa and I took the the flathead v8 engine out of the 1947 Ford School bus I rode to school the first day of first grade and put it in the A. End of the summer I drove back to Michigan and drove the A the last two years of high school and the first two years of college. Good times.

Frank

 

Ok HAMBers Hemi Falcon is in Stockton Ca on West Lane with a exhaust manifold issue. Anyone recommend a shop near-by? His cell is 760-473-4814

 

if all else fails there tell him to look up vw guys down there they got fingers in other deals
they got skills and connections to help

 

Sounds like a blast of a trip. Hope you get the manifold figured out and enjoy the rest of the trip.

 

I did not enjoy that at all---that's why I did not think this was a good iideea for hemifalcon----
on the other hand, I still have the 57 Chevy some years later and your parents are still good friends of mine....so it's all good!

 

I have done these trips too many times! wish I could ride along! last trip was a 1934 dodge DRXX sedan towing a toyota, use a trailer that way less to go wrong!! <grin>

1.things to do: change all coolant hoses, inspect and adjust brakes, lube chassis, you already mentioned tires, get spare water pump and coolant, 3-4 cans brake clean, WD-40, rags and hand cleaner, new wiper blades, carb kit for backup, new belts and set of spare belts, MAJOR tune up (new coil, etc.) and spare points, etc., repack front wheel bearings, spare carrier bearing, TOOLS!!, disposable cameras (min 2 ea.) in case of accident or just sights to record, full coverage insurance on both vehicles for trip. buy the spares from a national retailer that way you can return unused at end of trip.

It is always better to have and not need than to need and not have!!

2. places to visit:, Speedway Motors, Lincoln, Neb (allow full day or more), Pella, Ia. for a Balogna meal (any meal is a treat), Auburn-Dusenburg Museum, Indy Museum

That's a good start, just try to think of all that could go wrong and do all to prevent it!!

GOOD LUCK and ENJOY!!!

 

Ok... I know I have not updated thus as I would have liked, but sitting on my dumb phone and typing in Starbucks parking lots came second to trying to get on the road.. Yeah, unfortunately I said " trying".. Thus trip has been "trying" to say the least both of the cars and myself.. But, it's been a learning experience. As was said above- I had a problem in Stockton where the intake/exhaust gasket blew out on me after an otherwise problem free drive from San Diego. I ended up being able to scavenge enough parts and tools through some dedicated assistance from some folks at AutoZone. I performed the repair in the parking lot of Auto Zone by removing the manifolds and getting it done right with new studs and a gasket set.. Upon startup- all went well...

After cleaning this mess up- I went to grab the '41 and after getting the car out of thr yard and moved into the street-- I went to UHaul to get a trailer. After working through the pains of explaining that thr truck could easily handle the trailer even though it wasn't in their database- one of their hitch installers told the clerks that all was good and to go ahead and lease the trailer to me.. Well, when hooking up the trailer-- we found that my trailer connection was no good.. After trying to talk the guy into letting me go with it as-is, he told me he couldn't.. I was steamed but had to forget it for the night as the place was closing.. Tuesday morning I fixed the wiring in the truck and proceeded to UHaul to get a trailer. No pun intended-- but I got trailer with no problems.. Mind you-- I went back to the same Auto Zone and did thr work in their parking lot.. The workers all smiled when they saw me again..

After getting the trailer, I went back to where we had left the car the night before and realized i needed air in the front tire to roll it... Onto the local gas station for fix a flat.. Then, it was onto Home Depot for an extra tie down and a come-a-long.. I got back to the car and got it positioned for the trailer. After about 20 minutes I had it all loaded up and double checked everything before getting on the road to see how she was gonna tow.. It wouldn't take long to find out as I had a fresh tank of gas and I-5 was less than a mile away..

So, I got on the road and after getting moving I couldn't notice much difference in tgd trucks handling.. All seemed good. That was until I got to Roseville and I noticed the smell of coolant. I glanced down and saw the temp gauge pegged and voltage dropped.. I clutched in and coasted to the shoulder which was extra wide due to construction, and I turned the engine off. Once stopped, I confirmed what was thought- a shredded fan belt. Luckily the outer band was still intact and I was able to read the numbers on the belt- so that was one good thing. The second good thing was that a California Highway Patrolman stopped immediately to check on me.. He ended up being very cool and after a quick pat-down he gave me the backseat ride to the local Car Quest where I got two new belts, one for a backup.. I got back to the truck and was moving within 10 minutes after topping off the radiator. All was going well once again.

The next struggle would be just the driving part as the mountains were not easy on the old truck.. At times I was doing 30-35mph in third gear hauling up the hills.. The worst came when there was construction and we were down to one lane and I was leading the cars.. It got so bad that I stopped and pulled over as much as I could to let the train of cars pass.. There wasn't much room, but they squeezed by.. I could see about a half mile behind me was clear so I eased out to get going again and couldn't power up to 30 again and stayed in second doing 17mph as known on the GPS.. I was soon crawling again as the lead car in the train.. That's an incredible amount of pressure on your bumper when there's no where to go but straight and to thr top of the hill... I eventually made it up and through the mountains and into Nevada.. I grabbed some dinner and gas in Reno and kept heading east..

During this portion is where I gained the time to type this out.. Or was it fear and need, and hope that drove ms to do this knowing that the HAMB may be able to help with it's extensive network of followers.. Either way-- here we go.....

While driving along at about 60 I started feeling a slight "miss" or "tug" on the truck that was erratic.. I started thinking that the engine may be developing a miss in the ignition.. Then I started thinking that since the trailer axle width was wider than the suburban, then maybe it was catching road imperfections.. But I started paying very close attention and noticed the road was not the culprit.. Out of mounting concern- I called my dad to talk it out.. After covering all the possibilities-- I decided I'd just slow down a little and keep on.. Well, I had covered the idea that there was a vibration in the driveline and after affirming that there's no carrier bearing on this truck, and the u-joints were good as I checked them and greased them when I did the work at Camp Pendletons hobby shop-- I remembered one thing.. There was slop up-down in the rear pinion.. I knew the rear pinion seal was leaking and topped off the gear oil.. However-- I had noticed it was leaking more and more.. I mentioned this to my dad in the first phone call and almost immediately after hanging up he called back. His thoughts were that the tugging or jerking or "miss" that I thought I was feeling was being caused by the pinion.. He warned that if that is the case that I could be a very long walk from a drive ending differential failure.. I began stressing as I was in the middle of no where...

So, that brings me to where I'm at now... And again, I'm sorry for not detailing and updating as originally hoped for- but alot of time has been spent wrenching on this old girl.. So-- I got back on the road following a nap and I was rolling along at 55 and after about 10 miles the tugging event happened again.. Then it happened again. I made it to Battle Mountain and stopped at the gas station.. I grabbed my flashlight and crawled under the truck to check the pinion.. There's fresh oil aplenty running down the snout and bottom of the diff, not to mention it's been flung all over the place on the underside of the truck.. Reaching to manipulate the rear of the driveshaft I can feel that the slop has gotten worse.. So, now I'm worried.. Concerned of the possibility of a destroyed rear differential I've stopped for the night.. I'm going to try some of the local repair shops and see if I can get lucky with someone having the ability to get parts it do the repair... If not-- I'm gonna be in trouble...

So, here's my plea to the HAMBer's. If there us anyone who has any capability to do this repair which is likely, or knows a competent shop-- please get in touch.. My cell is 760-473-4814 and could really use the assistance..

I'm wrapping up for now to try and get some sleep in the parking lot of the Chevron gas station on 8th Street in Battle Mountain..

 

I'm sorry for typing errors above... It was all done from my thumb tips on my phone..

 

FALCON. Get you a pinion bearing and seal and do it right there my friend... Sorry to hear about the issues... Ive had one completely go and when it goes its real bad bro.. you can make it the rest of the way putting a new pinion bearing in, and I dont remember what size the nut is that holds the yoke on but that. a hammer, and a wrench to get the u joint off the yoke and your golden and a screwdriver to get seal out... keep us posted man...

 

Stubbs..
Unfortunately, I've never done one before... Is it as easy as yanking the yoke from the pinion??

 

iTS very easy man...

So remember to chock the wheels and pull the driveshaft out, then take the nut off the yoke, slide it off might require a few love taps, then you have to pull the seal out with a big screwdriver etc... once the seal is out the pinion bearing is right there just have to slide it out, might require some finessing but it will come out...clean all the stuff up and put new one in and reassemble... torque the yoke nut down to everything you can put on it.... Taking apart takes about 20 min roughly to 30 min if all goes well.

 

Stubbs.. Is there any reason to suspect damage or wear on the pinion gear itself?
A possibly bad bearing is hopefully the cause and nothing worse? Is this gonna be a ball or roller type bearing that I replace? Also-- any idea on torque specs for the pinion nut? You're making thus sound ver doable... Are there any shims or anything that I need to worry about?

 

There possibly is wear on the pinion if the bearing has completely failed you wouldnt be driving at all... If the bearing is spinning you might have to use some sandpaper and clean up the wear scorn marks on the pinion shaft... and that burban should be a 10 bolt or 12 bolt right? if so No shims on the outside... yeah will be a standard roller bearing like a wheel bearing.. when torquing down the yoke nut after getting it all done Id say to torque it down as tight as it was when you took it off... they say the preload is 25 inch lbs. just put as much force putting it on as you did taking it off..

 

Stubbs.. I just did a search here and there is luckily a NAPA less than a quarter mike from here.. As soon as they open I'll be getting to work if they have tbe parts.. And yes, it's a 12 bolt rear and being that-- I hope the fact that it's a common rear- that they'll have the parts in stock or can relay from another NAPA store..

If I get back on the road today I owe you big time--
Thank you so far...
-john