Hot Rods 5000 mile road trip in a hot rod.

Hey all, not a new member just a new profile. I'm building a 63 Nova SS right now and my plan is to do a 5000 mile road trip in it partially following Route 66 but hitting some places in south Texas so I can see my girl (You will find out who she is later) Amarillo by morning then heading north through Denver, Billings, then 90 back home to Everett, WA. I'm gonna build a big cooling system for the engine and trans. Car will be running a 383 making 500 hp backed by a 700r4. the 9 inch runs a 3.70. Suspension will be Church Boys Racing both front and rear.
This road trip is actually a combination of both mine and my dads dreams. We were working on the car together but MS took him from me last year. He was a life long hot rodder. Belonged to the Valve lifters (everett, wa) My favorite place as a kid to go looking for treasures was Evergreen Speed, Al was my dads friend.
I want to hit a few tracks along the way for some fun racing.

This is a dream I promised him. Any advice you guys can give me will be helpful.

 

1. Air conditioning in the hot months.
2. Be prepared for weather changes - 500 HP is a little much for driving rain, snow and ice. Last year, Albuquerque, NM got snow a few days after Labor Day. I was a day ahead of the worst of the storm (headed east on I-40 / RT-66). Heavy wind out of the south approaching Amarillo, TX. Stopped at the Big Texan steak house (home of the free 72 Oz steak - my puny self bought the smallest steak on the menu). https://www.bigtexan.com/ Continued east after lunch, wind had switched to a heavy wind out of the north.
3. Shamrock, TX is about 96 miles east of Amarillo. A great place to take a "It did happen" picture. About extra 1 & 1/2 hour before turning north.

September 2020 on the way to Lead Ain't Dead.

Russ

 

Thank you for the tips. I'll be running AC and doing this late spring early summer ish. Might hit snow but hopefully can stay away from it

 

Go full altered wheelbase. I've driven this one to Wisconsin and back a couple times, plus Drag Week in the middle of the trip, just to see if it will break.



No AC, no power anything, no tunes, no heat. The wipers and lights work. The overdrive works (installed between trips).

And I'm thinking about driving it up to Michigan in a couple months, too.

(but seriously....ignore everything I say, because what I do with old cars is really idiotic)

 

post couple of pics of your Nova - sorry to hear of lost of your Dad, never easy - hope Nova motor and suspension tuned for not always having best road conditions, etc - put in a good security system - start saving up for hotels, especially gas - lucky you are not coming through California - cheap regular is already $4.25, and going up -

 

Rain x Rain x Rain x. Front, back, side, and mirrors.
I used to buy paper towel in the C-fold fashion by the case. A couple packs with you will cover the trip. Rip three inches from around the wrapping for easy dispensing. They work well for any clean up you'll have. Not your beautiful paint tho.
Plastic money is a great convenience. Tuck away a paper and coin money stash when that odd occurrence needs it.
I always found it handy to keep at least one each Windex, Dawn dish soap WD40 or whatever you prefer.
Oh yeah water can make or break your day. grabbing some gallons from the market will feel better on the pocket than those 16 ouncers at the mini mart. Also grab a plastic dish pan. Works for many things.
In certain situations a can of flat fix can make the day. I like to travel with a cross bar.
Pretty sure you have your own tool set for a breakdown kit. I always carry tire valve cores and a remover tool. Have yet to need them, on the road, but the space is negligible. Wire,, coat hangers or a roll of it. Go ahead laugh, but the space needed won't be noticed.
Same for magic hose tape. Belts can be found easy but hoses can get specific.
Three keys sets keeps me confident of distracted moments when I exit and pop the button after setting the key on the seat.
Since I took you this far I may as well reveal that when I was running low on rest: Raisins ( anyone's but Sun Kist, they don't mind selling sand and stems ) with a jar of dry-roasted unsalted peanuts. Got me much further than any coffee. Yes I like coffee.
Your Dad will likely be with you, we always wanted more time. Glad you can show off his efforts.

 

It sounds like quite the adventure. You’ll be telling stories about it for years. Good luck and have fun!

 

Sorry to hear about your Dad. Trip will be a great tribute to him.

Get the biggest, high quality radiator you can fit. You don't want to have to worry about adequate cooling. Don't overlook the comfort of your seat, good back support, etc. Crusing needs to be comfortable.

 

Road trips are great! My avatar pic is taken 1500 miles from home, that road trip was nearly 4,000 miles.
Comfy seats, a cooler with water in it, and something to snack on really helps. We gas up around a 1/2 a tank, you may be amazed how far it is between some gas stations in some areas.
We do 5-6 hours driving a day, more then that and I start getting tired, not a good thing. We also keep interstate use to a minimum, a lot of state highways are in better shape then the interstates around here are, and you get to see more of the real country, and meet the real people. The car will like the lower stress too.
Above all, don't make the trip about how many miles you can drive in a day, make it about what you can see in those driving days. Gene

 

Worth mentioning is the fact that you can easily plan, going either to or from, a pass by the Grand Canyon.

 

Cash, plastic, and a cell phone (with roadside assistance on speed dial) and you're good to go. Don't fuck up an adventure with too much planning or worrying about what could happen.

 

Please, pardon my verbosity. Twenty years on the road left some impressions. I've been all the places you'll be. So one more item very, very little weight, no room at all. Pick any size, enough for your shoulders, corrugated cardboard on the trunk floor. If you should need to make the deep dive..... there might not be time to pick a nice clean spot.
I'm just assuming you won't be calling the dealer

 

Marc, please forgive us {trailer trash, tow truck tom, myself and others of the profession.] Your trip is /was an ever week or so thing. Except we did not often have time to slow down and enjoy.

Good luck.

Ben

 

The Grand Canyon (south rim) is a great side trip if you have never seen it in person.

 

Been there---Done that 300,000 miles ago!----Enjoy the drive!

 

Hello,

Our dad was always looking for places he read about or saw in magazines. He took us on our first road trip when I was two years old. The only thing I remember is eating a hamburger that was left on the front seat when everyone went inside of a restaurant/gas station. I was waiting in the car. I can’t remember the whole incident, but it took place inside of my dad’s 41 Buick Fastback. The end result of this long road trip from Northern California, was a trailer in Long Beach, where our friends and relatives had moved the year before.

From that incident, our family was on the move almost every year going to some beach, so our dad could fish, camp or just have a beach day. The whole So Cal coastline was within reach of his big Buick fastback and it was amazing for us little kids. On one of these early road trips to a barren coastline community of Laguna Beach, while our dad was fishing and we were playing in the sand/shoreline in this little cove, our mom got this inspiration for where she wanted to live.

She told my wife and I, many years later, that a for sale sign on a cliffside property made her think about living on the coast, like when she was a little girl. (Wow, that would have been pretty great if it worked out, in 1950.) So, throughout our childhood, our dad’s wanderlust for his fishing hobby had road trips for the next successive years until we were too big to fit in the back seat of his 57 Buick Roadmaster.

These days, even during the pandemic, one of the best documentary style road trips in a 55 Chevy wagon is one created and posted by a TV personality, Jeff Thisted. (a Google search will drop you into his blog.) He has extensive background in hot rods and public relations. The best thing is, he writes well and can easily be as if you are riding in the 55 Chevy wagon with him during those extensive road trips. His photography is outstanding and the writing seems like it should be published in a coffee table hard bound book.

He has gone on plenty of miles of road trips in the 55 Chevy wagon and the way he documents places and history is pretty nice. It really makes anyone want to get “On the road, again.”

Jnaki

The road trips are based on Route 66, car shows, and historical places that one usually would see if a giant road trip was scheduled for a summer cruise. He has had breakdowns and documented what happened to the 55 Chevy wagon.



For most of us, we love road trips and cool vacation spots. A AAA service car with at least a 100 mile towing package is usually standard procedures. What and how you prepare is your choice. We all have our own space and accommodations. Some go overboard with spares and garage tool kits. They definitely are prepared for any emergency.

Others just have that handy AAA CARD, a list of places to visit and reservations in place via the websites provided. Some even check out the latest in Airstream Parks and hideaways to be a little different. Than a Hilton Hotel that is listed for most cities and locations hits the spot after a week of driving.


Have fun, make your car reliable and enjoy the cool road trips along the way to your destination and back. The USA is a great place to see and enjoy. YRMV

 

Is that a pull-tab Schlitz can?

John

 

of course....steel, with the aluminum top, from the old days. Copyright 1962.

 

I just finished a 1500 mile trip with my 56 and found the hard way that Google Maps knows where you went to go better than you do. I wish I had gotten some old school maps. I was in Indiana on roads I had never been on, I planned out a route on 2 lane secondary roads and locked it in. First day I kept finding I was rerouted to Freeways like I-80. It was hot and all windows were down so I couldn't hear phone. I found next morning when cooler and windows up that Google said, " We found a route for you that will save you 38 miles, If you don't want the new route press dismiss". It actually changed the route on me many times and I didn't know it until directed to go on to a interstate maybe 15-20 mile out of my planned route.... I tried to buy a map at a larger gas station and was told "we haven't sold maps for 4-5 years, everyone uses their phone" yeah.... Well, have a good time, sorry to hear your Dad cant be with you.

 

navigating when driving an old car is an art unto itself....I sure can't use google to do it! I do have lots of maps, and I've found that studying them ahead of time, and plotting out my route, will let me use a GPS, if I take some effort. I punch in the next town I'm heading to, and do my best to follow the route signs...and use the GPS mostly just to tell me where I am, and how long roughly it will take to get to the next destination. I always mute the sound on it, too.

But having my brother along on a trip, he's pretty good at using google maps to navigate, because he knows the tricks to avoid freeways, and monitor where we are, and even use the satellite view to see if the little road shown on the map, really exists. If you're trying to follow the old route 66, for example, the navigation can be a full time job! and you can't really do it while driving.

 

I drove over 4 million miles with no GPS. Wore out a Rand McNally Road Atlas every year. They are still available at Wal Mart.

Ben

 

I was one of the last guys at work navigating by maps. Everyone else used Garmin… yeah that was a while ago. I enjoyed figuring out my route for the day and not being annoyed by that robotic voice telling me where to turn. Besides, it allowed me to keep the radio cranked up.

 

I messed around with my iPhone and electronic navs a bit on roadtrips.

One problem, is the damn screen is so small, there's no "big picture" to "small picture" toggle that is practical. The screen isn't big enough. It's dangerous as hell to try and use the damn thing while driving. There's just no substitute for a map, a big one. And many areas of the country, where this kind of thing would be most useful, and where I like to explore, have really spotty cell phone coverage anyway.

So it just horks out and the screen freezes and generally becomes useless right when needed. Always carry a complete set of paper maps as backup is all I can say, even if you like and use electronic nav aids.

Air Guide compass - the fluid damped kind grampaw would stick on his windshield - those are the greatest thing when taking roadtrips and cross country on back roads. For one thing, you might be surprised how easy it is to kind of get turned around on a real overcast day. And you might not notice for a while ... "Hey, that town sure looks familiar ..."

They can save your ass in remote areas too, maybe it isn't the exact road you had planned on, but it's still headed in the right direction. It takes a bit of the worry out of unknown or unmarked roads, because often I mostly care about hitting a known hardball road in 20 or 50 miles. So long as the road is generally going where I wanna go, it's all good.

Gramps might have looked strange, but he knew what he was doing!

 

I got an Air Guide compass, it didn't work in the Hudson...too much steel, or something.

I'd like to get a good compass, but dont know what to look for.

 

A stack of maps and AAA. Have fun.

 

take a lot of spares-what spares? only just everything that rotates, spins, movement in any form, and have a big credit line for what you forgot.

 

The Air Guide need a "compass swing" after install, they already thought of that. See if you can dig up some instructions online. Or maybe you know this already, I dunno. It works in my old truck, and the only plastic on that thing is in the taillight lens and turn signals.

Basically, position the car aligned with the 4 geographic cardinal points, and then at each iteration use a non-magnetic screwdriver to adjust the calibration screw. Kinda "box it in" indication wise, the errors will decrease at each swing. For rough navigation purposes it doesn't really need to +/- 1° accuracy anyway.

 

What I don't like is Google maps ,with the annoying voice, TELLS you how to get there. Reading maps TEACHES you how to get there. Makes you use the grey matter between the ears.

 

it came with instructions, and I followed them as well as possible, it just didn't work.