I know it's been done many, many times but here is one more version as seen through the windshield of my '35 Tudor. We were going from the West coast to Lake Michigan with as much of Route 66 as we could find. Except for a few rear end problems that could have been prevented if I hadn't handed my nine-inch third member to a reputable (?) driveline shop for a freshening up two weeks before departure, the car was perfect. We were gone almost three weeks because of our completely unscheduled and wandering travel itinerary. So, here it is.....just a few of the 8gigabites worth of digital photos that Flower and I took along the Route 66 eastbound leg and the more northerly westbound return run. Our first real Route 66 Landmark, Barstow Station and Museum Only 120 degrees in Needles, CA....the old girl ran 195 the whole trip, even running the A/C. The pinion bearings smoked at Kingman, AZ thanks to some yo-yo overtorqueing the crap out of it. Next time I do it myself. The famous Snow-Cap Drive In in Seligman, AZ Winslow, AZ during rush hour A nice desert sunset at the La Posada Inn in Winslow. You really need to check this restored 1930's Inn. We spent the night here and it was awesome. ...continued....
The desert was kind to us with cool great weather all the way. Jackrabbit gift shop...."Here it is!" Sometimes Rt 66 is pretty lonely. Bozo's Garage, got us back on the road after the gears fried....just part of the first failure in Kingman. Bozo put a junkyard third member in and the car was perfect. If you EVER have a problem in Santa Rosa, New Mexico...look up Bozo, you won't find a better human being...a real hot rod guy. Santa Rosa, NM...cast into the sidewalk, neat town, friendly people. Tucumcari, NM, interesting place, historic curio shop Want to buy and open a shop?? This one in San Jon, NM was for cheap. Half way, great little restaurant in Adrian, Texas. Good food, great people.
After the differential setback the car was really flyin' since the 3.89 gears were replaced with junkyard 3.0 gears...a Bonneville gear ratio. The famous Conoco Station in Shamrock, Texas...as seen in "Cars" The museum in Clinton, Oklahoma....cool place The original Lucille's Roadhouse, we ate in the newer version a few miles from this one. Cool Packhard dealership in Afton, Oklahoma...the back lot is full of dead Packhards The Mother Road at it's best.
Cool pics. I dunno about freshening up a diff . . . unless it's making some noise I pretty much leave em alone. Did you get it straightened out at a private shop? 120* F in Needles sounds about right. Hope you have an A/C in the car . . . my pal just ordered a Vintique for his 46 sedan. Sounds too like you came through during the heat wave. Cooler yesterday, today and tomorrow, but we should return to normal warm temps Monday or Tuesday. Normal here being high 90's etc. Wish I'd known you were having probs. I have a good 3.70 for 28 spline axles sitting in a bag and a milk crate. Cool trip, greenery on Route 66 is a bit strange to me. The Route 66 I remember as a kid was always desert stuff . . . and it still is....
Yep Route 66 has been done many times here but thousands like me like to see and read about the various ventures of others. Thanks for posting and next summer the wife and I hope to do the same thing starting out in the Texas panhandle.
I learned a valuable lesson about that rear end...first, it wasn't that bad, just a fairly loud gear whine at 65-70 mph...secondly, I trusted the wrong people to do the job. Normally I do ALL my own work but we were very busy getting prepared for this thing. We did the bearings in Kingman at a friend's home in his new garage that he built with a real ol' timey "pit" built into the floor. Pretty dang nice, even has a swamp cooler to keep temperatures reasonable. The bearings were ok but the gears by then were junk. We have "Hot Rod Air", and used it quite a bit. More so on the return trip through Nebraska, Colorado and Utah...not to mention Nevada. Thanks for the thought C9....that would have been cool except I have 31 spline axles......luckily Bozo in New Mexico had a dead Ford truck donor. We live in a beautiful country. Now I have to get back to the over 1500 digital images we collected....and I'll post a few more of our arrival at Lake Michigan and the return trip.
Great pics. My wife and I were able to drive some of 66 a couple of years ago(some Oklahoma into Amarillo, TX) It was very cool. I'd love to go back and cover some more miles.
I look forward to the rest of the story with more great pictures, really neat car as well. 66 was still a major route back in '59/'60 when I first drove to LA from MO. Made that trip a few times, thanks for bringing back some good memories. Al
Thanks for the story and please tell more.. We drove the 66 last summer and it was once in a lifetime adventure!!! I miss that trip sooo much!!!
We made some progress today with the editing job. This installment shows the Midwest at it's best. It sure is nice here in the summer! The open road....the old road in Illinois Chicago, we were lucky with good weather again. good old Route 66 one block over (one way street) from the "Begin" sign Lake Michigan at last, we took our time, only 8 days (only??) It doesn't get much prettier than Wisconsin in the summer, on the way home. Cool "watering hole" in Rochester, Minnesota....the best food we ate during the trip, really killer burgers and COLD brew!!! ....to be continued!!!
FYI when ya hit Ill. try and find the 1926 alignment of RT66 it is alotta cobblestone and crosses thru a bunch of farm fields...very cool
We FOUND alot of that cobblestone and disappearing roadway, that was the fun part of the journey. We did as much research as possible on the "Road" and all of it's different "alignments", which are many.
The Jalopy Journal
