[FONT="]First, a little background into my new purchase: My wife and I recently had our 1<sup>st</sup> baby which rendered our current car, a 61 T-bird, out of service. With no interior, leaky exhaust, and some other things too long to list here, it just wasnt an ideal family hauler. My Lady made the call to just buy a car that was ready to rock. Fortunately, I lurk in the HAMB classifieds quite often and had already spied several candidates. With time and discussion, we decided on a 54 Ford coupe. A CA car with a 289/AOD, discs, and very presentable paint/interior, it was just for us. Plus, it matched the baby seat BONUS. [/FONT]
A deal was made and shipping the car was the 1<sup>st</sup> option until a couple friends decided otherwise. Baggs and ringo 57 felt a roadtrip was in order as the car and justified the adventure with what better way to learn your car than with a 2000 mile shakedown run?. Im a sucker for peer pressure and they sold it so well I said what the hell. Now being from MN, a guy immediately conjures up images of cruising the beach seeing Katy Perry shooting whip cream from her chest and Snoop Dogg hopping in his lo-rider next to you. Besides, the suns out there and were still coming off winter here. From there we cannonball run it up to Vegas, then CO, and finally sail thru the plains all the way home. Everyone reading this knows its not that easy, but I was high on my purchase and blind to reality. Things got off to a bad start the night before when Ringo bailed, leaving Baggs and I to handle all the California girls that would clearly love us Midwest boys. His loss we thought. We flew into Bob Hope Airport noon on Friday and were picked up by the seller, cvhelleri. The car was all that he said it was and even had some adult pin-striping. After a quick lunch at the historical Bobs Big Boys, we were ready to head east.
We were a little bummed when the women were wearing more than a bikini and figured even rappers and pop stars arent in the public all the time. Oh well, the California hills are bound to be good fortune. But, before we can get too far, a stop at the Harbor freight in Pasadena was in order to purchase a tool kit for the ride home. Thats when things came crashing down fast. About 10 miles from Bobs, the car ran out of gas in what was the most insane traffic Ive been in. We just barely coast to the side. No biggie, a highway helper pulls up in less than 5 minutes with some petrol to share. We pour it in and .. the car doesnt start. We pour some down the carb with no luck. Tried again but when I shut the car off, it kept turning the starter over. With no tools yet we couldnt disconnect the battery. The battery is quickly dying and the cable has gotten hot enough to melt the post on it. Sweet, time for a tow.
[FONT="]Apparently I couldnt be towed to a shop, just close to one. Gabriels Auto Service was the closest one, so we went there. I explained what we were trying to do, he said we were nuts and his Russian cohorts just stared with annoyance. We bought gas, they charged the battery, and we tried to fire it off. The starter solenoid was still stuck but a quick meeting with a wrench cured that. We werent getting any gas to the carb so we got the car running off spraying starter fluid down the carb enough to put it in a high idle which provided enough vacuum to get gas to the carb again. Mike at Gabriels refused any payment and sent us on our way with the best of luck [/FONT]
We get our tools and fill the car up but were only able to put in about 3 gallons. That means we didint run out of gas, we vapor locked. Well, it was hot and we were in traffic so no worries. Free sailing now as were behind schedule a bit and traffic should have eased. Not really . About 30 miles into the hills the cars dies again. We let it cool off for ½ an hour, spray some starter fluid in the carb and off we go again .. until 20 miles later and same thing. This continued until sunset where the temp dropped and we were able to make some distance before having to pull off again after some larger grades.
[FONT="]The glamour of the trip was wearing off fast and the desire to just get the effing car home was overwhelming. I was really surprised out here that no one would stop and see if we needed anything or if we were ok. Friends say theres a ton a crazies in Cali but cmon, its not like Im in some clapped out Corolla missing my teeth. Whatever .. We were hoping to make it to Colorado the 1<sup>st</sup> night but we came limping into Vegas at 3 a.m. Thats 13 hours after we left Burbank. Unable to go any further, we got a room at a Holiday Inn Express to take advantage of Baggs AAA membership. When I asked the guy how the neighborhood was he laughed and said Oh, youre pretty much in the ghetto of Vegas. A quick 5 hours later showed promise in the morning as the car was still there and not on blocks. We load up and make it maybe 5 miles before the car dies again. Now, its about 9 am and already well over 100 degrees. After many phone calls and sweating, we have to head back into town and fix the car somehow. It was decided to build a chiller tank then use an electric fuel pump after the mechanical one to assist in pumping duties. Chad (ringo 57) calls and says his wifes aunt lives in North Vegas and has a bitchin shop with tools, hoist, and a/c. We just need to get there. After rigging everything up, we start towards her house and the car dies again. Weve had ice on the carb bowl and the car had been siting for probably 5 hours before we headed off and it still crapped out. We called about renting a truck and trailer just to get us to Denver but it was $700. We decide to have AAA tow us to North Vegas. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Aunt Marie (as we now know her as) was a desert angel. She was a sweet lady, widowed, 70 years young and a lifetime hotrodder who opened her house to us as if we were her own kin. She took us to dinner then gave us a photo tour of her and her recently passed husband, Bobs car collection. My 54 got to share the garage with her 33 street rod. It was the last car she had left after selling a 34 coupe and 32 sedan. They lived in Hawaii until they retired and Bob really had some impressive cars on the island. His 1<sup>st</sup> was chopped 37 roadster in the 50s. Id love to know where that car ended up. We couldnt thank her enough and all she says is us hot rodders gotta look out for one another. Shes done plenty of cross country trips in hot rods and knows all too well what we were dealing with. We decide to catch a quick nap and leave in the middle of the night. Ever the trooper, Marie wakes up at 2 am with us to see us off and wish us luck. I love that Lady and plan to visit Vegas with the family just so they can meet her. [/FONT]
[FONT="]We got back on the road just before 3 and it was pretty smooth sailing from there. We got as at Mesquite, NV and were able to hit the Virgin River Gorge just as the sun was rising. Now, I had never been west of the salt flats so this part of the country was all new to me. It was stunning. The weather was great and the car as running perfect (although, we were in the right lane a lot). [/FONT]
While gassing up in Fort Cove Jason (Baggs) noticed the front tires were wearing really funny. Before we picked up the car, some spring spacers were put in to pick the front end up for fear of bottoming out. Well, as you can imagine this caused some alignment issues. I never noticed because I figured with small front tires (5.60/15s), power steering and bias plys, the car was going to wander a little. The mechanic at the gas station removed the spacers without charge and off we went with a better stance and hopes of never having to test the bump stops. The cruise through Utah was ok until midday when the temps crept up to about 100 and elevations climbs of 8000 feet forced a few cool down stops. I really liked Utah. Even with the heat, the break downs, and nobody stopping to see if we need help (again), it was a breathtaking state. The fact that we were able to take it in through the window of an old car just made it better. I cant put into words how cool of a drive Utah was.
[FONT="]Sunday evening we made to Colorado and cooler temps. The views are just as awesome here plus you get to cruise next to the river on I70. The car was driving better with the spring spacers gone and we never had a moment that signaled the car was too low either. Ive never driven a car with bias plys before and I have to say I really like radials a lot. Bias plys can be a bit scary when youre in fast paced traffic and the car just randomly grabs a groove and the road and wants the back end to dance a little. You get used to it sort of. The only real bummer about Colorado was we went thru the Rockies at night. Oh well, I guess that means another road trip. [/FONT]
[FONT="]We make it to Longmont at 130 the next morning. It took us 23 hours to go about 700 miles. We were wiped but couldnt sleep long. I was already missing one day of work as it was, so a full nights sleep wasnt in the cards. Another nap netted us back on the road by 330 and by this point, Jason was driving. I couldnt see straight and ended up passing out for more than 2 hours. I awoke to some Nebraska humidity and sunrise. The car hadnt hiccupped since the heat until we had to gas up. Filled it up and went to start no dice. Figures, the battery surprised us both to last this long. As soon as we opened the hood, a husband and wife team was right there to offer us a jump. Thank God were not west still, wed still be looking for a jump. We boogied to Wal-Mart and picked up a new battery. Tried starting the car and it did the same thing (acted like a low charged battery). Tested the old battery and it was still good. I called Chad and he had a similar issue on his 57 with a small block Ford. Apparently, if the battery wasnt fully charged it didnt like to start. Something like the solenoid would pull too much current and not allow the starter to spin fast enough. So, with time of the essence I bought some jumper cables, took my old battery and jumped the car off that. Good enough of a jump box for me. [/FONT]
[FONT="]After many more hours, we pulled into MN around 11pm. Overall, the trip rocked and next time I go through the desert itll be at night. All I have to do now is get half a nations worth of bugs off the car Slim [/FONT] [FONT="] [/FONT]
Well congrats on getting her and yourselves back safely! Any plans to change anything on the car (besides the vapor lock stiuation)?
GOod story and nice photos. A few years ago I drove a '63 Ford wagon up from EL PAso to Saint Paul in the middle of the winter in four days. It was an adventure, but lots of fun and lots of memories. Jay
Sounds like quite a trip! Your story makes me both glad and sad I passed up buying a '54 Merc that was in CT and driving it home to Oregon.
Some good quotes from the trip: In Vegas a guy walk s up to us and says " I got a car just like this. It's a Lincoln though" That's cool we thought. "Yeah, it's a 1990 that I jacked up 18". I'm doing it all DUB stylewith big 20" wheels." Roughly translated: Hey, nice car. I do meth.
great tale, and cool ride. sounds like you should double check everything mechanical before taking the baby for a ride in it. lots of good'n'bad stories out there for the buy it & drive it types-one California guy bought '37 Ford in NE Canada that had a Chevy big block-on the drive home lost a tire first, then later a lifter and then one of the lower control arms on Mustang ll frontend at highway speed, etc. ya never know.
When we were in Nebraska, a family with 3 kids were walking out when they spied the car. I hear one of the kidd say: "I think its a Toyota." "No, that's a Viper." A little girl walks up to the hood and says (almost disappointed) "Ohhh, its just a Ford". What!? Like a Toyota's better? I looked at the dad and asked if they really called my car a Toyota and he just laughed and shook his head yes.
I have not done a cross country drive in an oldie in a long long time. I forgot what it is like. Looking at your car makes me wonder if I am nuts building one from the ground up when there are so many good deals out there. Enjoy the new car.
Yes, double checking everything is definitely in order. If I had the means to do a ground up, I think I would. It'd be really cool to tell all the folks that talk to you about the car " I did this". Ah well, maybe the next car. Slim
Now that we are home, its easy to say it was an awesome adventrure!! we both looked at each other a couple times and said "this is insane" i have never felt so far from home. especially when the car first broke down 10 minutes into the trip! I think both of us ALMOST threw in the towel, i even made a call to u-haul to check pricing. but we didnt give up and kept working towards the goal. I will say i'd be up for another road trip no doubt, but next time i will avoid hot weather! that heat is like nothing i have ever felt!! if i had to rate the trip i would give it a solid 9.5 out of 10!! Baggs
Hope you get the bugs worked out and it turns out to be a great deal for you. Sounds like maybe you just did what so many "builders" don't do. Drive it enought to work out the bugs. I have made several trips across country in hot rods. I have never encountered a problem on the road that didn't end up being an adventure and meeting new friends. Some of those were before cell phones and they still worked out fine. Congrats on a fun adventure. Hope your wife thinks you made the right deal. LOL.
Great story, thanks for sharing the adventure. I have not done what you guys did, but have made 1000 mile round trips and yes there always seems to be something waiting around the corner. Thanks again for sharing and glad your both back home safe.
I bought a car from a local "builder". He likes to drink large amounts of beer as he works. It has taken me a long time to get the beer out of that car. Not sure it is all out yet, but I am getting there