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

Good luck on your trip.

 

Thanks for the crazy adventure story! Keep the updates coming, and safe travels!

 

I'm having a hard time sitting here any longer.. I'll put the pictures in the album on here later, but if you want to view the rest of the pics from the trip and the pictures of the cars/truck that I took along the way.. Feel free to check them out on photobucket..

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v697/hemifalcon/California%20to%20Illinois%20Car%20Poaching%20October%202011/

 

I'm having a hard time sitting here any longer.. I'll put the pictures in the album on here later, but if you want to view the rest of the pics from the trip and the pictures of the cars/truck that I took along the way.. Feel free to check them out on photobucket..

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v697/hemifalcon/California to Illinois Car Poaching October 2011/

 

with your determination, you'll make it ok. God bless Chevy inlines!
We are all cheering you on...

 

Good luck, dood.

Feel like I'm right along with ya.

Keep up the reports, it's a great adventure.

Got in a real pickle once, and the friend I was with said, "One day you'll look back on this and laugh". Well, he was right, no matter how bad it is, you'll look back with fondness on the whole thing years from now.

Coupe looks badass, and the tow rig is cool too.

Oh yeah, the axle looks ok, I think - looks like it's not supposed to be welded where the holes are - it's just a brace.

Mart.

 

This is a great trip to follow along to. Thanks for sharing it all.
Sounds like it would be a lot easier if you had a friend along to help with some of the work
I'm wondering if the rotor sits a little too high and is bottoming out the button on the distributor, unless you loosen up the cap a bit.
I'm definitely going to be following along!

 

Damn dude! I am SO jealous of you! Your trip out, your scores and your trip home. Sounds like it been one "typical" old car trip. If you're travelin I-80 home and want a cool place to stop in Wyoming, Little America, 20 miles west of Green River has beautiful facilities! And be sure to make a quick stop at "The Summit just east of Laramie. Labeled as Happy Jack Road exit. It has a giant bust of Pres Lincoln, and the visitors center has some nice views. Might also be a good place to let your Burb cool down after climbin that hill with your load. I live in Cheyenne and when you get to the summit and you need any help, don't be afraid to gimme a shout. If you'd like my cell #, PM me. Hopefully I won't be on duty that day and can come out and give you a hand (I would be more than happy to help if you need it). I can also recommend some good places to eat around here, if you like. Good luck on your trip!

 

He still has the cold Rocky mountains to deal with yet. Course, I'm just a "dick" so what do I know?

 

Hahah.. Povertyflats... You crack me up.. Just what I need as today has been another difficult day... When I got up and put all the pictures in this morning-- I thought all was going to go smoothly but today has been nothing short of difficult again.. The best thing is that I made it through Utah-- but it took all day as u just barely pulled into Evanston, Wyoming at 12:30am..

Shortly after getting into Wendover, Utah today and grabbing a bite to eat- I gassed up knowing there was a long way to go for gas-- and I really don't want to have to use the 5-gallon can I got in the '41.. So-- I got on the road and once again the engine/ drivetrain started banging offbeat..so, I was able to crawl through some tough spots but as a way to try and determine what part of the driveline I was dealing with-- I would coast downhill and there were no problems with the truck rolling... But-- as I got to be about 45 miles outside Salt Lake City-- I began losing power and thought that I had a fuel issue.. It hadn't clicked with me during fill ups that I would hear suction from the fuel tank when I'd pull the cap... Apparently the tank wasn't venting and so the answer after a call to my dad was to turn the cap to where it was loose, allowing thr tank to breathe. This issue had been further identified yesterday when removing the fuel line from the carb..when I had done this the air was sucked in with the engine off and the fuel filter emptied.. Well, while I was stopped at the rest area today-- I still noticed the fuel level on the filter dropping..I then could hear the engine struggling to maintain idle.. I figured it was time for a new pump after disconnecting the main line and testing the pressure/flow by running the starter with the hose off.. Fuel was flowing but didn't appear to have any pressure.. A new pump was in order..

Using my recently acquired IPhone-- I used the Yellow Pages app to find the nearest Auto Parts store.. The closest town was Toelle, UT at over 35 miles away.. I called the O'Reillys auto parts store and told them the info for my truck at which time they said there was two different fuel pumps used in '65 and do there was an early and late version. They had one and gladly requested one be delivered from Salt Lake-- awesome..

So, on the road I went..I made it to Toelle but just barely.. The truck was spitting and popping while doing 35 in the 55-60 zone headed south from I-80 into town..

I was lucky to see the pump they had in stock was the one I needed.. So, with my pump and some new rubber line in hand I was given permission to work in the back parking lot..

I ended up replacing the rubber lines and changed the pump without issue.. Upon startup-- there seemed to be a marked difference in the sound of the motor.. Made me feel good.. I checked for leaks and packed up for a quick test drive..

Well, the test drive was a failure.. Power was still lacking.. I got back and started pulling plug wires and found that #6 wasn't firing. I swapped plug wires from #5 but there was no change.. I then got concerned that I had a stuck valve-- and got a compression tester and after hooking it up I found that I had a little over 90psi in the #6 hole. #1 test showed 100psi.. So--I wasn't seeing a dead cylinder.. I turned my attention back to the ignition system..

Now, the only thing I haven't changed in the ignition is the points, coil, and distributor itself.. I found again that as soon as I grabbed the cap with the motor running and put some forward pressure on it-- the engine tone changed and smoothed out.. Pushing back nearly killed the engine... I'm thinking WTF-- so, I went through the process of loosening the screws on the cap again and got a little change.. I then grabbed the distributor and found that I could rotate it-- it's loose in the block-- but not sloppy.. So, I gently rotated thr distributor until everything smoothed out.. I then checked all the plugs again and found solid spark to all cylinders.. Sweet.. I got it out on the road and the truck drove well once again with power..

I packed up once again and headed back to the truck stop near the freeway and topped off..

I got back on I-80 and all was going good until I hit the hills heading out of Salt Lake City.. That brings me to where I'm at now..

Saying that-- this was the hardest and slowest portion of the trip minus stops.. The reason being that I think the clutch may cd starting to slip?? I could be wrong as the clutch engages after a short stroke of the pedal off of the floor-- so- that doesn't sound completely accurate.. The other thought is that the timing/ignition is still not right causing the engine to struggle.. The engine sounds fine at this time as well but while traversing a grade, the engine speed slows obviously-- which is expected.. However-- the truck then starts surging as if the clutch is losing it's grip.. This one has got me good as I started fearing the damned near violent load-unload of torque on the drivetrain would break something.. The only way I can think that the clutch may be slipping is if the pressure plate has lost it's spring force or if the trans leak has allowed for oil to get on the clutch disk... I don't know..
So-- I trained my ear and foot to listen and traveled up some hills at 24mph... I could get up to 55-60 again on the flats-- but even then if I wasn't very careful during acceleration it would happen again..

That careful work of the pedal allowed me to crawl into Evanston and I got to the last exit into town to fill up.. Somehow I still managed 10mpg on this portion..

Anyway-- I may try to get back on the road after I'm done eating... Or not..

Wyoming HAMBers--- I'll be PMing you following this... Or-- I may crawl out of town in 2nd and 3rd gear... Slow moving is still moving, right??


Thank you again everyone for your kind words and ideas.. And Koth-- I think you may have something there regarding the distributor cap...

 

Update... At 3:00 am I checked spark to #6 again and found a very inconsistent spark.. This could also be heard in the exhaust note.. After checking around-- I'll be waiting till morning here in Evanston to get a set of points-- I'm pretty confident that there is no clutch slippage after all but rather a deteriorated set of points..

To dummy check myself-- j got under the truck to check the clutch disk and it looks healthy... Yeah, there's oil everywhere but after a discussion with my dad-- he thought that my details sounded more like a power loss from ignition failure rather than drivetrain issues..

Stay tuned- we have more to come after another unplanned break in the action..

 

more power to ya man! I love driving old rigs, and i figure that if ya cant fix em on the side of the road, ya shouldnt be driving em. Check the wiring to the distributor. I had something similar and it ended up being the wire that goes to the points was grounding out ever so slightly.

Best of luck !

 

From my on-the-road experiences, regular showering and clothes-changes puts a hex on everything. Do keep a relatively clean shirt when you check in at motels or go to eat. Only wash from the elbows down with Goop and paper towels.

I feel your pain every mile, it takes a lot of guts to go cross-country in something that old, yet even more of an adventure towing something!

Bob

 

Have you checked your MPG yet?

Keep pluggin'

 

Dude! What a crazy story!!! Keep plugging away you're going to make it. What a great tale you will have to tell.

 

Have you considered throwing a rebuilt distributor into it? It would be a tough conversion to electronic or HEI while on the road, but a rebuilt points-style one would be a good investment.

Bob

 

I am having a great time reading and following this.......... My hats off to you as I would never try what you are really doing.......

 

If the engine revs ain't rising disproportionately, then the clutch aint slipping.

A clutch won't slip intermittently, it just lets go and the engine races away, making matters worse

Keep on keeping on.

Mart.

 

Cali to IL and no Route 66 trip? The shame

 

Man what a trip- keep going partner you will make it fer sure- keep that line open to dad

 

Here is another idea to check. There is a ballast resistor in line to your distributor. This you may already know, reduces the voltage from 12 to 9 volts to prevent the points from burning up. If it is slowly failing, it could be allowing more voltage to the points and burning them up. Also, if you find a Hamber or someone else who has a timing light and dwell meter, it would really be worth your while to change out the points and condenser. Meter the condenser for conductivity first. And, thinking another way, your condenser could have failed and is now allowing the points to burn up.

 

you're making progress hun. keep chugging along. you'll be to my town today (hopefully around lunchtime... or at least before dark between me and my friends, and all of our tools, shops and equipment, we will get you ship shape to make it through wyoming. in cheyenne, you can stop by and see Chad, he's a great guy and will keep you going from there to the next helpful HAMBer! good luck, and we shall keep texting til you land in the area my garage and tools are at your exposure here!
xoxo Denise.

 

Dont forget to adjust the air/fuel screw. Your Burb went from sea level to 6000+ and it probably doesn't like it.

Great thread and some great scores. Keep it up.

 

Way to go Doll, great plan

hand him a cold beer, let the WY wrenches loose and give him a shove east....

Nebraska Outkasts your next?

 

Subscribed.

I've never driven it, but I did hitch hike from Maryland to San Diego, CA about 4 years ago. That was a fun trip. Cold as hell at the Grand Canyon at night in June. No sleeping bag, small sweatshirt and shorts.

Fun trip man. Have at it hause. Be safe.

 

make sure your fuel hose splices ar staying open the new fuel will soften them and suck them closed
you do have a vented gas cap ... right

air filter open clean higher elev will lean it out

while running at night look under the hood bad ignition is "visible" in the dark lonely deserted areas
and yes poverty flats is a "dick" but he ain't a hard one .. which makes it just okay at long distances

soon you will be questioning brakes going downhill good luck

 

Yep, but once he gets to the top it's all downhill from there !!! My dads a Dick too, Richard to be exact.

 

Damn... Loving all your guys responses.. So... I wanted to do an upate.. I made it into Green River before noon and met with the gracious Doll Kustom at Penny's Diner. Luckily for her-- the truck was running alright or she would have had to stay and help me wrench on the Burb... Luckily I think that the Burb has gotten to a happy medium... So, we will keep on going east..

I did however have my issues this morning as I changed out my points in Evanston... So-- I changed them and all is good.. Going down the road I stopped for a second and did a roadside a check... All looked good-- as I was pulling into the road... I blew a damned tire on the trailer... Luckily UHaul had a service company come out right away and switched the tire replaced in 35 minutes by a good highway tire company... That was awesome...

So-- I'm on the road... Taking it easy and listening to the old 'six...

Getting on to I-80 soon... All is good for now....

 

Great read and good luck on the rest of your trip. Reading these kind of stories have me and my wife ready to try it sometime.

 

If you get around central nebraska and need help i would have parts and tools or can get about anything you would need im located north of the york interchange about 11 miles or if you need a place to just chill for a bit my number is 402-710-0915 later mike