Fly In-Drive Home, or 3800 miles in a Hotrod

O.K., so we're home from the trip, and somewhat recovered. At least recovered enough to share the whole story.

THE PREMISE: Fly from Portland, Oregon to Orlando, Florida and drive a '35 Chevy back across the country.

THE BACKSTORY: I moved from Chicago to Portland about a year ago. Shortly after moving, I decided that it was time to let go of my long-term '37 Plymouth project. Within weeks of selling the car, my club brothers from Chicago decided that it was time to drive hotrods cross-country to Bonneville. Of course, I was in. Now I had to figure out a way to get there. My options were to ride the t-bucket 14 hours to Bonneville, drive the "daily driver" to Bonneville, find the funds to purchase a "done" hotrod, or find/buy/finance/and build a hotrod in less than a year. None of those were looking like achievable goals. So, I made a phone call. I called my uncle in Florida, and asked if I could "borrow" his '35 Chevy for the trip. The plan was to somehow get the car from Florida to Oregon, drive it to Bonneville, and then somehow get it back to Florida. So...not much thought went into this particular aspect of planning. So, after several conversations, It was decided that I would have to fly down and drive it back, since he wasn't going to deliver it. After several more conversations, he told me that if I was really willing to dirve the car all the way back to Portland, that I could just keep it! Needless to say, plans were quickly made to make the trip in April. Since this was only November, it was going to be a looong six months to wait. Follow along as we make our way across the country, the long way, going diagonally across the country.

 

I'm in.can't wait for this

 

Since this was going to be the trip of a lifetime, I decided that it was going to more than a simple road trip. The original plan was to take a nice leisurely drive across, stop and see some of the sights, take our time along the way. That sounded good until the day before I left. I got a phone call telling me that I had a job interview in Portland in 9 days! If the wife found out that I blew off a job interview for a hotrod, I might as well not even come home. So, rather than do the sensible thing and reschedule the trip, we instead decided to channel our inner Buck Baker and cannonball across the country in less than a week!

However, that did not mean that there we couldn't find time for a few other activities on this trip. Namely, I had to visit my uncle's cousin while in Florida. It turns out that he is a famous tattoo aritst from the east coast. If you've never heard of August Moon, do yourself a favor and google his facebook page. He does amazing work. So, the first order of business after landing in Florida was to go get some ink work done. I spent 3 1/2 hours in the tattoo chair, and came out with an awesome new tattoo. After spending the night in Tampa, we returned to Orlando to start making preparations to hit the road.

 

What could go wrong?

 

Man , I Got this this funny feeling this is going to be one H-ll of a "Road Trip"!! Just wish I could ride along to watch. Can't wait to read more. Love it. Have a safe trip!

 

This should prove to be a good read of a great trip.
Safe trip to ya!

 

subscribed

 

lets go! im watching!

 

following...

 

The hook is set,I'm subscribed....................sounds like a fun trek!

 

damn you and the cliff hangers!

 

Ok, lets hear it!

 

Day 1 of the official road trip: Spent the morning packing up the car and truck (yes, there was a chase vehicle) with some extra parts and leftovers from other projects. Check the classifieds in a couple of days for the garage sale ad!

Decided to take it easy the first day...sort of a shake down cruise, let everyone settle into a groove and get comfortable. We left on a Friday, about 3:00 in the afternoon. Still had to be in Portland for that job interview by 2:00 next Friday. Time to make tracks. Not much time for sight seeing, but still made time for a few photo ops along the way. Had to stop and get a photo at Don Garlit's place. It was closed by the time we got there, so a quick photo and back on the road. End of day 1 - 400 miles, stopped just outside Pensacola, FL.

 

" Might as well just keep it"......YOU SUCK.

 

Day 2 - The first full day on the road...what could possibly go wrong?

Left Florida early Saturday morning, crossed into Alabama, and then into Mississippi without incident. Getting out of Mississippi was a whole nuther story.

Stopped for gas somewhere in the middle of Mississippi. When we got back on the road, I noticed that the speedometer had stopped working. Pulled off at the next exit to see what was wrong. We couldn't find any visible problem, so we convinced ourselves that it was an isolated problem, and that the speedo wasn't "mission critical", and motored on. I still had the speedo on the GPS unit, but it made it more difficult to estimate fuel stops, since we were stopping every 200 miles or so for fuel. Almost made it out of Mississippi before the hotrod gods frowned on us again. Approaching the Louisiana border when, "Why does the front end feel funny? The road can't be that bouncy? " BANG! Shredded the left front tire at 85 miles per hour. Somehow managed to make it from the left lane all the way to the breakdown lane on the right shoulder without hitting anything. I was afraid to look at the car, fearing that it would look like one of those Nascar blowouts where the entire side of the car is missing. The hotrod gaods must have taken pity on us, because there was only a very slight crease in the fender, and I hadn't trashed the rim. The only casualty was the inner fender brace that was beaten flat and snapped in half. So...if anyone has a spare that they want to donate to the cause, I'm your man. Otherwise, I'm gonna have to beat this one back into shape with a rock.

The next half hour was spent on the phone with AAA trying to figure out where we were. Neither one of us could remember seeing a mile marker, so we were trying to pin down our location. Eventually, I walked about a half mile back the way we came, and found out why we hadn't seen the mile marker. Someone had driven over it, and it was laying in the tall grass by the side of the road. 7 miles short of making it out of Mississippi.

The AAA tow truck driver drove us into Slidell, LA to the nearest tire store. Unfortunately, they couldn't get the right size tire until sometime Monday. Remember, this is Saturday and we have time constraints. The tire store was in a mall parking lot, next to a Sears Auto Center. We thought we were in luck, because the Sears store had two of the right size tire in stock. Then the shop manager came out, looked at the car, and turned white. "We can't work on that thing. It's too dangerous. You shouldn't even be driving it." Since the car was already in the service bay, and the tow truck was long gone, we asked for options. The only option available was to remove the wheels ourselves, have them put the tires on, and then put the wheels back on ourselves. BUT...we couldn't do it in the shop. We had to drive the car outside, into the parking lot, to work on it. They were kind enough to loan us a wrench and a jack. Lost about 4 hours of traveling time. Made it to out of Louisiana, and to Flatonia, TX (halfway between Houston and San Antonio) by the end of the day. End of day 2, 700 miles closer to home.

 

Day 3 - Time to make some time.

Woke up early Sunday morning to reports of tornadoes to the north of us in Kansas and Oklahoma. Decided it was time to put the hammer down and try to outdrive the weather. Texas was having none of that, however. We had wall clouds in east Texas, rain in central Texas, and high winds in west Texas. Had one wind gust strong enough to blow through the car with the windows up, and open the vent window on the passenger side. Head winds kept the gas mileage way down, so we were scrambling to find fuel stops along the way. Texas was not designed for hotrods with short fuel windows.

Made it into New Mexico, and the weather greatly improved. Warm temps and lots of sunshine. Crossed out of New Mexico and into Arizona. Had to make one more stop for a photo. If you have ever travelled I-10 through southern Arizona, you have seen the billboards for "The Thing?". I grew up in Arizona, and remember seeing them as a kid, so we had to stop for a photo. We weren't sufficiently curious to pay $1 to actually see the thing, but I know what it is...and I'm not telling!

Stopped for the night in Phoenix, had to see my parents who still live there.

End of day 3 - 16 hours on the road-1100 miles.

 

All of the chains like Sears, K Mart, etc are really becoming pussys about mounting tires on anything that isn't a stock factory car. I had the same problem on my Jeep pickup, I wanted white walls and they insisted on selling me these stupid SUV looking tires because it was a "truck?.

This roadtrip is pretty interesting so far.

Don

 

Day 4 - A day of rest and wrenching. Spent the day at my parent's house, and decided to take over their garage to do some wrenching on the car. While we were changing the tires back in Slidell, LA, we found the cause of the speedometer troubles. The sending unit had come unscrewed from the transmission and was now hanging down. The end of the cable was frayed and no longer square, so we couldn't re-attach it to the transmission. We borrowed a soldering iron, soldered the tip and ground it square again. Went in like a charm. However, while we were putting the car up on ramps to work on it, the transmission linkage decided to come apart. The cotter pin in the bottom of the linkage was missing, and that allowed the rod to slip out of the gear selector yoke. No neutral safety switch meant starting the car in reverse, as park wasn't on the menu anymore. Got that sorted out, and all was well once again.

 

Day 5 - Is it Tuesday already?

Left Phoenix, and headed towards Nevada. But, we HAD to take a detour and drive down one of the last remaining bits of Route 66. We drove the strech from Seligman to Kingman, Arizona. It was only about 50 miles, but it was worth the detour. Still trying to wrap my head around the fact that this two-lane blacktop road used to be the only way to get to the west coast.

Left Arizona, and crossed over the Hoover Dam into Nevada. This is wher ewe made our only tactical error. We had to drive through downtown Las Vegas during the evening rush hour...with road construction to boot!

Stopped in Tonopah, Nevada for the night. End of day 5 - another 750 miles gone.

 

Day 6 - Legging it for home.

I thought I was tired of looking at Texas by the time we left...I was wrong. Texas was looking like the garden spot of the trip compared to Nevada. If aliens DID land in Nevada, they would be convinced that there wasn't anything to see, pack up and go home. No wonder they dropped atomic bombs there!

Finally made it out of Nevada and into Oregon. Very nearly ran out of gas looking for a gas station in southern Oregon. If you have never been to Oregon, two things to know. 1) You can't pump your own gas. They have state mandated "attendants" to pump gas, and 2) If you drive any distance, you will have to go up and over a mountain pass. Think Donner Party here.

Our route would take us over the Santiam Pass, which takes you past several ski resorts. The signs advised having chains or snow tires. I had neither. Fantastic looking scenery, with snow all around on the mountains. Fortunately, the roads were clear, and the temps were above freezing, although my windshield did try to ice up at the top of the mountain. All of the Jeep drivers heading UP the pass were looking at us coming DOWN the mountain in a hotrod like we were insane. I was just worried about making it off the mountain before it got dark! Luck was on our side, and we made it down just as darkness fell. Only another 90 miles to Portland. We made it home about 9:30 that night. Another 16 hour day - the final 850 miles.

To everyone who says that you can't drive hotrods long distances...I call Bullshit. We started with a well-sorted out car (that already had 32,000 hotrod miles on it), and made our road trip in style. We could have taken the easy way out and put the car on a trailer, or hired a shipper to move it, but what fun would that be? We did it for the love of the car. Take your hotrod on the road, and see what's over that next hill.

 

Awsome!

 

Great trip! I did the ame thing back in the 80's. Flew into St Paul, after seeing the car at a local show in Colorado. An envelop of cash at the airport, a '36 Chevy sedan delivery in the lot, and an adventure home. Good times.

 

Great story. i have been across the country 7 times by hot rod and will do it again when I have the chance.

 

Great read.
Thanks.

 

man thats kool i live by chicago and want to buy a car in san diego but cant get anyone to make the trip with me my wife said i could use the extra cash that i would have spent on plane tics and gas and get a more expensive car locally but its always been my dream to fly out to cali and drive back a west coast rod

 

Awesome trip, thanks for sharing, and have fun with the new hot rod

 

Great story but................did ya get the job?

 

Dude.. (I was just going to say "dude" and nothing else.. but---)
Get out there and do it.. If it's something you always wanted to do--then do it..

In case you need inspiration--here was my trip last fall.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=631495

And kudos for making the trip from Florida to Oregon!!! Good job....

 

I bought a truck in Bakersfield California and that was one option. To fly down and drive it back.

I have it home now (Washington State) and I am damn glad I had it shipped.

I really wanted to go on a road trip and had plenty of friends want to go, but the truck was not in any shape to make it that far...

Awesome tale of a good trip.

Thanks

 

Fun Fun Fun. Sounds like a great time!