We are home from our awesome trip out to Victoria for deuce days. We had a great time with a few highs and lows, and thought some would appreciate a recap of the events. This isn’t a summary of the show, more of a summary of my road trip. As some may know I just finished building my first hot rod, a 30 ford coupe. I have a build thread for those who missed it... https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/frys-model-a-coupe-build-recap.1128346/ The weeks leading up I did a lot of testing and tuning, finding anything that needed adjustment or review before our trip. Cranking coilovers, adding bumpstops, weatherproofing, removing squeaks and rattles, adding anti theft items, packing tools/oils/parts/etc, trying to reduce my inventory so we could actually pack some luggage in the trunk. Eventually we were able to squeeze everything into the back and we were off. I had pre-booked some hotels for the way out but nothing for the way back, unsure of just how far we’d make it. This would be me and wife’s first trip without the kids in ages and we were both excited and nervous. Day one, With everything packed and ready to go we hit the road, the wife driving my truck as we head to the in-laws to drop off the kids. It was hot outside but the car was cool and comfortable for the 200 mile drive and I was feeling confident. Ready to leave, with 1130 miles on the odometer, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Deuce days sticker and canola fields, leaving the prairies of Saskatchewan. I wasn’t sure if putting the sticker on would be good or bad luck... Stopping for lunch in Medicine Hat, AB. The car freshly cleaned and waxed looked amazing for a crappy paint job. The wife took this of me rolling down the number one highway. Storm and tornado warnings, strong winds and rain, we tucked the car away safely for the night in the in-laws quonset.
Day two, This may be day two, but it was the first official day of our road trip. The kids and salamander dropped off at in-laws, dogs at a kennel, and the cat and hamster taken care of at home it was finally just me and the old lady. One whole week of freedom and the open road, haha. We left early Monday morning and headed towards Calgary. When we hit Calgary I thought it’d be nice to stop by and visit Highwood Rod and Custom, where I originally picked up the body, and show them the mess I made of it. Haha. The owner wasn’t in, but I had a good chat with Spock, who seemed to enjoy the car. After the visit we headed for the Rocky Mountains. The weather was decent, and views were amazing. Banff and Yoho parks are amazing, I’ve been through there a good number of times but it’s just different with the windshield popped out, windows down, feeling the road, smelling nature, it was truly amazing. Banff was incredibly busy so we didn’t stop and made our way to Golden for the night. We had a few showers through the mountains, but nothing major. I don’t have wipers but the rainx helps somewhat. It is much better at speed, as the flat glass and slower speed seems to render it useless.
And then what happened...? This is going to be great. By the way I looked for your car but I must have missed it.
Day three, We left Golden in the morning, and headed to Revelstoke for lunch. Ate at a 1890s schoolhouse turned restaurant, aptly named “the old school eatery”. Vernon was our next destination where I had booked two nights at the “sparkling hill resort”, a fancy spa place. The drive out to Vernon is beautiful. The weather was great, just such a great drive twisting along the lake. When we got to the resort and checked in, the valet were looking over my car. Where I got the best comments of the trip, one asked “is this thing from Barret Jackson?” And another one after looking at my valve covers.. “is this what old corvettes looked like?” Definitely made my day. Leaving Golden in the morning. “The old School Eatery” in Revelstoke The resort was super cool about letting me park right up front as I didn’t want it valeted obviously. Lots of people posing with it the whole time we were there. I had one guy ask me if the hotel owned it as a promotional car. Haha.
Day four, This was a downtime day, not much going on. Enjoyed the spa, went into Kelowna, did a wine tour, tried checking out Kelowna for the sights but after fighting excessive traffic, attempting to find parking somewhere where I wouldn’t get robbed, I gave up quickly and retreated to the resort. Rows of grapes Me and the wife on a tour. Kind of wish we had booked more, we did Quail’s gate, it was cool, but didn’t get so see any of the wine making process.
Day Five, We left Vernon and headed toward Kelowna to take the 5c to the Coquihalla highway. In downtown Kelowna the skies opened up and dumped on us. The car stayed fairly dry and ran great through it. Once we made it out to the 5C and started heading up a large mountain pass the rain had stopped, unfortunately the wind started. That part of the drive was a little hairy as the car shook around a bit, and I started thinking, am I really driving my homebuilt car up this mountain? Is this a good idea? Eventually we made it to the Coquihalla and the wind died down and the drive was back to enjoyable. I really couldn’t believe how well the car was working, we could cruise at 80, it was handling great, the rain didn’t affect it, the wind didn’t affect it, the top stayed tight through it all. I was feeling pretty proud of our accomplishments at this time. Especially as we descended the mountains and made it down to the lower mainland of Vancouver. We found a hotel with underground patrolled parking in Surrey, and checked in there. Then we met up with a old buddy of mine, who actually got me hooked on hot rods in the first place, who I haven’t seen in over 10 years. Had a good visit, he was thoroughly impressed with the coupe. Unfortunately I don’t have much for pictures of the mountain passes, due to holding the wheel tightly. But if I find some on the wife’s phone I’ll had them later.
Great adventure, and a fun read. Can't beat first major trip with no break downs. Sounds like you and the bride had a good time. Thanks for posting.
Day Six, (Friday) Finally the big day, I had noticed the previous day that the volt gauge had been sitting right at 13, so I made note when I fired it up to see what it was reading.. 10 volts... I wondered if all that rain had screwed the powergen. Planning, I had brought a multimeter with me and checked it out, 14.5 off it and to the gauge as well, just a classic instrument gauge failure, crisis adverted. We had a ferry booked for 10 am, and headed there early. Luckily got the 9 am ferry. At this point I had wondered if there were actually any other hot rods coming out here, I had seen almost zero in our travels and none on the ferry. I had expected to see more over the last day or two. The ferry ride was good, driving off the ferry I felt like I should have the Rocky song playing. I felt confident and a little cocky, we made it all the way with zero problems or issues, save for a voltage gauge. The wife wanted to see Buchart gardens which was on the way so we stopped in. Low and behold it was one of the arranged tours and there was special parking with a lot of cars already there. I felt a little silly in my beater next to these super nice cars, but tourists still took our picture just the same haha. The gardens were cool, the cars were awesome, met some guys there as well. After we left we found our Airbnb downtown and tried to register for the show. Registration took place at the Grand Pacific hotel on the waterfront. Driving around and around there were cars parked everywhere. Finally we found a spot many blocks away and registered. Later that night we hit the strip, did some cruising, met some more people and had a pretty good time. I was surprised at the number of guys not eligible for the show that came from far away.
Day Seven, Saturday We drove out to Clover point and parked with 600+ cars to participate in the poker run. There were cars of all genres there, great atmosphere. The run took us on some awesome scenery, and ended with a BBQ. I ended up behind my favourite car of the whole weekend and parked next to it. The owner was cool. We meet a lot more people and a couple hambers. It was a great day and couldn’t get any better. After the poker run I finally washed the road grime off the car, cleaned it up all pretty and went for a fancy octopus supper. This was shaping up to be the best vacation in the history of vacations, we were invited to a shop tour and decided to go for a cruise before heading over there. That’s when disaster struck. After the first lap I started hearing a little tick, wondering it if came from my car, it started getting louder. I found a street to pull off and diagnosed it to the right side bank. Back to the underground parking stall to further investigate. I pulled the valve cover and found #8 rocker loose and the pushrod bent. I swapped the neighbor pushrod and found the rocker stud had pulled out. After consulting with a couple of guys I decided to try and pull the stud and install a screw in stud. Easy roadside fix I was told. So instead of sulking I walked the harbour and checked out the cruising. Parts store would be open at 9 am, I’ll miss the show but at least I’ll get it back running... The poker run turnout was crazy. One of these things is not like the other.
Day 8, Sunday “the long day” Stressed out, I couldn’t sleep, the parts store couldn’t open soon enough. I waited for what felt like an eternity. Finally 9 came around, I phoned the local Lordco parts store. After an exercise in frustration attempting to explain the difference between a rocker arm and rocker panel and the parts guy insisted he “isn’t old school/old school” and I should call the main store and see if they can tell me if he has inventory in his store. After screwing around and wasting time I had confirmed that they at least have pushrods in stock. They were only 2 miles away so I strolled over. Passing streets of homeless people, I realized I wasn’t quite in the tourist area anymore and my situation wasn’t as bad as some, as it’s just my toy that’s broke. Surprisingly I got a decent parts guy and they had everything I needed, screw in studs, guide plates, tap, rockers, push rods, etc. Armed with all my parts I was ready to tackle this 327 and right the ship. Back at the parking stall I attempted to run it with just a new push rod but could see the stud wiggling slightly. On to plan B, I attempted to pull the stud only to have the threads pile and the nut was stuck. I was hooped. The feeling of desperation and despair was overwhelming and I will admit I sulked. The wife convinced me to walk the show, which I did quickly trying to make my way through the droves of tourists. I reached out to Lee Grant of LG Kustoms to see if he could help me out. He offered to come pick it up and help me after the show. He brought his trailer over, I pulled plug and ran number 8 with no exhaust rocker to get it out of the parking spot and onto the trailer. I felt relieved that it will be an easy fix in an actual shop. We got the old stud pulled out and tapped when I noticed the the screw in studs that I bought were 7/16 not the 3/8 that fit my rocker. So after consulting with a guy our options were a big block rocker ball or 3/8 studs. This was Sunday at 8:30 pm, options were limited and it looked like we were beat. Lee reached out to his contacts but no luck. He did have a buddy who lived in a warehouse that hordes sbc parts. So we drove over there to see if he was home. He was not, but an older guy named Jim was and he thought he might have parts somewhere in his stack of Tupperware’s stacked 6 high and 5 wide with years of heads, manifolds, and various parts stuff in between, around and on top of them. Eventually a label was spotted with screw in studs at the bottom of the pile. So Jim proceeded to pull the parts down and hand them to us to stack, refusing to let anyone near the pile of Tupperware’s, all containing sbc bearings, rods, pistons, etc, everything one would need to build copious amounts of sbc engines. Eventually we get to the last box when he turns to us and with a laboured breath says “I broke a rib last week”! Come on Jim, let us at your Tupperwares. Luckily he opens the next box and pulls out exactly what we needed, 3/8 screw in studs! I compensate him well for them, in which he tried to refuse, but I forced broken rib Jim to take it and I stack up his Tupperwares back perfectly for him. We get back to the shop, looking forward to getting this thing wrapped up. I stick the new push rod in and it drops really low. No matter how I stick it in it goes down too far. Taking off the intake push rod I look in and notice the spring has popped out of the lifter and it’s all apart. Begrudgingly we start taking the intake off to see what’s next. Luckily taking the cap and rotor off the distrib it just barely sneaks by the firewall recess. With the intake off we see the lifter has collapsed as well as coming apart. We freed it up and soaked it in some oil while we prepped to put this thing back together. Lee found intake gaskets in the back of his stash and we got it back together. Ready to stick the rocker on we notice the hex of the stud impedes the rocker travel. Out comes the stud to the bench grinder for a some precision lathe work. Finally it’s back together and patched. We set the timing, a couple of test drives and it runs pretty good. Not quite the easy roadside fix I was led to believe. By now it’s 10:30, I hadn’t eaten all day, Lee was up for the show at 4:30, the day and the high and lows have taken its toll. I pay him for the help and head back to the room for some much needed rest. The craziness that is deuce days tourists Midway through the repair Trailer queen
Day Eight, Monday We had noticed the starter was sparking during cranking a couple of times when working on it, and it seemed to crank slow. I had enough of fixing it and wanted to catch the my ferry at 9 am so we rolled with it. We had retarded the timing at the shop a lot so it didn’t seem to be related to that, just a shitty starter. I planned on trying make it to Langley and to pick up a new starter. I kept my fingers crossed in the morning and it cranked slowly but fired up and we were off. While waiting in the ferry line I found the armature ground was a bit loose. I tightened it up and it cranked perfectly to load unto the ferry. When it came time to leave the ferry she cranked right up and I wondered if maybe all this was behind me as we hit the open road. The car was running and sounding great. We got about an hour in and noticed a slight rattle when I opened the secondaries. Think maybe we had too much advance I unhooked the vacuum advance and took the valve cover off, adjusted the intake and exhaust and noticed the intake seemed loose. It wasn’t ticking but was loose on the nut. I tightened them up and proceeded to drive. It continued to run great for another hour or so and did the same thing. At this point in time I figured it was time to either take it to a shop, hopefully get it fixed properly. Or trailer it home and I figure it out from there. U-Haul were the cheapest option so we drove around, found a truck at one location and a trailer at another loaded the car and trailered it home from there. In the end we earned the sticker the hard way, but earned it never the less.
Days 9, 10, 11. We booked it home with only one stop in Revelstoke for the night. Picked up the kids and I got the car unloaded. After disassembly I priced out machining for proper screw in stud install and checked the others with a straight edge. I think that intake doesn’t look like it was pulling so I think I may go further and see if the cam is going flat. I know the first stud had pulled as it was higher than the rest, but I don’t know if this is a secondary problem or not. I had set the valves after cam break in and before the trip with no change needed, so it hadn’t shown any wear in the first 1000 miles. I don’t know if I will be going with the no accessory hole camel hump heads if I need to do another cam. I will see as I get further into it. Either way my budget is blown, so the car will be put away for the year. Maybe I’ll do something more radical, depending how far I have to go. The power was spot on for the car and it truely ran great with this setup, I just hate dumping more money into making less power. Reflection; Even with the ending, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. We put on 1400 miles, the car was comfortable and a pleasure to drive. The experience of driving through the mountains and to the coast was amazing and something that I will remember forever. I wouldn’t trade not breaking down for trailering my car out there. The perspective you get from looking out a chopped tilted windshield is amazing. I’ve heard some form of “cool car” in probably 5-10 different languages along the way. All ages and walks of life, everyone generally loved the little coupe and thought it was awesome to see it out driving across Canada. Hundreds of thumbs up, pictures and videos, it all felt special. By far the road trip was the highlight, even with all the cars and fun we had at the actual event, it wouldn’t be worth it without the drive there. I can’t wait to attempt it again in three years. Here’s a couple of pictures I found online of us. I believe from flicker account https://www.flickr.com/photos/vihr/albums/with/72157709807999716 The state she’s in until I save some money and figure out a plan.
Good story!---Good pix!----Ain't that fun chasing all those lines?----Especially in the rain! I've got 300,000 miles since 1968.-----Don
Well as a good friend of mine says, The difference between ordeal and Adventure is Attitude. Looks like you had quite and adventure. Great story with some great photos and we can expect another story in the future me thinks.
It's a chev, they are cheap and easy but not fool proof. You'll get it fixed and be back on the road in no time
Fry, Man what a great story. Beautiful car, beautiful girl, unbelievable scenery, and a great adventure and on top of that you got to do some wrenching. It may not get any better than that. The trailer thing in the end don't count either. It's always about the journey and not the destination. Very cool man two thumbs up for you guys.
Great write-up! You’ve done a great job explaining why I didn’t see your car on Sunday! But as Mr.48chev stated it was an adventure, although stressful at the time it will evolve into an even greater memory. I’ve had a few though in a smaller scale but it’s great remembering how one survives these things. I would suggest next time cut through Edmonton and head west on the Yellowhead Hwy. A lot less stressful route in which you can really joy the scenery. Keeps us updated as to the progress. Thanks again for the postings, all the pics have been great but I find recollections of events a bit more interesting at times...
Great read, my first trip on a new flathead was half fun and half fear. This is the road they film the Discovery Channel Highway thru Hell. For those of you that have never made this journey, you have to experience climbing up the Coquilhalla highway for 30+ minutes on the first hill, get close to the top where the wind is howling, feels like snow, no radio reception, no fuel stops, every new noise starts a brain flash of where should I pull over, should I pull over, piss on it, I can make it. Glad you made it home. Go Lions! The link Fry attached has over 3,000 photos of the event.
Y'now, the coke is the last hiway I'd recommend for any hot rodders to travel, four lane hiway of business and speed. Take the canyon, take the Hope princeton, (hwy 3), and really see BC, beautiful two lane roads, extremely scenic, the only way. Just my two cents.
I found it not bad, there wasn’t much traffic, I kinda just wanted to do it to say I did it. It was a nice drive and not that bad. I had planned on coming back through that #3/manning park way but unfortunately did not.
I have hundreds of trips over all these roads and as I have said before, the Hope-Princeton Highway is built for flatheads, a great drive.
Thanks for taking us along, you build thread and trip are experiences you will remember forever. I related to it all, as I have done it twice with cars I have built. Life long memories are built on these trips.
Love road trip posts! Sorry the car had issues but I’m so stoked you got that drive in. There is no way to describe that feeling, and all the trailer guys have no clue what they are missing
What a great story; and I love your car! This was my first time out with mine only having driven it for the first time a couple of weeks ago. I had reservations about putting the sticker on and forced myself to wait until I made it home. Again a great story and I can't wait to see you next time!
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