The long road home...

[bamfordsgarage]

Hello all, welcome to our journey from Warrenton VA to Edmonton AB via Florida, Texas, and points along the way. This trip actually started in Edmonton last September when we drove to Hershey, PA for the big AACA swap meet and car show Oct 06-09. Our '47 D25 (Canadian Dodge) wintered in Warrenton at Gentleman Jim Yergin's place — we flew into Dulles yesterday, picked up the car this morning and hightailed it west from there.

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Day 1, Warrenton VA to Lynchburg VA, 229 miles.

Jerry and I were joined at Jim Yergin's place this morning by Chet Brzostowski (who picked us up at the hotel), Joe Flanagan and Rodney Bullock. With a little gas in the carb and a few goes on the starter button the beast fired up and soon settled into a smooth idle. Not bad after four months of hibernation. The oil and coolant levels were fine, the tires were still up, and we were set to go.

The six of us piled into the Dodge and drove into Warrenton for a nice lunch at the local Red Hot & Blue. It was a tight squeeze on the way into town and tighter still on the way back after six hearty lunches.

Our plan was to head towards West Virginia for a drive through the scenic Allegheny Mountains (check out this site: http://www.antiquecar.com/legendary_west_virginia1.php) and then down to North Carolina where we need to be Sunday afternoon.

We stopped in Marshall VA to have a look at Marshall Ford, which Jim says is sort of the oldest Ford dealership in the US. But only sort of — Ford does not recognize them as such since the dealership has changed hands over the years. Still, there has been a Ford dealership at this location right from the Model T days, and that's good enough for me.

We were so close to WV we could almost see it when there was a funny noise on a gentle right-hand bend followed by that lurch and rough ride that can only mean a flat tire. Dang.

If only it were just a flat — turns out the left-rear rim split right open for about 10" right along the bead line. Upon close examination we found rust inside each end of the split, so those weak spots have been there for a while. Double dang.

Anyway, we bolted on the spare and headed for NC. West Virginia will just have to live without us. After Hillsborough NC we head for Sumter SC, Lyons GA and then on to FL.

Right now we're running without a spare. Not good. We'd like to get this rim welded up and/or get a replacement rim as soon as possible. Odds are we can go a few thousand miles without another flat but we sure would like to have a useable spare just in case.

Can someone suggest a friendly welder or vintage wrecking yard, more-or-less on our route, that might have a spare rim? Maybe there's a Forum member in the area that can help. Or perhaps someone can courier a 16" rim to us in GA, or...? All suggestions most welcome!

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Todays' pictures:

The Gang of Five after lunch (l to r) Rodney, Jerry, Jim, Chet, Joe & your reporter Chris; Marshall Ford; Hey it's only flat on the bottom; 16" Split rim.

[1950 Special Deluxe]

Good Luck on your trip home.

[greg g]

If its a spare why not pickup a more modern rim and tire or two from a pick and pull.

15 inch ford or dodge pick up or van might be a likely source. Just make sure the back space doesn't exceed 4 inches.

Good luck on the rest of your adventure.

[bamfordsgarage]

Hi Greg, thanks for your suggestion. Our rims are 16" — are there modern Ford or Dodge rims available in this size also? I know so little about newer stuff...

[Robert Horne]

15 inch Ford Ranger 2 wheel drive, around 1986, 1987, steel wheels are a good fit. The back space is 3 & 5/8. I believe the stock Plymouth/Dodge wheel is about 3 & 1/2 back space........ Have a great trip....

[1940plymouth]

Have a safe trip and hopefully you either get the wheel fixed or find an alternitive

[JerseyHarold]

Any auto repair or tire shop should have a Tire Fitment Guide that gives wheel bolt patterns and offsets so you can pin down what modern wheel will fit.

Have a great trip!

[Uncle-Pekka]

Best of Luck for the Travellers!

There will be fans watching your adventurous journey also up North in Finland.

Kind regards,

Unkka-Pekka

[oldodge41]

The 15" spare is a great idea if no 16" wheels are readily available. I look forward to following your adventure and wish you good weather, good roads and good luck.

[Jim Yergin]

Chris,

That is a shame about the wheel. Do you think the six of us in your car overloaded it? If we had only known, I could have given you one of my extras.

It was great seeing you, Jerry, Chet, Joe and Rodney. Such a nice group and fun to share our stories. Renewed my momentum to get back to work on my car. Pulled the transmission (fourth time) last night.

Stay safe and keep us posted on your travels.

Jim Yergin

[Chester Brzostowski]

Chris,

That is a shame about the wheel. Do you think the six of us in your car overloaded it?

Jim Yergin

Jim,

I think we were OK until we ate lunch. The ride back to the house must have taken it's toll.

Chris & Jerry, Sorry to hear about your misfortune but better here in VA then on the 49th parallel.

Here are a few more pictures. Great to have met you crazy Canadians. Hopefully the rim will be the last & only mishap on your journey home. Rodney & Jim it is always a pleasure to get together. Joe it was a pleasure meeting you and hopefully we can all get together again at Sully.

Chet…

[greg g]

Great looking group, reminds me of the picture gallery in the Post Office...

[Don Coatney]

Why is it everyone has there hands in there pockets except the Caniadians

[Joe Flanagan]

I have one hand out of my pocket. My grandparents were from Canada.

[Rodney Bullock]

Hey Don, if you had seen the guy who took this picture your hands would have been Up over your head. Those guy's were so trusting they are lucky they got their Camera back:rolleyes:

[Rodney Bullock]

Seriously, we had a great time talking and laughing with Jerry and Chris. I was very surprised to find that they are restoration guy's, they had a photo album that had some of their other work. While we ate they were so entertaining. They have done this before so they were prepared.

I was very concerned about there tires as I asked them before we left for lunch if they had a spare that was assembled. They did have a new tire with no rim. They did so I did not ask again. While talking to them I could not help but feel a little envy. These guy's are truly living the life, driving the car and seeing all the sights. The meeting of forum members is nice as well. I wish there was a way to meet all of you guy's before I go to the big Plymouyh in the sky:eek:. These guy's had total confidence in the car so they should be ok. Good luck guy's and thank you for being so nice.

PS Chet had more fun then anyone. He kept picking at stuff in the car. I thought Chris was gonna grab him. Oh, that ride back from the lunch, let's just say if we were not friends before we were closer than the Temptations after;) Good luck.

Edited February 6, 2011 by Rodney Bullock

[Joe Flanagan]

Yeah, Rodney, I was going to tell you to keep your hands to yourself. You fogged up the windshield with all your heavy breathing.

[Rodney Bullock]

see I was not going to go there, Chet thinks that was me. It was you. that Joe a trouble maker in the purest form. That tire and rim he was sitting on that side:rolleyes:

[Don Coatney]

Hey Don, if you had seen the guy who took this picture your hands would have been Up over your head.

I have seen that guy you are talking about and you are correct:eek:

Tell us what was really going on as you did not tell me all of the story in the e-mail you sent me.

[Joe Flanagan]

Oh, he sent you an e-mail, did he Don?

Come on, Rodney. Out with it. I hope you're not telling stories about me.

[Joe Flanagan]

Rodney's right about the guy who took the picture. He looked like he might have gotten separated from Stonewall Jackson's infantry. I wasn't going to be the one to tell him the war is over.

[michael.warshaw]

Very cool get home safe

[Chester Brzostowski]

PS Chet had more fun then anyone. He kept picking at stuff in the car. I thought Chris was gonna grab him. Oh, that ride back from the lunch, let's just say if we were not friends before we were closer than the Temptations after;) Good luck.

Rodney,

I was just looking to see how stuff when back together. My interior was nothing but rags when the car followed me home. As for the fooling around in the back seat. Who knows what went on back there? Don, you thought my 29 was a tight fit..., you really need to try 6 in a 48. Thank god we didn't have a Volkswagon and another 10 people.

Chet...

[55 Fargo]

All the best Chris and Jerry on your treck home,will be following with great interest, all the best, drive safe......

[bamfordsgarage]

Hello all, Day 2, Lynchburg VA to Hillsborough NC. 141 miles today, trip total 370.

141 miles with no spare and no flats. So far so good. Tomorrow we should be able to find an acceptable 15" rim at a local wreckers for our emergency spare. Thanks to Greg/Robert/Jersey for your suggestions, and to everyone else for your kind comments and good wishes.

We tooled around historic Lynchburg this AM admiring some of the great old houses. At one point a local mechanic stopped to take some pictures of the car and ended up taking us to his nearby shop where he thought there might be a 15" Ranger rim kicking around. No such luck but we all three enjoyed the visit.

Then just into NC we saw this bright blue P15(?) alongside the road just north of Yanceyville. It was for sale and there was a big wrecking yard of mixed vintages just behind it. Alas we couldn't raise anyone in the house or on the 'phone to see if our 16" rims might be sitting in the yard somewhere.

We're staying in Hillsborough tonight with friends we met a couple years ago in the western states when they were part of a New York to San Francisco rally that followed the original route of the American leg of the famous New York to Paris race of 1908 (http://www.longestautoracecent.com/). Jerry and I found out about this rally too late to get in at the beginning, but drove the Dodge down to Laramie WY and joined up with the group for the final 10 days into San Francisco. That was some great road trip.

Jan and Ed Howle drove this 67 Beetle on the 2008 NY to SF rally and it was one of only two cars that completed the run entirely "on their own rubber" with nary a repair and only a cracked windshield worse for wear. That's the third time they've driven the Beetle across the US, as they were also in a couple of previous cross-country Great American Race events with this car. (Jan wants to make sure everyone understands that is not their gate and also not their house in the background.)

April 14 they pile into the Beetle and depart New York for San Francisco once again, only this time the car will go into a container bound for Beijing. The Howles and a number of other intrepid souls will spend the six weeks from Jun 04 to July 21 driving to Paris France through China, Kazakhstan, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Czech Republic, and Switzerland. (http://world-race.net/) Now that's a road trip!

For a Mopar connection to all this, check out the Howle's lovely 1932 DeSoto rumble-seat roadster that they drove cross-country (is there some pattern here?) in the 2006 Great American Race. Other than the up-draft carb and oddball air cleaner, then engine looks very much like the one in our trusty D25.

Edited February 7, 2011 by bamfordsgarage