The Long Road Home, Part II

[bamfordsgarage]

Pictures, final: Partial view of the Mopar bay, More NOS sheet metal, Stacy Brown and counter gal Connie Jarvis — and a face to put with the voice when you call.

Edited April 15, 2011 by bamfordsgarage
Forgot to attach pix

[greg g]

Did I see gastanks above the fenders??? Like that light up Desoto medalian.

[bamfordsgarage]

Hello All, Day 6, Davis OK to Oklahoma City OK, 103 miles today.

Current Stats:

So far this leg we have burned 115.3 gallons of regular to go 1,680 miles for an average of 14.57 mpg (US) / 17.48 mpg (Cdn).

We bought a gallon of 15-40 oil shortly after leaving Tim's last Saturday and put the last bit in this afternoon for a consumption of 420 mpq. The car doesn't smoke so most of this oil was used for DIY rust-proofing and dust control.

Total milage since leaving Edmonton last fall is 6,953 and Google puts our remaining distance at 2,300-2,500 depending on diversions from the anticipated route. We plan be home a week from tomorrow.

Our average speed has been 39.7 mph, and the maximum this leg was a breathtaking 64.5. While we haven't kept an accurate count of how many vehicles we're passed on the open road, its been less than a dozen since Edmonton including a semi yesterday that was our first for the week.

Tomorrow we visit a private collection here in Oklahoma City then meander the 120 miles to Tulsa along old Route 66.

Todays pictures:

Derelict pre-fab gas station along Hwy 77 in Wynnewood OK. These metal buildings were manufactured by a number of firms in the 1920s-30s. This one was complete and in generally good shape other than the missing glass.

The wall panels were attached to the vertical ribs by wedges in slotted pins every 6" or so — quick, easy, and forgiving of minor misalignments.

Jerry and I have often remarked on how few old cars we see actually on the road in regular use. This Buick was the oldest daily driver we've encountered. The owner, a guy about 30, said this is the only licensed car he has and uses it in all seasons and all weather.

Pump jack near Pauls Valley OK. '40Plymouth I think you were asking for this picture. We have lots of these pumps in our area but they are usually hard to drive close to. It was nice to be able to get right up to this one and examine it in detail.

Ajax pump jack natural gas engine. This was very cool — a low speed one-lunger running on waste gas from the oil well. My Dad had told me about these but I had never seen one until today. All the pumps in our area (and all the others we saw today) are electric powered. More on Ajax pump motors here: http://www.theinfomine.com/2010/05/05/history-of-ajax-oilfield-motors-and-photo/

[bamfordsgarage]

My apologies to many Forum members — there've been a number of questions and/or comments directed our way that I have not addressed. I'll try to catch up now (in reverse order)...

Greg — yes those are fuel tanks above the fenders. I believe some were identified as Mopar.

Kevinb71 — we won't be going near Fargo. Our route after leaving KS takes us due west to Colorado Springs.

Greg — I have one of those manifold cookers for my Model T. I have cooked two roasts in my life and they were both in that car.

Rockwood — thanks for the link to the Gazette feature. I sent it to the editor of our local club newsletter and he forwarded it to the members.

Don — as a matter of fact we each had a Bourbon on Beer street chased with Beignets at Cafe Du Monde.

Jim — I had exactly the same thought. We drove on other long causeways where there were signs posted forbidding car repairs or tire changing on the bridge, but there were no signs like that here. We have been fortunate to have never been stranded in an awkward spot (everyone please knock on wood again)

[1950 Special Deluxe]

Can you please bring some nicer weather with you to Canada?

34 degrees F in Saskatoon tomorrow, Edmonton and Calgary got dumped on yesterday.

Good luck and Safe travels.

[bamfordsgarage]

If we brought you some Oklahoma weather it might be a trunk load of hail.

[1950 Special Deluxe]

We had a fellow from Tulsa working for us this week and he showed one of the guys a text from his wife. It read "Hi Babe, Tornadoes coming, heading out to the shelter." Maybe, the snow and cold isn't so bad.

[greg g]

Wonder what kind of mileage you would be getting without the rooftop stuff.

Keep looking at you car and wondering how much it would benefit from a Bon Ami treatment.

Thanks for the verification on the gas tanks, might have to give them a call. Looks like an interesting place.

[1940plymouth]

Thanks for the photo, that is exactly what I was talking about

[Eneto-55]

Take me back to Tulsa....

That's where I call home (16 miles north along what was US 75 in the 60's). So what highway will you take out of Tulsa? Going north-west from what I gather. I can't tell you the road number (unfortunately), but there's some beautiful country up along the Oklahoma-Kansas border on the way toward Witchita area. (Beautiful for a plainsman, anyway.)

[bamfordsgarage]

Greg — when we took the car to California in '08 we had no roof rack but the trunk was packed similar and IIRC our milage was a little over 16 to the US gal. Bon Ami treatment? The actual stuff or an abrasive polish or what? That 1975 paint, what there is left of it, is pretty poor.

Eneto-55, looks like we can wave at your old place on the way by. Is it near Ramona or Vera? We will probably head north out of Tulsa on 75 tomorrow around suppertime — we want to get a couple hours down the road by nightfall as we plan to be in McPherson KS for lunch Monday.

[Eneto-55]

It's about half way between Owasso & Collinsville, but it isn't on US 75 anymore. US 75 was moved just over 4 miles (or is it 3?) to the west probably back in the late 60's - not sure. US 169 and Oklahoma 20 also passed by our place back then, but now all have been moved. (169 & OK 20 now pass to the east of the home place.) It's now just called North 113th East Ave - counting from downtown Tulsa.

Speaking of Oklahoma 20, if you have the time, and are interested in that sort of thing, you ought to swing by Claremore, and take in the Davis Gun Museum, and the Will Rodgers Museum. (The latter was much better until they 'modernized' it back in the 80's or so. The gun collection used to be in the Will Rodgers Hotel lobby, but that would have been the early 60's, probably.) Sorry, I should have thought of this before - it will probably get to you too late, even if you would be interested.

Neto

[bamfordsgarage]

Hello All, Day 7, Oklahoma City OK to Tulsa OK via Route 66, 154 miles today. Car running perfect.

Low mileage aside, its been a very busy day. This morning we toured the Don Boulton collection of fine brass-era (pre-1916) automobiles then spent a pleasant couple hours at the NSRA Street Rod Nationals in Oklahoma City before taking 4+ hours to wander the 120 miles to Tulsa along Route 66.

It's tough being a car guy on the road, but somebody's got to do it. May as well be us.

Today's pictures, first batch:

Don Boulton is retired from a very successful automotive machine shop and parts house in OK City and has one of the finest collections of rare, high-quality brass automobiles in the US. Every Saturday morning a dozen or so members of the local Horseless Carriage Club chapter come over to hang out and swap lies. Don graciously invited us over to meet the gang and tell some of our own.

Our host demonstrates the starting procedure for this replica 1886 Benz Patent Motorwagon. This is one of about 30 faithful copies of what is considered to be the first production automobile — the original is in a German museum and the replicas are nearly identical in every respect.

1911 Pierce-Arrow Model 74 2-passenger roadster, left, and 1908 Welch Model 4L 7-passenger touring, both rare cars with very interesting engines...

The Pierce is powered by the world's largest passenger car engine. Ever. This 6-cylinder engine displaces some 825 in3 and is of crossflow T-head configuration with two camshafts in the block and valves on each side of the combustion chamber.

The Welch engine is a bit smaller, but technically very interesting — it has hemispherical combustion chambers, an (exposed) overhead cam shaft and is considered to be the distant first ancestor of the modern Hemi.

Edited April 17, 2011 by bamfordsgarage

[bamfordsgarage]

Pictures, second batch:

It was a fine, sunny day as some 2,000 street rods of all kinds converged on State Fair Park in OK City for the big NSRA show and swap meet.

We wouldn't even have know about this event had MrBob not posted to the Forum about it yesterday. This the three of us in front of Bob's '48 Plymouth which he bought from the original owner about a year ago.

Coming from the relatively far north, we were very envious of Bob's second heater and intrigued with how it was factory-ducted through the kick panel (both heaters were).

This '48 Plymouth featured a 305 SBC, TH350 etc. with an asking price of $14K reduced from $17.5K.

Also for sale was this '40 Dodge sedan, two owners in same family, $40K frame-off restoration (!), looking for best offer.

[bamfordsgarage]

Pictures, third batch, more NSRA Nats:

If I ever got the hankering for a truck, this one would do very nicely. 1941 Plymouth pickup looked great inside and out, was one of only 6,078 built in this last year of production (vs 55K Dodge pickups).

Engine is a 1958 Plymouth 230 six with Fenton head and lots of chrome and powder-coating. Asking price was $16K, possible trades considered.

1948 Dodge rod looked smooth with a quality build.

The Dodge gets a tasteful pinstripe treatment in a shade not much different than the body colour (look around the brake light)

Fortunately, no actual Rolls Royce was harmed in the making of this abomination. I, too, would block the view if I had to sit next to it!

[bamfordsgarage]

Pictures, last batch, Route 66:

The Dodge on an old section of Route 66's original alignment, now privately owned. Permission to drive and photograph on this stretch was cheerfully given.

Classic cottage-style Phillips 66 station is currently under restoration.

Lincoln Motel is another cottage-style business, but still in operation and sprting a very period sign (other than the promises of WiFi, microwaves and cable TV!)

St. Cloud hotel is along Route 66 but was built in 1903 and thus predates the highway by 23 years. There's a muffler shop on the ground level and the upper floors are unused.

Another original section of narrow two-lane Route 66, this one near Tulsa. Those are railroad tracks crossing at an angle — and there is not a single clue in either direction of where the rail line went from here.

[PatS....]

Nice pictures...well except the "Rolls" Some of the buildings like the St Cloud Hotel can be quite depressing in their current condition, but the Lincoln looks very cool.

Glad to see the old Dodge is having fun, too (touch wood)

Don't be in too much of a hurry, we're getting slammed with more snow and cold...seems like the whole province. I wonder what we did to deserve this?

Maybe it's to make us think that Iggy won't be so bad...but he will be

Love the pics along the way...enjoy the rest of the adventure!

[1940plymouth]

Just couldn't resist

[mrbobs48]

I enjoyed meeting these guys yesterday. Very nice folks. Today is the last day of the street rods here in OKC. I will post pics. It took over 2 hrs of steady cars to clear the fairground last night. I sat in my chair waiting to be the last one out, saw some plymouths I didn't see all day.

[bamfordsgarage]

Thanks, '40Plymouth, that first picture is now my desktop. I particularly like that there is nothing obviously modern in the photo — it could easily have been shot 40 or 50 years ago.

[Jim Yergin]

Chris,

Great pictures. Thanks for sharing. What is the story on the model planes hanging from the ceiling of Don Boulton's place?

Jim Yergin

[bamfordsgarage]

Hello All, Day 8, Tulsa OK to Augusta KS, 201 miles today, 2,044 this leg of the trip. Car still running perfect.

A fun day and we didn't hit the road for Kansas until almost suppertime. Tulsa is a hotbed of Model T enthusiasm, with a very active community of Model T nuts of every flavour. We spent the morning with a fellow who has had Ts since high school in 1952 and has restored many over the years, including a very rare 1917 Laurel Roof speedster (the Laurel and Roof companies were aftermarket body and speed equipment manufacturers). There are about a half dozen Ts in his stable now, along with related goodies like a first-year production Fordson tractor and an add-on tractor conversion for the Model T passenger car.

This afternoon we visited an former drag engine builder who now specializes in high-performance Model T engines, incorporating such goodies as race cams, overhead valve cylinder heads, full pressure lube with forged, heavy duty crankshafts, and on and on and on. Next month he and some of his T buddies are going on a 5,000 mile tour in the eastern states — this will be the third year the group has done a long tour in May.

The only Mopar connection I can work into today's report is that a third Model T guy, who had driven over from Arkansas to join the fun, was quite taken with our Dodge as he had had a '40 DeSoto as a daily driver for several years in the 1970s. Anyway, he took our car for a spin in the neighbourhood and it brought back many fond memories of his youth.

Tomorrow we go to McPherson KS for lunch and to learn about the McPherson College program in automobile restoration. Then we are off to Manhattan KS to meet my son Morgan who is visiting a friend there, and having a late supper with Captain Neon who is driving over from Topeka to join us. Sounds like fun!

Jim — sorry I don't know much about the planes, except that a number of them actually fly, and some have been specially commissioned.

Todays pictures:

Our Dodge at the morning visit. There is even a Model-T-powered 1931 Pietenpol airplane in this building!

Award wining 1917 Laurel Roof T Speedster.

Tractor conversion for Model T Touring cars — the rear wheels are removed, the axle housings are clamped in the wooden pillow blocks, and the heavy side frames clamped to the T frame. The little pinions (hanging off the axle) are mounted on the T axle hubs, and they in turn drive the large gears inside the tractor wheel rims. The conversion is quite quick with a bit of practice, and these guys often do it at steam and tractor shows.

What is probably the world's only specialized Model T Ford engine dyno is located in east Tulsa.

A first for Jerry and I... we saw this Armadillo at White Hair Memorial in Oklahoma and when he saw us scooted into the bushes for safety.

[55 Fargo]

Thanx Chris and jerry, really enjoying the tour with you Guy. Glad the car is running well, how is the engine temps, this time around?

[1940plymouth]

Have a good meal with your son and Captain Neon this evening.

I was stationed at Forbes AFB in Topeka from Oct of '71 until Dec of '72 when I got discharged, then drove home in a '72 Duster-Twister that I bought from Jim Clark Chrysler-Plymouth in Topeka in Nov of '71

Edited April 18, 2011 by '40Plymouth

[Captain Neon]

Jim Clark no longer has the MoPar dealership in Topeka. Briggs Auto Group now sells MoPars in Topeka. Mixed feelings...

Y'all are fortunate to only see one armadillo. First road kill I saw on my first trip to Arkansas was an armadillo. Lots of 'dillos in NW Arkansas when I lived there in 2000-02. I don't know the whole story, but I have a suspicion that they may be an exotic similar to Arkansas razorbacks and kudzu.

Armadillos are the usu. road kill faire, similar to 'possum or 'coon elsewhere. Fortunate to have never hit a 'dillo myself, but have been told that they have a tendency to jump straight up and take out headlights.