Arctic Adventure

[bamfordsgarage]

How many of the tire studs did you loose?

None that we've noticed. The stud pattern is only along the edges, and the knob in that photo that looks like it should have a stud never did.

[Plymouthy Adams]

I can't make it out too well but could that be a Georgia cotton ball above the gum ball..else I give up...

[thrashingcows]

I just spent today going through this entire thread...absolutely an amazing trip!! Thank you for the updates, and letting us live vicariously through you.

I would love to do something like this one day.....Think I will try and plan something...eventually.

[mpn23748]

Seen the 47 Dodge on the yellowhead late this afternoon, been following the trip daily, looked like a great adventure

[1940plymouth]

I tried to find the article about your visit in Inuvik last week, I couldn't find it, maybe I was looking in the wrong spot. I did find a link to a paper for there though

[bamfordsgarage]

I can't make it out too well but could that be a Georgia cotton ball above the gum ball..else I give up...

That's it. Good eye. I think we picked it up a few miles south of your place.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Hello again, back home safe and sound last night, after the 402 mile run into Edmonton from McBride, including a 70 mile loop back to the hotel to retrieve your reporter’s cell phone from the nightstand. Oops. Trip grand total 4,905 miles. Some final thoughts as we drive the last leg:

Back on Page 1, RoadKingCoupe speculated about “Arctic Ice roads in a Dodge D25...sounds like a pilot for a new Canuck television series...” If this were a pilot, the networks would ever pick up the series — no cliffhangers, no tow trucks, no stuck in a snowbank, no flat tires, no really bad weather, no bickering, no “Reality Show” rubbish whatsoever. Even the few problems we’ve had almost solved themselves: Can’t get a room? Sleep in the lobby. Handbrake stuck on? Idle for 10 minutes. Ran out of gas? We’ve got 10 gallons up top. Generator kaput? Here’a the spare and a nice warm place to work. Dirty rotten gas thief? Yeah, but we got our cans back.

I (almost) feel sorry for everybody on the forum who would have naturally found any big problems and their solutions interesting to follow and help with from afar. It would also have been great to post some old Mopar sightings as we traveled, but there just weren’t any.

More about tires: Our ongoing problem during last year’s American tour was tires. Too many flats and frequent trouble getting them fixed. We heard the horror stories about the 470 miles of shale-gravel road up to Inuvik and prepared accordingly with six spares (one knobbie and our summer set of five) and seven tubes. That road, at least when frozen solid, was a total pussycat and gave us zero trouble. Our tires are now all mounted tubeless on the original 16” rims and I’m convinced that’s the way to go (aside from the disgustingly-modern brass valve stems, which cry out for black paint).

(Tires update: Clearly, Fate was tempted when I wrote that paragraph around noon yesterday, and Fate responded 150 miles from Edmonton with a nasty RF tire bulge from one sidewall across the tread at an angle over to the other. I’m guessing a bias-ply separation. In the interests of science and laziness we left it on, prepared to change it out if things got bad. We made it home but the bulge area grew maybe 50%.

I’ll take it in to my tire shop on Monday for their opinion, but for now what are your thoughts about this... Is this a risk of running a tube tire tubeless? What can cause this failure? Would a tube in this one make it serviceable, even as a spare? Anything other comments?)

Stuff to repair that occurred or became evident on the trip: Leaky rear main seal, leaky double glazing seals, still-leaking door seals (is there some pattern here?), stuck-shut RR door, repair generator and keep as spare, bulging RF tire, non-functional driving light, dimmer switch/terminal block connections, and devise a fender-mount step to the roof rack. Not bad at all.

Final statistics: Average fuel consumption 16.55 mpgCdn, 13.78 mpgUS. Average fuel cost $1.537/litre, $6.98/galCdn, $5.81/galUS. We passed six vehicles in 4,905 miles, four semis and a two graders. Average speed (urban, rural, hills, etc) 43.6 mph. Hours in motion 8.0/day 112.3 total. Oil consumption (mostly out the rear seal) 3 galCdn.

Engine revolutions since we left Edmonton (3,000 rpm @ 60 mph = 3,000 rev/mile X 4,905 miles + 2% for idle/1st/2nd) = 15,009,000. Rather sobering to think of all those revolutions dependent on the machine shop, and my assembly, getting that tiny oil film in all those engine bearings just right.

Fourteen days on the road: Total fuel cost $2,129. Other costs (lodging, food, oil, souvenirs, incidentals) estimated $150/day, $2,100 total. Prior expenditures of $2,550 for engine rebuild and $1,242 for tire purchase/studding don’t directly figure in as they needed doing anyway.

Number of items checked off the bucket list: One.

Average guessed vintage of car: early fifties. Number of people we met who had one like it, or their uncle had one, or they got laid in one, or the neighbor had one: 346,724. The number of folks who said it looks great just like it is and good for us driving it around, outweighed the number of people who asked are we going to restore it and/or why are we wrecking it with winter driving, by maybe 3 to 1.

Thanks so much to everyone who followed our Arctic Adventure on the forum — your interest and encouragement made it all the more enjoyable for us.

Photos: First real fog of the trip, at McBride; Foggy double-glazing got much worse in warmer weather; Redneck rocker clip; Our worst weather was in Alberta the first and last days — this picture Friday noon near Hinton; Nasty sidewall bulge, bolt-in tubeless valve stem.

[1940plymouth]

Glad you both are home safe and sound, it has been very interesting to be following you both on your Great Adventure,

Thanks for sharing with us,

Bob

[T120]

Hi Chris,A remarkable trip to say the least,Congratulations!.. I've watched snippets of Ice Road Truckers,etc and I have to agree they are mostly rubbish and I can't bring myself to watch them.

One thing I meant to ask you was,what tire pressure did you use for the tires on your trip?

[greg g]

Grande Aventure! Heureux vous êtes retourné sans risque.

[RobertKB]

Good to see you got back safe and sound, car included! That was a remarkable trip and your engine work was obviously done well as it performed flawlessly. These are tough old cars and dare I say it, you are tough old guys! Thanks for letting us live vicariously through your travels!

[Merle Coggins]

Thanks Chris. It's been a fun thread to follow. Congratulations on another successful adventure. I look forward to reading about the next.

Merle

[Eneto-55]

I have enjoyed following along on this trip, as well as your past ones. Maybe some day when I'm retired (if ever) I'd like to do something like this, too, but not in the northern cold country. I've lived too long south of the equator. Maybe just pettering around on backroads, stopping in little towns all over the USA.

Anyways, glad that you made it back home with so little trouble.

Neto

[Plymouthy Adams]

JUst got back in town myself..missed the final post of the journey but was glad to see you made it there and back and with relatively minor incidents that Ihave seen plague as many new cars today...the ole girl did you fine and all should be proud..if the guy at the tire shop should give you a fit on the seperated belt..jack up the car..let Jerry put it in second, rev to 1800 and stick his hard head to the rear studded tire..it will get his attention...!

[bamfordsgarage]

Hi Tim, thanks for your note. It was a really great trip, and one outside most people's comfort zone especially in a 64 year old car. But compared to some other road trips past and present, this ours was a walk around the block... there's a guy from Melbourne, Australia on the Model T forum who is driving solo — one car, one guy — to Moscow. Via Africa. Last fall he drove his 1913 T Touring across Oz to Perth and had the car shipped to South Africa in December. As of last week he was in Ethiopia awaiting entry permission to Saudi Arabia. Now that's a road trip.

Tire update: Greg, you were asking about missing studs. I have only examined the one defective tire, but of the 161 original studs, three are missing and a fourth looks to be almost sideways in the hole.

Ralph, you were asking about tire pressure. When we had them mounted I chose 32 psi (maximum permissible per the tire sidewall). I checked them a few times over the trip and the pressure rose and fell somewhat depending on ambient temperature but all four tires stayed within 1 psi of each other.

I took the bad tire to a couple of local shops and it was deemed defective due to a broken belt and unusable. I've been in touch with Universal Tire and learned that all their tires include a five-year warranty against manufacturing defects in materials and labour. So I've sent them pictures and details of dates, distance etc and am waiting to hear back.

Photos: '13 Ford T at the Equator; '13 Ford T on Ethiopian road; '47 Dodge gets 34th state decal ALASKA.

[Don Coatney]

of the 161 original studs, three are missing and a fourth looks to be almost sideways in the hole.

[/i]

See what that 4 wheel drifting does to tires:D

[T120]

...In hot pursuit of the gasoline thieves!

[JerseyHarold]

Chris,

Your trip was a tribute to good planning and Chryler engineering. I'm glad it was a success.

I don't know if it's been discussed previously, but what is the history of your Dodge and how long have you had it?

[bamfordsgarage]

...What is the history of your Dodge and how long have you had it?

The original owners took delivery in 1948 and owned it until 1975 when they traded it in on a new Ford pickup. The dealer painted the car and gave it to his son, from whom I purchased it in Oct/91 with 56K on the odometer. I drove it every year since, but not all that far or often until Oct/08 when Jerry and I drove down to Wyoming to meet up with a group of old cars driving from NY to San Francisco.

Our second big trip was just under 10K miles to Hershey PA, down the east coast to Florida, over to Texas and back home. This was a three part trip — Jim Yergin and Tim Adams each kindly stored the Dodge for a few months between driving legs.

The 1992 picture is deceiving in that the car the car looks black and pretty good. It was just back from the detail shop and the power polish disappeared quickly from the faded chalky 1975 repaint.

Photos: 1953 with original owners; 1971 photo — his posture and waistband didn't change much in 18 years; 1992 photo when car and current owner were both much shinier, 2008 Wyoming photo at 10,835 ft; 2008 in the Utah desert.

[michael.warshaw]

As ive stated you guys have balls of steal, as a city slicker i find it remarkable. I wouldnt want to do the drive all that way in a 100k benz, you guys did this drive in a 40's mopar.. Bravo to you, excellent job, i commend you.

[Young Ed]

When you coming back to MN and actually staying a bit?

[bamfordsgarage]

As ive stated you guys have balls of steal, as a city slicker i find it remarkable. I wouldnt want to do the drive all that way in a 100k benz, you guys did this drive in a 40's mopar.. Bravo to you, excellent job, i commend you.

Thanks, Mike, but please... "Balls of Steel"! I wouldn't want to do it in a 100K Benz either, as long as our Dependable Dodge was at the ready.

Ed, our only other trip expected this year will be Vancouver Island out on the west coast sometime in the summer. Mind you, we haven't been to New England yet (or AZ, NM, KY, TN and WV) so we may pass your way again.

Had our local club meeting last night and the folks were naturally interested in our little expedition so I'll be giving a slide show next month. Anyway, one of the guys told me his wife had come up a new meaning for the acronym D-O-D-G-E... Dem Old Dudes Go Everywhere. Cute.

[Plymouthy Adams]

was just in WV this weekend...the dogwoods are now blooming along with the redbuds and lilacs..only the top of the mountains are the trees leafing out..saw plenty of turkeys, couple groundhogs...was able to take a few walks in the woods..and yes the best thing..the ramps are in season and they are delicious..

this is an item that one should sample at least once in their lifetime..molly moochers will be in season in a couple weeks..

[greg g]

Beware of ferel leeks....gotta go check my wild asparagus.

[Plymouthy Adams]

we usually harvest a few meals of asparagus from the wild..I will not eat the stuff when cooked but fresh from the plant..I love it..just smells so foul when cooked..might be good but I can't get past the offensive odor

[greg g]

Try sauteeing it briefly in some butter with a bit of lemon juice or drop it on the grill for a bit.