Flathead Mopar Road Trips 500 + Miles Anyone?

[55 Fargo]

40Plymouth Bob started a thread in the Off Topic section, which has inspired me to create this thread on the main board.

The main theme is all those Mopar Flathead 6 cylinder owners, whether it be in a Car, Truck, or what have you.

Please post your details, plans and pictures, on how you propose to do a long road trip.

if you have already done a long road trip, lets hear about them, all the trials, tribulations, adventure and intrigue.

I have not done any trips over 50-100 miles in length, but hope to at some point, there will be those who have chosen the back roads of yesteryear, and those with modified flathead power cars, who have battled the Interstates and freeways along their path.

 

GENTLEMEN START YOUR ENGINES|

[knuckleharley]

Like Bill Clinton,I am waiting with baited breath.

[plyroadking]

Des Moines IA to San Francisco CA and back in my 1940 Plymouth two door sedan during the summer of 2013. Plus I also drove it everyday while I was in the bay area for that summer internship. My odometer reads 10 mph slow but by the time I made it back to Iowa it had added 7,400 miles to the count. I had just finished putting the engine together a couple days before I headed out. I had the cylinders bored out, new rings, new pistons, new wrist pins, and new cam bearings. An older friend said to break in a motor how your planning on driving it, so I hopped in and headed to CA doing 75-80mph till I stopped for the night in Cheyenne. The next morning the overdrive kickdown switch was sticking a little and I had to give it a drop of oil before it'd work correctly. That day was the long leg of the trip but I did stop at the salt flats for a picture of the car on it. I made it to Reno for that night. The next day I was cruising around San Francisco visiting old friends. I drove the car everyday while I was out there and even took it around Yosemite one weekend and also down to Monterey once. When my summer internship was over I loaded the old girl up with 4 overdrive transmissions I had found and headed back to Iowa. The first night I stayed in Rock Springs WY and was home by the next evening. I didn't really have any issues with the car that summer and I would and probably will do something like that trip again with the car.

[greg g]

2005 Syracuse, NY to Killington VT for POC summer meet.  800+ miles there and back and associated tours.  Blown headlamp fuse.

2007 Syracuse to Charlotte, NC for POC meet  1300 + miles.  cleaned gas tank rust out of carbs.

2008 Syracuse to Detroit, Mi for POC meet 1100 + miles. Zero Faults

2009 Syracuse to Tysons Corners Va. for show with other forum Members 800+ miles. Thrown fan belt, clogged fuel filter.

2009 Syracuse to Westminster Md. for POC summer meet. 900+miles Zero faults

2011 Syracust to St Johnsbury Vt for WPC National meet  1200+miles Zero Faults

2013 Syracuse to Windsor, Vt 600 + miles.  One hot start fault.

2014 Syracuse to Pt Huron, Mi for POC summer meet 1100 + miles Zero faults

2015 Suracuse to Mid Hudson Valley 650+ miles Zero faults.

 

Planned

2016 Syracuse to Berkshire region of W Mass. for Northeast tour 800 + miles.

2016 Syracuse to Belfast Maine, WPC National Meet Sept 2016.  Expected Zero faults

 

We have done probably about 10 other trips of less than 500 miles, with no mechanical difficulties.

Edited February 24, 2016 by greg g

[TodFitch]

Probably doesn't count as the car was only 45 years old back then, but when I moved from Baltimore to Los Angeles in '78 I drove my 33PD along with a small trailer to carry all my spare parts. Not a direct route to LA as I stopped in various places along the way (southern Wisconsin, east Texas, southern Arizona, northern Nevada, northern California, etc.) Also did a number of back and forth trips between LA and Tucson that year, a distance of about 500 miles each way. On the '78 transcontinental trip lost a u-joint due to a bad boot letting dirt in and lost a water pump.

 

In more recent years:

Drove from then home in SF Bay Area to Portland, Oregon (up via backroads, back via freeway) for the Plymouth Club meet a distance of about 1700 miles. No issues.

 

Drove from the Bay Area to Tucson and back for the Plymouth Club meet a distance of about 2000 miles with the extra touring. Issues: Loose mounting bolt for front bumper and license plate holder.

 

And just earlier this month 450 miles from the old house in the SF Bay Area to the new one about halfway between LA and San Diego. Issues: Lost the winged mermaid radiator cap on a rough section of road near Camp Roberts and had a momentary loss of power after hitting a bump in the LA metro area (fixed itself before I could stop and diagnose).

 

With respect to "and those with modified flathead power cars, who have battled the Interstates and freeways along their path": Huh? Why would it have to be modified to battle the interstates and freeways? I prefer back roads. And there are some freeways I really try to avoid. But I will take freeways where it makes sense to me. For example on the move down to the new house, the large majority of the drive was on freeways.

 

For these trips I usually toss in the mechanics tool kit that normally resides on the top of my roll around as using proper open end wrenches and ratchet sets is easier than the one Crescent wrench that lives in the tool wrap in the car. I also take along a cell phone and AAA cards, etc. I have taken to doing scheduled maintenance at regular intervals so am pretty confident the car is in good shape and so don't really worry about carrying spare parts. I check the tire pressure, oil level, water level, etc. before taking any drive more than a couple of miles.

[55 Fargo]

Tod and Greg, Plyroadking, thanx for sharing, always enjoy the road trip stories.

LA and So Cal freeways, yes I guess you did just fine, just how fast is traffic moving on them these days. I would venture to guess not too fast when things get all jambed up and things begin to crawl.

I had a couple of Pals years ago in Long Beach, 1 had a VW Bus, the other had a 64 Chevy panel, both would drive them down the freeways at 55-60 mph, and although there was a lot of traffic, they did okay, heck I did okay, as I was driving them too...

Edited February 24, 2016 by Fargos-Go-Far

[dpollo]

51 Plymouth convertible  July 1990  Vancouver Island to Calgary Alberta , South to Montana, through Glacier Park

into Idaho, to Coeur d"Alene,  back up to Hwy 2 into Washington then I-5 back to BC  2000 miles, no problems

 

Same car, numerous trips down I-5 from BC to Oregon.  700 miles return . No problems.

 

Same car June 2015 Coquihalla Highway into North Okanagan BC  Hottest day of the year to date.  Temperature gauge pretty close to H. but no boil-over or starting issues.   No problems, total trip 700 miles.   Overdrive equipped but locked it out on mountain grades.

 

 Good fuel mileage , never added oil.  carry spare parts like fuel pump, water pump and points&condenser but have had no need of any.   Car has 152 000 miles total, 50 000 now on engine.

 which is a Canadian 57 Plymouth 251  with 8.5-1 compression.

[James_Douglas]

^{When we purchased out 1947 Desoto Suburban...}

 

^{We purchased it in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and drive it back to San Francisco.  Only thing that when wrong was a busted inner spedo cable.}

 

^James.

[55 Fargo]

Once read a story in Hemmings Classic car Magazine, 1948 Chrysler Biz Coupe owner and his buddy with buddys 49 Chrysler drive from the LA area to San Fran on New Years Eve, find the original owner of the 48 Chrysler Biz Coupe, and take him for a ride. Now how kool is that.

After this they drive out to Yosemite, spend a couple of days there and head back to the LA area.

This guy did this with a car he just bought, broke the speedo cable, lost a hub cap, and heater motor stopped. The original owner gave him the Dealer blanket he bought for the car to help keep him warm.

They were cruising in the 60-65 range for the trip....

[janan5243]

My long trip is minute compared to all the others but it was my first one. We went from Schoharie, NY to mastic Beach, LI, NY. About 600 mis. rd trip. Took the NYS Thruway to the famed LI distressway. Other than the car getting hot (200 +) on the gauge in stop & go traffic, it never overheated, the car ran great. Kept speed at 60 MPH for majority of trip. Since it is a totally original car, Engine, drivetrain & body, needless to say, I was nervous. I believe I could have run at 65 MPH with no problem but was too nervous to. Only problem was a human error one. When filling with gas for return trip, I set gas cap on fender, was interrupted by some one asking permission to take pictures & got back in car & drove off. While in slow traffic headed for Throg's Neck Bridge, a biker pulled up & told me  I had no gas cap. Called my sister as soon as I could & she went to station & found it. Unfortunately it had been run over. But I was very happy with trip & next one won't be as white knuckled.

[Barabbas]

2011  Port Townsend WA to La Push Wa -250 miles round trip---Overdrive cable adjustment problem--broken fan belt

2013  Fort Wayne In to Toronto Ont  900 miles round trip--no problems

2014  Fort Wayne In to Holland Mi 400 miles round trip--no problems

2015  Fort Wayne In to Sycamore Il-600 miles round trip (including traveling at 70+ on the notorious Tri State toll around Chicago on a 90F day)--no problems

[dpollo]

A customer of mine, now deceased,  drove her 49 Desoto from Vancouver Island to Washington DC and back

in the mid 90s.  Only trouble en route was a leaky front brake cylinder,   Another tour member repaired it in a parking lot

and there were no further problems.  The next trip she took was to Alaska and this did not turn out so well. The steering shaft

broke about a foot above the worm gear.  I felt sick when I heard about it, but this was a part of the car I never had worked on.

There was no damage to the car despite its winding up down an embankment.  It was towed to Prince George BC where a replacement steering box was installed then driven back home to Victoria.

 

I still cringe when I think about that shaft failure which I attribute to a long ago collision on the left front and possible misalignment of the steering column.  It is something I always check when reassembling a car or truck of this era.

[Merle Coggins]

2009 - Mopar's in the Park, Twin Cities area, 700+ miles round trip. Mostly secondary roads. No problems except that I found the seat not too comfortable for long days. Also loosing power and hard starting by the time I got home. Found points gap had closed up. New points and tune up and all is good again.

 

2010 - WPC meet in Dayton, OH. 800+ mile round trip. Freeways through Chicago to Indy. Secondary roads from Indy to Dayton. All freeway on the way home on a mid to upper 90's kind of day. No problems with the truck but confirmed that the seat needs work.

 

2012? - WPC Lake Elmo, MN. 750ish miles round trip. Mostly freeways up and back. Seat has been redone and much better for a day's trip. Heavy rains on the way home showed very leaky windshield gasket. That was sealed up the following winter.

 

2014 - WPC meet in Detroit. Around 800 miles round trip. All freeway there and back. Truck ran flawlessly but discarded one hub cap in a construction zone on I-94 in Michigan.

 

2015 - Back to the 50's in Minneapolis. 800 miles or so. A mix of secondary roads and freeways. Hit a deer on the first leg of the trip, heading up to Appleton by Michelle. Then for the return trip the voltage regulator was crapping out. It would charge sometimes, if the RPM was high enough. But it got me home safely.

 

Bucket List trip... Drive it out to Tim's ranch for the BBQ. Would need 2 weeks with a lot of planning and courage.

 

Merle

[55 Fargo]

2009 - Mopar's in the Park, Twin Cities area, 700+ miles round trip. Mostly secondary roads. No problems except that I found the seat not too comfortable for long days. Also loosing power and hard starting by the time I got home. Found points gap had closed up. New points and tune up and all is good again.

 

2010 - WPC meet in Dayton, OH. 800+ mile round trip. Freeways through Chicago to Indy. Secondary roads from Indy to Dayton. All freeway on the way home on a mid to upper 90's kind of day. No problems with the truck but confirmed that the seat needs work.

 

2012? - WPC Lake Elmo, MN. 750ish miles round trip. Mostly freeways up and back. Seat has been redone and much better for a day's trip. Heavy rains on the way home showed very leaky windshield gasket. That was sealed up the following winter.

 

2014 - WPC meet in Detroit. Around 800 miles round trip. All freeway there and back. Truck ran flawlessly but discarded one hub cap in a construction zone on I-94 in Michigan.

 

2015 - Back to the 50's in Minneapolis. 800 miles or so. A mix of secondary roads and freeways. Hit a deer on the first leg of the trip, heading up to Appleton by Michelle. Then for the return trip the voltage regulator was crapping out. It would charge sometimes, if the RPM was high enough. But it got me home safely.

 

Bucket List trip... Drive it out to Tim's ranch for the BBQ. Would need 2 weeks with a lot of planning and courage.

 

Merle

Yup, these seats ain't built for long drive comfort, that is a given.

Did you get any steaks out of the Deer deal?

[Merle Coggins]

Never found the deer. I saw her dive in front of the truck, felt the "thump" as I was hard on the brakes, pulled over to inspect the damage (quite minimal), and never saw her again. I believe she got thrown into the ditch and I didn't feel like going to find her.

[Barabbas]

Hear you on the front seats-which is why I put these puppies in my Cranbrook

[traveller816]

This is a topic very close to my heart as this is what I live for. I'm currently getting my 42 ready for a 3000+ mile road trip across Europe from the UK through France to Spain and Portugal. I'd like to share with you guys if I may my last two road trips in my 57 Chevy 210 sedan. The photobucket links cover the purchase, prep and drive from Turkey across Europe back to the UK, for our second European trip you will need to trawl back a little to see the video clips and photos. The 57 was fitted with a stovebolt six and three on the tree and to be honest rating only 20bhp more than my flathead (when it left the factory) could be considered a very similar proposition. With your permission I'd like to share with you the links to my Facebook group (which is now covering the jobs on the Chrysler and will cover our road trip hopefully later this year) and to save you trawling back through two years worth of posts I include links to the original two part photobucket story which is at least in chronological order. Clearly I am currently trying to think of a new name for the group. I do hope you enjoy this, you'll need some time to relax and go through it as there is a lot! We met people and were given access to some small car collections so there are some interesting cars on offer too. As for preparation and modification I find there is none better than constant use. I will be inspecting the important stuff obviously and replace weak parts as required. The one thing I'm planning on doing is a 700R4 conversion in the next month or so. Other than that some servicing and greasing adding an electric fan and constant use there'll be little that I will disturb.

From Turkey to Great Britain in a 1957 Chevy and beyond. (Name has now been changed to Fat Fender Ramblings)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/183241371857389/

Photobucket in two parts

http://s652.photobucket.com/user/traveller816/story/16965

http://s652.photobucket.com/user/traveller816/story/15391

Edited February 25, 2016 by traveller816

[55 Fargo]

Here is something that will intrigue as it has me and many others on this forum,

 

http://p15-d24.com/topic/21640-the-great-hershey-road-trip-begins/page-2?hl=bamford#entry209470

 

http://p15-d24.com/topic/23867-bamfords-returnget-together-in-elko/?hl=bamford

 

http://p15-d24.com/topic/24096-the-long-road-home-part-ii/page-9?hl=bamford#entry238805

 

http://p15-d24.com/topic/28444-arctic-adventure/?hl=arctic

[traveller816]

Fantastic! I'm going to have to settle down one evening this weekend and have a good read.

[james curl]

In 2007 a friend and myself drove my 48 4 door from Georgetown, Texas to Reno for Hot August Nights, then on to Grass Valley, Auburn and Placerville Ca to see friends, from there to Wendover Utah and the Bonneville salt flats for Speed Week.  From there across Wyoming to Cheyenne then down  I-25 to El Paso Texas to visit my brother , from there on I-10  to Us 290 and Texas 29 home to Georgetown.  4800 miles total without any problems except my new ,new port engineering, windshield wipers would not turn off after use.  Had to pull the hot wire to stop it every time we had to use the wipers.  I built the engine before leaving and made the mistake of not believing the manual on the initial advance, set it at 10 degrees thinking that it would not have any vacuum advance at highway speeds.  After returning home with a click in the engine I could not locate and on "Blue Skies" recommendation I pulled the pan and discovered that I had extruded the piston pin bushings from too much advance.  After rebuilding the upper end I checked the vacuum at 60 mph with a tee in the vacuum advance line and was still pulling 14 inches of vacuum.  That translates to 14 to 18 degrees crankshaft for 14 inches of vacuum added to 18 to 20 degrees centrifugal  plus the 10 degrees initial is at the smallest advance of 42 degrees before TDC which is too much advance for high speed long distance driving.

Edited February 25, 2016 by james curl

[mlozier76]

 I have three trips I am shooting for this year, which for me starts next Wednesday in a trip from Lewiston, ID to Portland, OR for the Portland Swap Meet.  Its not quite 500 miles one way, but is at a minimum 686 mi round trip.  The next two trips are to Montana, at 434 round trip (Missoula) and 484 round trip (Libby),respectively, during the summer with the car club I'm in.  I look forward to all the time in the 48, and will only slightly miss my satellite radio in my newer cars, as the road noise,rattles and smells of a bygone era replace my yearning for talk radio LOL .  The trip to Portland will be solo after work, so I'm hopeful that she acts like the gem that she's been so far.  I will hopefully be able to score some nice things at the swap meet for both the Dodge and my recently acquired Studebaker. 

Edited March 22, 2016 by mlozier76

[Don Jordan]

Every year I drive from LA to Sacramento for the state fair.  Then I drive to the bay area (home).  Then back to LA.  It's about 1,000 miles.  About 4 years ago I wanted to take the Plymouth.  My wife wouldn't go.  She said going 55 with no AC in the middle of summer was not her idea of a good time.  She has missed the last four state fairs.

 

No problems.  A minor problem - there are no cup holders.

 

this is a picture at the Golden Gate National Cemetery just outside San Francisco 

 

[dpollo]

......... Portland, OR for the Portland Swap Meet.  Its not quite 500 miles one way, but is at a minimum 686 mi round trip.  The next two trips are to Montana, at 434 round trip (Missoula) and 484 round trip (Libby)

I too will be heading for Portland but in my wife's Dodge Journey.  I have done this trip several times in my 51 Plymouth and in my 50 Plymouth and also in a friend's D 25 Dodge.  On another trip in my 51 Ply. (1990)  I encountered some pretty rough road between Kalispel (spelling ?) and Libby .   I wish I had taken a picture of the Flathead Co. sign.

[mlozier76]

I too will be heading for Portland but in my wife's Dodge Journey.  I have done this trip several times in my 51 Plymouth and in my 50 Plymouth and also in a friend's D 25 Dodge.  On another trip in my 51 Ply. (1990)  I encountered some pretty rough road between Kalispel (spelling ?) and Libby .   I wish I had taken a picture of the Flathead Co. sign.

Hmm... Flathead lake area.... Sounds like a good trip for another year for those of us with flatheads.  Wonder if they do a gathering of like minded car owners around there.  We are going to Ignite The Nights, or at least we plan to.  There is nothing better than a bunch of car aficianados (or in our case Hot Rodders and Jalopy Junkies) cruising through the mountain passes in our rumbly old cars, that we love to flaunt.

Edited March 23, 2016 by mlozier76

[HotRodTractor]

I'm slowly piling up the parts to build a 265 Chrysler powered 1928 Model A Roadster pickup with the main intent of driving Route 66. In fact I am cleaning out the shop and selling off old junk and projects right now with the intent of going from a pile of parts to a drive-able machine before this time next year which is doable, but quite the goal since I am starting with bare '32 frame rails and building it up from there. I imagine it will take me another year after its in drive-able condition to have enough kinks cleaned up and have it presentable enough to make the long journey from central Ohio to Santa Barbara and back. I'm sure a few shake down runs in the 500-600 mile range will happen before the epic journey as well.