Maiden voyage roadworthiness check - recs please!

[meezy]

Good day to all.

 

After two years in Vietnam, I am returning to America. My car will have been freshly painted and waiting for me near Oneonta, NY to drive her to our new home near Tampa.

 

She has not started in two years. I would like professional help in going over her with a fine-toothed comb to make sure she's in the best possible condition for the 1500-mile drive south. Can anybody recommend a wise old crunchy mechanic in the Oneonta area?

 

Thank you and looking forward to your replies.

 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/DKSuFwUEYvn9BDnc8

Edited March 15, 2021 by meezy

[Sniper]

After sitting for two years I's be worried about the fuel system being gummed up.

 

Typical routine maintenance.  Oil change, tune up, fluid checks and go over the brakes is where I'd be.  Can't help on the mechanic though.

[knuckleharley]

6 minutes ago, Sniper said:

After sitting for two years I's be worried about the fuel system being gummed up.

 

Typical routine maintenance.  Oil change, tune up, fluid checks and go over the brakes is where I'd be.  Can't help on the mechanic though.

My very own first thought! You haven't recently been dropped on your head,have you?

[knuckleharley]

14 minutes ago, Sniper said:

After sitting for two years I's be worried about the fuel system being gummed up.

 

Typical routine maintenance.  Oil change, tune up, fluid checks and go over the brakes is where I'd be.  Can't help on the mechanic though.

If it were me,I would just buy a brand new repo gas tank for it. If it has been sitting two years,it is gummed up or rusty inside,maybe both,and you can buy an exact  replacement gas tank these days cheaper than you can pay a wrecker call,a motel room for a night or two,and the labor involved in having some local who knows he will never see you again if you make it out of town pull the tank,flush it out,and re-install it.

 

I would also completely flush and bleed the brakes as well as replace the battery.

 

Given the crap that is sold as tires these days,I think I would even replace all 4 tires with new ones. Tires build up a lot of heat after several hours of driving,and a little bit of safe beats all the "sorry" in the world.

 

It is MUCH safer,cheaper, and easier to do this sort of thing BEFORE you start off on a trip than while on the trip. Don't ask me how I know this to be true.

Edited March 15, 2021 by knuckleharley

[knuckleharley]

2 minutes ago, knuckleharley said:

If it were me,I would just buy a brand new repo gas tank for it. If it has been sitting two years,it is gummed up or rusty inside,maybe both,and you can buy an exact  replacement gas tank these days cheaper than you can pay a wrecker call,a motel room for a night or two,and the labor involved in having some local who knows he will never see you again if you make it out of town pull the tank,flush it out,and re-install it.

 

I would also completely flush and bleed the brakes as well as replace the battery.

 

Given the crap that is sold as tires these days,I think I would even replace all 4 tires with new ones. Tires build up a lot of heat after several hours of driving,and a little bit of safe beats all the "sorry" in the world.

 

It is MUCH safer,cheaper, and easier to do this sort of thing BEFORE you start off on a trip than while on the trip. Don't ask me how I know this to be true.

BTW,buy a new ZOOT Suit for the trip,and an appropriate dress for your lady to wear. If you are gonna do this,do it with style!

[DJK]

I would say the big question is, what was the condition of the vehicle 2 yrs. ago? Like the others mentioned, go over the basics for road worthiness or rent a trailer to get it there. I'm old and crunchy about 1.5 hrs. away from Oneonta and would be willing to look it over if you would be willing to come here.

[knuckleharley]

BTW,where were you working in VN?

 

I was "working" out of Kontum in 68 and 69. It's beautiful up in the mountains.

 

Here is a photo of me taken after coming home from "work".

Edited March 15, 2021 by knuckleharley

[meezy]

12 minutes ago, knuckleharley said:

If it were me,I would just buy a brand new repo gas tank for it. If it has been sitting two years,it is gummed up or rusty inside,maybe both,and you can buy an exact  replacement gas tank these days cheaper than you can pay a wrecker call,a motel room for a night or two,and the labor involved in having some local who knows he will never see you again if you make it out of town pull the tank,flush it out,and re-install it.

 

I would also completely flush and bleed the brakes as well as replace the battery.

 

Given the crap that is sold as tires these days,I think I would even replace all 4 tires with new ones. Tires build up a lot of heat after several hours of driving,and a little bit of safe beats all the "sorry" in the world.

 

It is MUCH safer,cheaper, and easier to do this sort of thing BEFORE you start off on a trip than while on the trip.

Hey - you know what they say about assuming.

I put fuel stabilizer in the tank before I left. It's my original tank, but had it cleaned and sealed a few years ago. Radiator was re-cored not long ago. Has a Pertronix in there and was running great when I left, so tuning's a moot point. My main concern - and reason for posting is, in fact, the brakes. I'd want somebody who has experience adjusting drum brakes like that. 

Edited March 15, 2021 by meezy

[meezy]

8 minutes ago, DJK said:

I would say the big question is, what was the condition of the vehicle 2 yrs. ago? Like the others mentioned, go over the basics for road worthiness or rent a trailer to get it there. I'm old and crunchy about 1.5 hrs. away from Oneonta and would be willing to look it over if you would be willing to come here.

It was in great shape. I'd taken it on 500+ mile road trips with no troubles. I don't believe the brakes are adjusted as well as they could be. She pulls to the left a bit when I brake. And, yessir - I certainly would entertain coming to have you look at it. Which direction from Oneonta? 

[meezy]

9 minutes ago, knuckleharley said:

BTW,where were you working in VN?

 

I was "working" out of Kontum in 68 and 69. It's beautiful up in the mountains.

Respect. It must have been hard to admire the natural beauty under those circumstances. I was up in Hanoi for 2020 teaching science at a private school. The pollution was pretty bad and so was the climate, in general. I moved down here to Saigon a few months ago. I can't believe how different, modern, and pleasant it is down here. The weather is amazing. It will be hard to leave, but honestly - and very few people can relate to this - my car being finished is a big part of my reason to return to the US.

[DJK]

2 minutes ago, meezy said:

It was in great shape. I'd taken it on 500+ mile road trips with no troubles. I don't believe the brakes are adjusted as well as they could be. She pulls to the left a bit when I brake. And, yessir - I certainly would entertain coming to have you look at it. Which direction from Oneonta? 

Down 88 to Rt17(86) between Binghamton and Elmira, NY

[meezy]

7 minutes ago, DJK said:

Down 88 to Rt17(86) between Binghamton and Elmira, NY

Well, now... that might just work out. I'm picking it up from a body shop in New Milford, PA and spending a few days with friends in Franklin. Care to be more specific - like with your zip code?

[DJK]

8 minutes ago, meezy said:

Well, now... that might just work out. I'm picking it up from a body shop in New Milford, PA and spending a few days with friends in Franklin. Care to be more specific - like with your zip code?

18837 I am 2 miles south of Rt17 at exit 62 Nichols,NY(13812)

Edited March 15, 2021 by DJK
update

[meezy]

6 minutes ago, DJK said:

18837 I am 2 miles south of Rt17 at exit 62 Nichols,NY

Nice - that's not too bad - 80 miles away from my buddy's house where I'll be staying for a few days. I'll keep this in mind and may be in touch as the time nears. Happy to pay whatever's fair. Thanks for offering.

[DJK]

1 minute ago, meezy said:

Nice - that's not too bad - 80 miles away from my buddy's house where I'll be staying for a few days. I'll keep this in mind and may be in touch as the time nears. Happy to pay whatever's fair. Thanks for offering.

I am retired, my mornings are usually free, but afternoons I bus 2 grandkids from school. Let me know.

[meezy]

8 minutes ago, DJK said:

I am retired, my mornings are usually free, but afternoons I bus 2 grandkids from school. Let me know.

I certainly will. Thanks again for offering. I don't think there's too much to be done and will be good to meet another old Mopar enthusiast.

[Sniper]

6 hours ago, meezy said:

so tuning's a moot point

 

Tuning is more than just timing.  The carb needs adjusting for the weather as well.  A vacuum gauge is your friend here.

 

A brief writeup with links to added info from my website.

 

http://www.yourolddad.com/tune-up

[Booger]

Thats a primo car. If it can keep up with freeway speeds, 65 or so why not? If youre rolling down I 95 you should be fine then I 4 to Tampa. Dont get anywhere near Atlanta and  I 75

[Booger]

What about the car train to Sanford Fl?

[greg g]

Do the trip like the roads were when it was designed Find US 15 SOUTH near Harrisburg, slow down and plan on doing  100 mile segments on the first day then 200, then when you run through full tank.17 gallons.  If the engine is decent you should get 15 to 17 mph.  It will probably take you a day longer but at least you won't be holding up the nuts down there who read the speed limit as 80, and you won't be surrounded by 18 wheelers.  Take your time enjoy the country and if you don't like stop and go through the cities, then jump on the interstate north of town tree or four exits the get off on the south side..  You will be able to drive 60 or so, stop when you need to and find services without waiting for triple A to show up with a flat bed.   If your oil pressure is good, the operating temp reasonable and the belt and hoses good shouldn't be a problem.  Used as designed they are capable and fairly comfortable long distance cars.

 

I would pull the front drums to check the state of the friction material, and there are no leaks from the wheel cylinders.  I wouldn't let any one under 70 screw with the adjustment.  They will almost for sure make any conditions or issues you have worse.  Infact, go to the resource section of this site and read up on the brakes twice or three times.

 

we went that way on our way from Syracuse to Charlotte years back and the drive through Virginia was scenic and very pleasant.  As you get into the Carolinas, look for 17 or 301.  As for Florida, you are on your own. I take no responsibility for anything south of Savana.

 

Also, an extra in line fuel filter in the line some where it is easy changed is a good thing.  You might want to buy an electric fuel pump and tools and clamps and some zip ties, to install it just for piece of mind.

 

We have about 15 trips of 500 plus miles on our 46. Have been delayed by a broken fan belt and a split metal fuel filter.  The seam split where the halves were joined. Gas mileage dropped from 18 to 15 before we noticed the leak at a fuel stop.

 

prepair, plan, then proceed.  Enjoy.

[meezy]

8 hours ago, michaelmarks697@yahoo.com said:

Thats a primo car. If it can keep up with freeway speeds, 65 or so why not? If youre rolling down I 95 you should be fine then I 4 to Tampa. Dont get anywhere near Atlanta and  I 75

Thank you. It does have an overdrive, so yeah - keeping up with modern traffic is no sweat. It has a nice C-4-Hercules-sounding drone at about 70mph. I take your point about avoiding Atlanta. Been there, done that, don't want to do it again. Worse traffic than anywhere else I've been besides LA.

[meezy]

6 hours ago, greg g said:

Do the trip like the roads were when it was designed Find US 15 SOUTH near Harrisburg, slow down and plan on doing  100 mile segments on the first day then 200, then when you run through full tank.17 gallons.  If the engine is decent you should get 15 to 17 mph.  It will probably take you a day longer but at least you won't be holding up the nuts down there who read the speed limit as 80, and you won't be surrounded by 18 wheelers.  Take your time enjoy the country and if you don't like stop and go through the cities, then jump on the interstate north of town tree or four exits the get off on the south side..  You will be able to drive 60 or so, stop when you need to and find services without waiting for triple A to show up with a flat bed.   If your oil pressure is good, the operating temp reasonable and the belt and hoses good shouldn't be a problem.  Used as designed they are capable and fairly comfortable long distance cars.

 

I would pull the front drums to check the state of the friction material, and there are no leaks from the wheel cylinders.  I wouldn't let any one under 70 screw with the adjustment.  They will almost for sure make any conditions or issues you have worse.  Infact, go to the resource section of this site and read up on the brakes twice or three times.

 

we went that way on our way from Syracuse to Charlotte years back and the drive through Virginia was scenic and very pleasant.  As you get into the Carolinas, look for 17 or 301.  As for Florida, you are on your own. I take no responsibility for anything south of Savana.

 

Also, an extra in line fuel filter in the line some where it is easy changed is a good thing.  You might want to buy an electric fuel pump and tools and clamps and some zip ties, to install it just for piece of mind.

 

We have about 15 trips of 500 plus miles on our 46. Have been delayed by a broken fan belt and a split metal fuel filter.  The seam split where the halves were joined. Gas mileage dropped from 18 to 15 before we noticed the leak at a fuel stop.

 

prepair, plan, then proceed.  Enjoy.

Thanks for the great info. I do plan on taking "alternative" routes. I don't want to do I-95. I do want to go through the Appalachians and maybe even Clingman's Dome in the Smokies.

All the wheel cylinders were all replaced just before I left two years ago. They have next to no miles on them. They should be fine. My only real concern, as stated in an earlier response, is the uneven wear on the brake linings due to my belief that they were not adjusted to equal settings on all wheels. Will definitely be replacing the belt and tires. 

 

Incidentally - you sound like a guy who might know - what's the highest RPMs you recommend to cruise at for a sustained period of time with my overdrive engaged (not sure if that matters or not). I have read that factory redline is between 36-3800RPM. 

For my vehicle, I'm at 60mph @ 3000RPM. 

[DJK]

Might want to check out the brake pdf under downloads, good info.

[Sam Buchanan]

Max continuous rpm is usually a function of maximum safe piston speed. As a general rule, 2500 ft/min is a good number to use for max piston speed. With my 218, piston speed of 2500 ft/min works out to 2548 rpm. This doesn't mean the engine can't be wound tighter on the highway, but doing so reduces the margins and and puts it in a corner of the performance envelope that most likely the Mopar engineers didn't like.

 

Here is a piston speed calculator:

 

http://www.hotrodmath.com/pistonspeed-calculator.php

 

You can them use final drive ratio and tire diameter to calculate road speed at 2500 ft/min piston speed:

 

https://spicerparts.com/calculators/transmission-ratio-rpm-calculator

 

And a tire calculator:

 

https://www.rimsntires.com/specspro.jsp

 

Have a good....relaxed.....trip! 

[greg g]

I asked my machinist the same question when I rebuilt my engine. Chrysler pulled peak hp on these at 3600 rpm, this fellow who had learned his trade in the late 40s and had applied it to old drag racing, roundy round and road racing engine builds told me that 80 to 85 percent of that factory peak rpm was a sustainable cruise rpm.  So once you get tires ( I am running modern tubeless radials from Walmart for ease of replaceability) on mine but have after market rims which are 1 inch wider than stock, you need to figure out the over all diameter and plug that in with your rear end ratio into the calculator to see what speed the 80 to 85 percent works out to.

 

Sam beat me to attaching the calculators both of them work well use 3.89 for rear gears in less you know it's a 4.11. It doesn't make much difference my speedo when indicating 65, which according to GPS was 62 over the road, with my tires 225 75 15 on the rear this worked out to 3280 rpm which was in the percentage envelop.  My self applied never exceed speed with 4.11 gears was 70.  There is really no use in taking them above 3600, the just make more noises and usually expensive ones.

 

Sam's piston speed calculator is a bit more conservative than my machinist so choose your comfort zone accordingly.  Most people are accustomed to today's sound proof cars with Windows up AC on engine just over 1500 rpm at 70mph.  These cars area lot noiser than modern stuff.soyou have fan noise, tire noise and wind noise which leads folks to think they are right on the edge of blowing up at 50. But they are not really that fragile, just keep your eye on oil pressure and coolant temp. Also watch your oil level but don't over fill.  Let it get down to add before you put more in and then area half quart instead of dumping in a full quart. You might find it's leaks less with the slightly lower oil level.

Edited March 16, 2021 by greg g