mountainears

I fly out next week for our delivery and then long drive back to California.

Curious, from others that have been through this, anything you would have done different. Something you might have brought, or might not have brought with you?

I think I have things pretty well lined up, but figured I'd check with the experience of this group!

Ken

Duck Hunter

The only thing I would have done differently with my Museum Delivery is to take the time slot starting early in the day (8:00am?), instead of the later one at 10:00. Ran out of time to see everything, was the last one to get their car at the end of the day! Almost closed the doors on me!

mschuyler

What route are you going to take home? The weather may force you south. I'll be there first week of April, and even then I'm hesitant to take I-90 west. I was in a snowstorm in May on I-90 one year. So you still need to get past the Rockies one way or another.

mpuzach

Have you been to the museum before? If not, I highly recommend taking a credit card with lots of room on it! The museum has a great store with tons of great Corvette stuff, including but by no means limited to apparel. At the very minimum you'll want to pick up a cap. Even after being there many times, I never get out without buying a couple of shirts and a jacket.

64drvr

Is this a dry sump car?

First, I would not take the car to a dealer for the 500 mile oil service if they are not willing to add 9 quarts, check the dipstick correctly, then add as required.

Agree with taking the early tour.

If you are renting a car through enterprise, the museum has a dropoff area. I chose to purchase the loss damage waiver and not have to worry about the car after we left the museum.

congrats. the museum delivery was well worth it.

mountainears

Answering several of the folks in one post back.

We are scheduled for 7:45 AM. When someone asks me this question a while from now my regret is going to be not planning enough time for the trip, but we are limited due to work and other constraints, we weren't planning this trip since we won the car so that puts us at a disadvantage from the start.

It is a dry sump car (we won the Collectors Edition GS they were giving away) so we'll be stopping in Little Rock AK to get the oil change. We're planning on making that trip the first day! It's just over a 6 hour drive with no stops, so we're not going to be able to stay really late at the museum, which is a real bummer. At the very latest, we'll need to leave by 3 PM and that's after giving me about 45 minutes time to put some Xpel trackwrap on the car for the way home. Gonna be a real long day.

From there we'll go roughly along route 66, I40, have a few places we're going to drive by but trying to avoid severe weather. Right now it is looking good, will probably catch some light rain but I'm OK with that.

We'll leave Little Rock Friday after the service and be back in California (Gold Country area) Monday evening. Lots of miles to cover in a short time!

Len44

^^^
Good advice, above. I would keep checking on weather. If you need to go further South, so what -- you'll be in a terrific car!
Also, you probably want to plot out where you do your first oil change, especially if you are getting a dry sump-equipped vehicle.
Museum delivery is a pretty neat experience, and I plan to do it for my next Vette as well.
Good luck, and enjoy th drive!

64drvr

I used the dealer you are probably planning to go to in little rock. They added 10qts and refused to correct it after i showed the dipstick overserviced. I had to drain myself after limping home to mitigate risk.

You may want to reconsider.

JoesC5

If I were you, I would drive down to Nashville on I-65, then drive the Natchez Trace Parkway south to I-20 in Jackson, MS.

Getting on I-40 and driving to Little Rock is not the best way to break in the car. Also I-40 in the high plains west of Oklahoma can get sudden snow. That's why they have all the swing gates to close off the Interstate at the exits. It can get very hairy trying to find a motel room when everyone else is trying to do the same, when they close the gates. Hard to crawl into the back seat to get some sleep, in your Corvette, if you can't get a room for the night(or two, or three).

Enjoy the relaxed drive on the NTP and then haul *** on I-20 after a good nights sleep in either Jackson or Vicksburg. Even if you leave Bowling Green with a full tank, top it off in Tupelo, MS before driving on to Jackson. It's 435 miles from Bowling Green to Jackson and 7.5 hours plus stops for potty breaks and lunch. Another 45 miles to Vicksburg.

Get the oil changed in Jackson, MS or Vicksburg, MS and then take I-20 west to I-10 in west Texas, to California.

BTW, the La Quinta Inn is a great place to stay in Bowling Green.

Driving I-20 vs I-40 does add another 330 miles to your trip(1/2 day) but you can make some time driving across Texas.

mountainears

We're going to try and stay committed to that route as there are some things we'd like to see, but we'll watch weather closely and adjust. If we have to steer more south we will, but time is a little bit of an issue.

And thanks folks for the advice on Little Rock, I'm going to call that dealer tomorrow and talk to the service people and try to be sure they fill per spec and not overfill the darn thing, I'll be pushy with them and hope that gets me what I need. You'd like to think it would be simple but now that I have some knowledge hopefully I can keep them in check.

mountainears

BTW, what's the concern about I-40 to Little Rock? Too much traffic to make it difficult for varied speeds?

Rooster OG

I drove mine home to Northern California from the museum a little over a year ago, you'll have a great time. It's an awesome road trip car, very comfortable. Enjoy!

Msbfdx

No problem with I-40 on variable speeds. Tends to be a fair amount of traffic. Also, there are two-three generations of drivers in Arkansas that only drive in the left lane. A couple of decades ago the truckers were told to use the left lane due to deteriorating road conditions, especially the right lane. By using the left lane it would help extend the life...it did, but taught way too many folks to drive in the left lane and pass on the right. The good news is they have done massive road repairs over the last 10+ years so I-40 is in respectable shape.

Cliff8928

With the early time you should be able to check out everything and be out by 3:00. I did the 10:00 and was out at 4:00.

Make sure your guest has a good camera with a full battery. You'll probably be too involved with things to think about getting some good memories of this experience!

Also, make sure you both have fully enclosed shoes for your plant tour!

The only thing I would've wanted different would be to pick it up in the summer!

ScottTz

Congrats on winning the GS. Also make sure you drive in the right lane on the interstate through Texas and New Mexico unless passing. I was pulled over in NM for cruising in the left lane on I-40and received a written warning. Safe journey back to Cali.

NSC5

If it is an A8 then drive it in manual mode for awhile to avoid AFM during initial break-in. Seriously consider routing yourself on some non-interstate roads for the first couple of hundred miles. New differentials generally get VERY hot during the first part of break-in and some slower and varied speeds are good for its health (and the rest of the powertrain).

I had the early slot in the museum and left just after lunch. My daughter and I did a self-guided tour of the museum the afternoon before because we had time to kill. It is hard to spend a lot of time looking at museum exhibits on the day you get the car

The museum delivery experience was great!

JoesC5

There is a lot more to breaking in the car besides seating the rings. Getting on the Interstate is not the best way to break in the transmission and especially the differential. As for I-40 road conditions, the last time I drove it, it wasn't too bad. You might want to consider driving US79 to Memphis, before getting on I-40.

If you get your oil changed in Little Rock at Bale Chevrolet, then I recommend staying at the Wingate by Wyndham, 1212 S Shackleford Rd. It's not to far from Bale Chevrolet. There are some decent restaurants on south Shackleford road.

Staying in Amarillo, I recommend the Comfort Inn on Soncy road on the west side of town. Recommend dinner at the Hoffbrau Steaks.

boxster99t

I took the early slot and got there earlier (7:45 AM)--plenty of time that way and no matter what don't let them rush you through the factory tour. They'll try but you can stop and look at stuff--enjoy it, it's your day and you paid $900 for the privilege. I took my girl friend, daughter and her husband as guests (you get 3 guests). It was fun and take lots of pictures of you and your crew. Great fun!

Widgeon5

about 45 minutes time to put some Xpel trackwrap on the car for the way home.a([/QUOTE]

45 minutes will barely get you started on a TracWrap job. It's a tedious process. I had planned the same thing, but changed my mind and used blue painter's tape for my 200-mile trip home. That was 1 1/2 hours' work. Then removed it immediately so the glue would not adhere. Then, because my Suntek shop appointment was not for 6 weeks, I applied TracWrap. That took 5-6 hours (my lift made it easier) and was anything but beautiful workmanship. Regarding the blue painter's tape, my trip home was in steady rain, and though it shredded a little here and there, nothing was left unprotected. I can't guarantee, but suspect you would be ok to use it for a long trip west. If necessary you could reapply/make repairs to it enroute. I special ordered the tape in 4-inch and 2-inch widths.

mountainears

Yea, this is one of my worries. I've committed to the trackwrap thing, I worked a deal with the vendor to do it and review it. I have one 6" x 40' roll to work with. He said the 6" stuff is easier to work with but I still do worry about how much time that will take. I'm feeling a little better though that some folks are saying they were done by noon or so after coming in early like we are talking, that may give me more time with this. I'll let folks know on this forum how it goes with the wrap.

What he is asking me to do with the roll I have is outlined in the image below that they doctored up. The installer I'm using wants me to do more than just these areas, but again, time is an issue and if I can get some protection rather than none I'm good.

Hard enough to convince my wife to help me with the trackwrap, there's no way she would allow the blue tape :-) Although it could look good with the Tension Blue stripes :-)