First extended trip (long)
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Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 1,228
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From: lancaster ma
First extended trip (long)
I took the car on its first extended cruise today. The ride to my dad’s camp on the lake is about 120 mi. Replacing the power steering controller has done a lot for the handling and I am finally confident enough to wander far from home. I took a box of tools, Oil and a gallon of water. As I have never taken an extended highway run I decided to break up the route taking back roads to Palmer and then the Mass Pike to Westfield. From there it is a long flat stretch on rt 20 to rt 23 into the mountains. This starts with a 5 mile climb to Blanford with lots of twists and turns. The road then goes up and down, twisting and turning like a roller coaster to the lake in Otis.
The first part of the trip was back roads which were full of Sunday drivers. Nice roads, but way too slow. I did see lots of vettes and got waves from some C5 guys. The highway ride went pretty well. I have had a vibration above 75 mph which comes and goes that I wanted to troubleshoot. Bringing it up to speed I can see the mirror vibrating so it is present. I needed a pit stop and went to the first pike rest area. With that done I got back on the pike. Nailing the car it got up to 85 with no vibration. The rest of the pike ride was smooth sailing varying speeds from 70 to 85 or so for passing. The car ran cool and handled well at high speed.
The mountain road was awesome. I am used to taking this trip with the family car loaded with people and equipment. The vette climbed easily in fourth gear and handled the hard curves like a champ. This is deep forest country and you cannot see around the corners so speeds are kept to under fifty. Needless to say I arrived at my destination with a big :) on my face.
For the ride home I decided to take a longer highway run up 91 to Greenfield and back rt 2. This gives me a long highway ride broken by a 2 lane state road which then opens back up to a divided highway for the home stretch. The mountain was just as much fun in the other direction. I stopped for gas on the other side. The station soon filled with vans full of camp kids. Everyone checked out the car and the boys stopped in their tracks and gave me a big thumbs up.
Taking the pike for 1 exit the vibration was back. I paid my toll and got on 91 winding it up for the merge the vibration was now gone. At first I thought the carb might be loading up the engine but now I am thinking the thermostat (if there is one) is keeping things too cool. At the end of the 2 lane stretch the vibration was back. 5 minutes at 70 and it was gone. The grommets on my valve covers are sloppy (I think the fit aluminum covers) and the covers may be leaking. I can smell oil occasionally after fast runs as it burns on the manifolds. I saw 3 vettes on this road and got a big whoop from a passing pickup truck with 2 rice rockets in the back.
It was a great ride and spending 5 hours in the car driving under varied conditions taught me a lot about it.
To do list from my trip
Steering: Almost there. I tightened the steering box a little and have much more control over the car. I had a few scary recoveries from bumps before doing this. I was real conservative in the first adjustment and think a hair more is needed.
Valve covers: Get some proper fitting grommets and check for leaks.
Carb: Check the Choke. Is it coming off properly or waiting for the engine to get hot at high speed?
Thermostat and temp gauge:” The temp gauge reads the same all the time and needs to be fixed so I can see what is going on. I will need to check the thermostat and see if there even is one.
Radio: Useless. The car had a big amp and boom box before. The rear speakers look to be pretty shot and it may not be wired correctly 25 watts should be plenty in these close confines. A radio would have been nice on the long highway ride.
:cheers:
The first part of the trip was back roads which were full of Sunday drivers. Nice roads, but way too slow. I did see lots of vettes and got waves from some C5 guys. The highway ride went pretty well. I have had a vibration above 75 mph which comes and goes that I wanted to troubleshoot. Bringing it up to speed I can see the mirror vibrating so it is present. I needed a pit stop and went to the first pike rest area. With that done I got back on the pike. Nailing the car it got up to 85 with no vibration. The rest of the pike ride was smooth sailing varying speeds from 70 to 85 or so for passing. The car ran cool and handled well at high speed.
The mountain road was awesome. I am used to taking this trip with the family car loaded with people and equipment. The vette climbed easily in fourth gear and handled the hard curves like a champ. This is deep forest country and you cannot see around the corners so speeds are kept to under fifty. Needless to say I arrived at my destination with a big :) on my face.
For the ride home I decided to take a longer highway run up 91 to Greenfield and back rt 2. This gives me a long highway ride broken by a 2 lane state road which then opens back up to a divided highway for the home stretch. The mountain was just as much fun in the other direction. I stopped for gas on the other side. The station soon filled with vans full of camp kids. Everyone checked out the car and the boys stopped in their tracks and gave me a big thumbs up.
Taking the pike for 1 exit the vibration was back. I paid my toll and got on 91 winding it up for the merge the vibration was now gone. At first I thought the carb might be loading up the engine but now I am thinking the thermostat (if there is one) is keeping things too cool. At the end of the 2 lane stretch the vibration was back. 5 minutes at 70 and it was gone. The grommets on my valve covers are sloppy (I think the fit aluminum covers) and the covers may be leaking. I can smell oil occasionally after fast runs as it burns on the manifolds. I saw 3 vettes on this road and got a big whoop from a passing pickup truck with 2 rice rockets in the back.
It was a great ride and spending 5 hours in the car driving under varied conditions taught me a lot about it.
To do list from my trip
Steering: Almost there. I tightened the steering box a little and have much more control over the car. I had a few scary recoveries from bumps before doing this. I was real conservative in the first adjustment and think a hair more is needed.
Valve covers: Get some proper fitting grommets and check for leaks.
Carb: Check the Choke. Is it coming off properly or waiting for the engine to get hot at high speed?
Thermostat and temp gauge:” The temp gauge reads the same all the time and needs to be fixed so I can see what is going on. I will need to check the thermostat and see if there even is one.
Radio: Useless. The car had a big amp and boom box before. The rear speakers look to be pretty shot and it may not be wired correctly 25 watts should be plenty in these close confines. A radio would have been nice on the long highway ride.
:cheers:
