"You guys that live in flat country have not a clue to the GMC's
requirements for climbing grades. You can cover 6 states in a day and not
break a sweat.
Try running the Tehachapi grade out of either California or
Arizona/Nevada, or the Grapevine coming North out of Los Angeles on
Interstate 5, or the Siskiyou summit a bit farther North. You will run out
of gears pretty darn quickly. I have a heavy 78 Royale with a 403 and 3:70
final drive, and it works really well. And I run it at 70 mph + most of the
time. 3400 rpm and that 403 is a happy camper. Over 130,000 miles on an
unmolested engine. Works for me.
Jim Hupy"
A question for you Mr. Hupy, et.al.
I bought my '73 in 1995 with 140K indicated miles. The PO had oversize tires on it so I think that's probably an underestimate. The engine, to my
knowledge, has never been opened up. I have given it regular oil changes with Mobile 1, new water pump and timing chain, Thorley headers, new
quadrajet from Paterson, new Pertronix, fuel and vacuum hoses, and a 4.70 final. I tend to drive her easy, cruising at 65 mostly, up to 80 only when I
have to. Oil pressure settles a bit with warmup but the stock sender/guage are still quite lively, even at hot idle. I have not done a compression
test. I'm guessing I've put around 2K miles annually on it since '95 which puts its current mileage around 200K. That's a guess for a lot of reasons,
but probably about right.
I have not done a search to find out if this topic has been answered, but I think engine longevity may be somewhat a moving target with old
hardware/modern fluids and newer opinions valuable. Is "drive it till it dies" a good idea? I was incredibly fortunate to be close to Larry Weidner
for a transmission failure, I can't expect such luck going forward. Any wisdom?
Doug Smith
--
Douglas & Virginia Smith
dsmithy18 at gmail
Lincoln Nebraska
’73 “Canyonlands” since ‘95: "Wanabizo";
Quadrabag/6 wheel disks/3:70 final/Paterson QuadraJet/Thorley’s/Alloy wheels(finally!)/Sundry other
requirements for climbing grades. You can cover 6 states in a day and not
break a sweat.
Try running the Tehachapi grade out of either California or
Arizona/Nevada, or the Grapevine coming North out of Los Angeles on
Interstate 5, or the Siskiyou summit a bit farther North. You will run out
of gears pretty darn quickly. I have a heavy 78 Royale with a 403 and 3:70
final drive, and it works really well. And I run it at 70 mph + most of the
time. 3400 rpm and that 403 is a happy camper. Over 130,000 miles on an
unmolested engine. Works for me.
Jim Hupy"
A question for you Mr. Hupy, et.al.
I bought my '73 in 1995 with 140K indicated miles. The PO had oversize tires on it so I think that's probably an underestimate. The engine, to my
knowledge, has never been opened up. I have given it regular oil changes with Mobile 1, new water pump and timing chain, Thorley headers, new
quadrajet from Paterson, new Pertronix, fuel and vacuum hoses, and a 4.70 final. I tend to drive her easy, cruising at 65 mostly, up to 80 only when I
have to. Oil pressure settles a bit with warmup but the stock sender/guage are still quite lively, even at hot idle. I have not done a compression
test. I'm guessing I've put around 2K miles annually on it since '95 which puts its current mileage around 200K. That's a guess for a lot of reasons,
but probably about right.
I have not done a search to find out if this topic has been answered, but I think engine longevity may be somewhat a moving target with old
hardware/modern fluids and newer opinions valuable. Is "drive it till it dies" a good idea? I was incredibly fortunate to be close to Larry Weidner
for a transmission failure, I can't expect such luck going forward. Any wisdom?
Doug Smith
--
Douglas & Virginia Smith
dsmithy18 at gmail
Lincoln Nebraska
’73 “Canyonlands” since ‘95: "Wanabizo";
Quadrabag/6 wheel disks/3:70 final/Paterson QuadraJet/Thorley’s/Alloy wheels(finally!)/Sundry other
