As a complete novice when it comes to engines but not afraid to work with my hands I decided to jump in head first.
It's been 8 months since I purchased this beast of a vehicle.
Since then I have been learning all I can about these machines from this forum and been visiting Jim K quite frequently.
It's my first car and home so what better way to learn about what's it all about then going on a 3,000 mile road trip from San Fransisco to the tip of
Baja California.
I was really impressed on how well the GMC handles on mountain roads. We drove all of highway 1 with no issues. We made it to Mexico and across
highway 3 with out incident.
The next morning the engine failed to start. Luckily we were in a town full of mechanics so I had one teach me how to get her purring again. It was a
lesson in tuning a carburetor which I was very grateful for finally learning on how to do properly. Iv'e been considering going EFI but now I think I
can live with a carburetor after learning my way around it.
The next leg of the trip was onto highway 5. I did very little research on this trip and apparently highway 5 was completely washed out due to the
last hurricane season in October. This meant we were off roading for the next 90 mile stretch. The roads we super rocky and the detours to get around
collapsed bridges proved to be difficult to pass. One of the hills took three tries to get over. After 11 hours of choosing our lines carefully and
hoping not to fall off a cliff we finally make it to a paved road at 2am on New Years day.
The next days were very mild compared to those 11 hours. We stayed with my in laws for the next couple of days.
The day I had planned to head back up the coast the engine water light came on when I tried to start her up. Sure enough the radiator had developed a
leak. I spent the next couple of hours looking for a shop willing to get this fixed overnight so I can head out by Monday. Luckily we found someone
with the right tools and willingness to get the job done. 100 dollars and a bottle of tequlia later I was back on the road.
Made it all the way back to San Francisco in 22 hours with out a problem.
http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/data/7197/IMG_00234.jpg
http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/data/7197/medium/IMG_00312.jpg
http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/data/7197/IMG_00332.jpg
--
Angel Rodriguez
San Jose, CA
1978 23' Birchhaven
It's been 8 months since I purchased this beast of a vehicle.
Since then I have been learning all I can about these machines from this forum and been visiting Jim K quite frequently.
It's my first car and home so what better way to learn about what's it all about then going on a 3,000 mile road trip from San Fransisco to the tip of
Baja California.
I was really impressed on how well the GMC handles on mountain roads. We drove all of highway 1 with no issues. We made it to Mexico and across
highway 3 with out incident.
The next morning the engine failed to start. Luckily we were in a town full of mechanics so I had one teach me how to get her purring again. It was a
lesson in tuning a carburetor which I was very grateful for finally learning on how to do properly. Iv'e been considering going EFI but now I think I
can live with a carburetor after learning my way around it.
The next leg of the trip was onto highway 5. I did very little research on this trip and apparently highway 5 was completely washed out due to the
last hurricane season in October. This meant we were off roading for the next 90 mile stretch. The roads we super rocky and the detours to get around
collapsed bridges proved to be difficult to pass. One of the hills took three tries to get over. After 11 hours of choosing our lines carefully and
hoping not to fall off a cliff we finally make it to a paved road at 2am on New Years day.
The next days were very mild compared to those 11 hours. We stayed with my in laws for the next couple of days.
The day I had planned to head back up the coast the engine water light came on when I tried to start her up. Sure enough the radiator had developed a
leak. I spent the next couple of hours looking for a shop willing to get this fixed overnight so I can head out by Monday. Luckily we found someone
with the right tools and willingness to get the job done. 100 dollars and a bottle of tequlia later I was back on the road.
Made it all the way back to San Francisco in 22 hours with out a problem.
http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/data/7197/IMG_00234.jpg
http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/data/7197/medium/IMG_00312.jpg
http://www.gmcmhphotos.com/photos/data/7197/IMG_00332.jpg
--
Angel Rodriguez
San Jose, CA
1978 23' Birchhaven
