Attended the GMC Classics rally on the Texas coast, 925 miles round
trip. Departed N of Dallas about 5 am to try to beat rush hour going
through Dallas and I guess that was a success since it wasn't quite
stop and go yet. First time with toad Cavalier, 4 feet on the ground.
The dash air managed about 85 or so degrees with a curtain behind us.
High temp on the coast was about 94 with a great sea breeze off the
Gulf compared to 102 in Dallas. Had some good tech presentations
including a 1-part UV cure fiberglass repair. Great seafood dinner.
Met a couple of other fairly new owners, so a lot in common. Also a
pleasure to finally meet Justin Hill and see some of his coach goodies.
Visited the USS Lexington WWII carrier at Corpus Christi. Great tour
of this historic ship. It had taken a torpedo and a Kamakasi on duty
tours.
Excitment began on trip back when the power steering went out about
half way to San Antonio as we pulled into a rest stop. Return hose
came off the pipe (my fault for not getting tight enough). Easy, just
poor some more fluid into the pump. Nope, fluid just ran out the
shaft. Tried to wave the repair manual at a couple of GMCs on the
highway but a little too far away. After cogitating for an hour on
where to get a replacement, how to get the pulley off, let the engine
cool down and wondering why I left the GMCI parts list at home, then an
angel appeared.
Yep, a GMC rolled into the rest stop. Door opened and out stepped Ken
Thoma. Was this devine? He was actually had a spare power steering
pump with pulley and bracket attached from a previous trip to Alaska
and had only stopped because his windshield got dirty. I owe him more
than a pump.
Well about 2:30 pm back on the road. Out of Dallas about 20 miles, the
alternator died. The TBI pump stutters at about 9 volts. Disconnected
the alternator and used the gen set to aid in getting home about 2:30
Monday AM. Then to work Monday (yuk).
Managed 5.9 miles per gallon gas. Ran gen set about 16 hours and even
with Rick's estimate of gal/hr, that's still only 6.3 mpg. With toad
and 3.07 drive, is this norm? Perhaps get Duane's recommended vacuum
advance part for the HEI?
Got 285 miles per quart of oil (synthetic). Engine about 19K on
overhaul. Should I have not gone to synthetic?
Onan did fine, no oil. Fridge did OK while it was air conditioned
inside. Brakes real marginal with toad. Definitely going to work on
dash air and keep going to church so another angel will appear when
needed.
Bill
'74 Glacier (Wife was not impressed with all this)
_____________________________________________________________
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trip. Departed N of Dallas about 5 am to try to beat rush hour going
through Dallas and I guess that was a success since it wasn't quite
stop and go yet. First time with toad Cavalier, 4 feet on the ground.
The dash air managed about 85 or so degrees with a curtain behind us.
High temp on the coast was about 94 with a great sea breeze off the
Gulf compared to 102 in Dallas. Had some good tech presentations
including a 1-part UV cure fiberglass repair. Great seafood dinner.
Met a couple of other fairly new owners, so a lot in common. Also a
pleasure to finally meet Justin Hill and see some of his coach goodies.
Visited the USS Lexington WWII carrier at Corpus Christi. Great tour
of this historic ship. It had taken a torpedo and a Kamakasi on duty
tours.
Excitment began on trip back when the power steering went out about
half way to San Antonio as we pulled into a rest stop. Return hose
came off the pipe (my fault for not getting tight enough). Easy, just
poor some more fluid into the pump. Nope, fluid just ran out the
shaft. Tried to wave the repair manual at a couple of GMCs on the
highway but a little too far away. After cogitating for an hour on
where to get a replacement, how to get the pulley off, let the engine
cool down and wondering why I left the GMCI parts list at home, then an
angel appeared.
Yep, a GMC rolled into the rest stop. Door opened and out stepped Ken
Thoma. Was this devine? He was actually had a spare power steering
pump with pulley and bracket attached from a previous trip to Alaska
and had only stopped because his windshield got dirty. I owe him more
than a pump.
Well about 2:30 pm back on the road. Out of Dallas about 20 miles, the
alternator died. The TBI pump stutters at about 9 volts. Disconnected
the alternator and used the gen set to aid in getting home about 2:30
Monday AM. Then to work Monday (yuk).
Managed 5.9 miles per gallon gas. Ran gen set about 16 hours and even
with Rick's estimate of gal/hr, that's still only 6.3 mpg. With toad
and 3.07 drive, is this norm? Perhaps get Duane's recommended vacuum
advance part for the HEI?
Got 285 miles per quart of oil (synthetic). Engine about 19K on
overhaul. Should I have not gone to synthetic?
Onan did fine, no oil. Fridge did OK while it was air conditioned
inside. Brakes real marginal with toad. Definitely going to work on
dash air and keep going to church so another angel will appear when
needed.
Bill
'74 Glacier (Wife was not impressed with all this)
_____________________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Free instant messaging and more at http://messenger.yahoo.com
