Re: [FWDLK] Happy motoring
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Re: [FWDLK] Happy motoring



In a message dated 99-10-28 21:35:32 EDT, you write:

<<  [email protected] >>
I thought I'd throw my $.02 in since I've actually driven my '57 Dodge d500
cross country.  In fact I'm doing it a second time right now!
I would bring a good supply of tools,water and a case of oil (my car uses a
quart at every fill-up (250-300 miles)).  Maybe some extra wire and duct
tape.  That's about it.  You cannot predict what will break, nor can you
bring a spare for EvERYTHING!
Most of the time, if something goes wrong, you can limp to the nearest K-Mart
and buy something to rig up a fix.  That's what I did a few times.
Here's what happened (is happening) on my trip.  I drove from Georgia (where
I bought the car after it had sat for at least a decade!) to Grand Teton
National Park, WY.
About 350 miles from GA the transmission gave out.  THere was nothing I could
do about  it but to have it rebuilt.  This cost an arm and a leg and a week.
After that, things got a little better.  The whole trip, my car ran extremely
hot.  Especially if I drove over 60 MPH or up any hills.  Nothing I could do
about that either (tried a new thermostat and flushing the radiator, etc.)  I
just soldiered on.
THe next thing to happen (around Memphis TN) was my generator stopped
working.  I polorized it a few times and it finally started working again and
hasn't quit again since!  (knock on wood)
I made it from there to about the NM border when I did something stupid and
hit the nuetral button by accident instead of Drive.  Although I only hit the
button for an instance the statrter would not disengage after that and it
fried the starter gear.  The next time I stopped for gas, the car wouldn't
start again.  I called AAA and got a push start and drove to Albuquerque
without shutting off the motor.  Luckily my sister lived in Alb. and she
drove me to a starter/generator shop in town where they had a starter gear in
stock.
On my way north, at about the border between NM and Colorado, My radiator
blew out.  I had enough water to limp to a K-Mart and bought some epoxy for
the radiator.  I let it set up over night, but it really didn't hold very
well.  I drove pretty slow and stopped for water alot, when after Colorado
Springs, I spotted a hardware store off the highway.  I bought a propane
torch (about 15$) and some solder and soldered the radiator myself.  It
wasn't pretty, but it got me to Wyoming.
Now I am on my way back and am in Alb. again at my sisters' place.  The only
problem I've had is that a wire broke off of the starter switch (behind the
nuetral button).  I just went to K-mart last night to buy a soldering iron so
I can solder the wire back on.  Can you beleive the entire wire harness is
soldered together WITHOUT any (many) connectors!  What a pain in the butt to
fix things this way!  I can't pull the push button assembly out to fix the
switch without cutting all the wires and then soldering them back together!
No parts that I could have reasonably thought to bring would have helped me.
You just have to deal with problems as the pop up.
Anyway, I don't mean to be discouraging, but it was an adventure!
Have fun,
Tom



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