Is anybody touring? I'm riding shotgun with a friend who has a red 1969 Firebird 400 Convertible. There are many more fgf's than I ever expected to see. In fact, Pontiacs are very well represented on the tour. We're going to Detroit tomorrow, but I have to head back to Green Bay Wednesday for my son's graduation. I'll post pictures later in the week.
Right on John...post pix for sure....I am looking forward to the Peach City Beach Cruise in 2 weeks (26th) Be leaving with a 64 Vette rag, and an El Camino to make the 210 mile run thru the mountains and orchards, likely tagging in with a host of other classics along the way....sure hope it is ragtop weather for both of us!
Well, we made it, but not without some adventure. My buddy must not have fully tightened his idler arm because it fell off while we were driving. This is some exciting stuff. We had the left wheel steering and the right wheel searching while we slowed to a stop on the side of a secondary road. At the time, we were not in a group of cars, but alone. We were stopped with the front wheels pointing different directions and the tie rod dug into the dirt. We had one bolt still installed the other bolt missing and both nuts were gone. We were able to reposition the (fortunately unbent) steering assembly back into position. We took a nut off of one of the lower front bumper bolts to fasten the idler arm to the frame. Meanwhile an old man had stopped to help us. He went home and returned with three nut and bolt combinations and fortunately one fit. Our next option would have been to pull an exhaust manifold bolt and another bumper bolt nut. The next morning we got new - proper nuts and bolts for the idler arm and we were fine. The alignment was not apparently affected. So, how's that for near-death experiences?
A few days later we were stuck with carburetor problems. We ran great on the highway but we could barely idle when we stopped. At the Detroit stop we looked all over for the Motor Medics that were on the tour. We stopped at the Pypes tent hoping for some help from the Performance Years guys. No luck. We happened to be parked next to a Camaro club. Some of the young Camaro guys came over and tuned my friend's Quadrajet better than it has run in the 28 years that he's had the car. They just happened to have a wide-band oxygen sensor with them.
Driving new cars on trips, I am accustomed to 300 miles between pee and gas stops. In the old cars with small tanks and 12.5 MPG, you go 150 miles and it's, "Oh my God, I need gas and I need it now!" We got more like 14 MPG on secondary roads, but at 70 MPH on the expressway it was 12.5. What really ticked me off is that sometimes we were so close to empty we had to buy gas from Hugo Chavez (Citgo).
Even the Camaro guys commented that there were an abundance of FGF's. It was fantastic. I will no longer be such a pussy about taking my car on a long trip. My friend's 400 Convertible was great, but I wished I had my car the whole time.
in 1968 I had bought a $200 car in Sweden , a 58 Morris Minor....a friend and I drove it to Italy...on Autobahn in Germany doing 85 mph (top speed) I noticed ,or thought I noticed the spokes in the steering whhel being off...as I had only owned it a week, I wasnt sure...asked my buddy ,he hadnt noticed.. drove a little further ,passed a few 18 wheelers...looked down , NOW IT HAD MOVED!spokes now moved another 30 degrees , car still going forward! of course its pretty woobly ,the steering wheel...being old I stop, pull on left wheel up front..it moved about 3/8" in out when you pull at the top ...hmmm , wonder if something is wrong? lets see other side...same thing, so I figure, 'what the heck, its just old and worn, lets go'
start up, get it in first , shift to secoind , and at that time the whole A frame on the pass side falls off! 4 bolts hold it in place, 2 weere missing , one broken off , one was still there , loose ,worn....we manage to stick that bolt back in the hole , push it in with my THUMB! then we drive carefully to the next village ,where we find a guy sitting on his front stoop , on a sunday...he tells us to have it fixed asap , but gives us 3 oversized bolts that he installs (guy is a mechanic), gives us 3 extra ,"just in case"...and wer`e on our way again....every 1/2 now we stop, check the bolts if they are tight...they are....so we keep going...now we check every hour ,then every two...we go thru the Alps, up and then down in to Italy...we keep cruising.. we come to Bologna, in the middle of town , the darn A frame falls off again! we tightened it back up...checked it every so often , and 3 weeks later, after going to Rome,Genua, Marseille, Barcelona, then via Paris ,back to Sweden....
not the only mishap we had with that car on that trip (tranny went out in Rome, electrical for int lights went out in Anzio, we got a jerking in the car that we ,nor other mechanuics could fix ,we stopped at 3 places, still did it as we came home) , but ea has its own story! last part is when we get to Sweden we get stopped by the police ,for "on the road inspection" (they do that there)...we were handed a failed inspection, cop said we didnt have brakes...car was still rolling as he had the pedal all the way down! I told him it works fine if you pump the brakes...he said thats illegal...and gave us a big red X stuck to the w/s...said the car couldnt be towed ,had to be lifted away...so I saiud , please let us go, we only have 5 more hoiurs to get to stockholm ,and I know how to use those brakes, we went over the alps with them like that! he saaid "when?" i tell him 3 weeks ago...so he says , "you`ve know about it for that long?" yes...so he gives us another ticket for knowing...LOL
walked back to the next village traded the car insight unsen...got a 58 MB 180....that ceased after 3 hrs...another story!
Sounds like you had a blast John! I've had a few of those "minor inconviences" myself. Had the rear axle come apart and spin out the side of the truck on a brand new S10 Blazer with only 200 miles on it!
-=>Lee<=- Due to budget constraints the "light at the end of the tunnel" has been turned off!
Yikes, thats scary! I had a tie rod go once on a corner, rolled the car about a dozen times down an embankment, and thanks to NO seatbelt lived (only minor cuts) The steering column went thru the drivers seat. The centrifigal force stuck me on the passenger side.
Looks like a good run you had all things aside....nothing like a good roadside fix too!
glad you were able to rig the steering up so you could finish your tour.that is scary.i once had my hood pop up 8 inches when i was going over a bridge going 120mph.
Who's Paul Knapp? I liked Jared's aluminum Ralley II's.
There was one '68 that was a color close to Autumn Bronze. It had a 428 and 3 Demon 2 barrels. It was overall the most impressive FGF on the tour. Sorry I didn't get a pic.
Yes, Jared's after market wheels are nice, keeping in theme with the Rally II's. Paul's 'bird is a Vedoro Green '68... I believe. He's from Columbus as well. Been a while since I've seen him. He pinged Jared an I about the Tour. I was hoping to make a few of the stops. But I screwed up on my new work vacation schedule.
