General TR Seeking good luck

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TexasKnucklehead

Jedi Knight

Offline

• Jun 21, 2014

• #1

My wife and I plan to hit the road again in our TR3. The plan is to wait until it cools down a little, towards evening or earlier if there is good cloud cover. We will be leaving Houston on Tuesday (June 24th, 2014) and hope to sleep during the warmest part of Wednesday in El Paso. We hope to be in L.A. before heavy traffic Thursday morning, and be in Sausalito for a wedding on Saturday. Sunday we drive to Oregon, on highway 1. Monday we plan to be in Home, Washington (just outside Seattle). At some point we will head back south, returning by the 6th, via Idaho.

If you happen to be on our planned route, and see me on the side of the road, please stop and introduce yourself. -or wish me luck.

Jer

 

M

mallard

Luke Skywalker

Offline

• Jun 21, 2014

• #2

Make sure you bring tons of water with you. Arizona will be having Excessive Heat Warnings this coming week, 110-112 degrees and no clouds. I'm not to far off the interstate, South East of Phoenix if you run into any trouble get in touch with me. PM me your contact information if you want, and I'll give you mine. Other than that, Good Luck and have a great trip.

 

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tdskip

Yoda

Offline

• Jun 22, 2014

• #3

I am near (more or less) LA so ping if you need help, food ideas, or want to complain about the traffic.

Keep us posted!

 

toysrrus

Yoda

Offline

• Jun 22, 2014

• #4

LOL Jer,

Your a bigger man than me! I would`nt do it especially thru the Arizona Heat & LA Traffic.

Happy Motoring Anyway.

Russ

 

NutmegCT

Great Pumpkin

Gold

Online

• Jun 22, 2014

• #5

Yeehaa - another road trip!

Best wishes all along the way, from a guy who drove 7300 miles from Connecticut to California and back.

If I can do it - YOU can do it! Team BCF will support you all along the way.

Best wishes! (and share photos if possible!)

Tom

 

CJD

Yoda

Offline

• Jun 22, 2014

• #6

Sounds like fun! Well, except for the I10 part. That's the hottest, longest drive in the country with little to see from SAT to PSP. From LA on the trip will be beautiful! One day to make it up Cali 1 will be difficult. The traffic (Sunday drivers) make progress very slow on that road.

I've done that route twice. Once in your direction, and once going the other direction. I did it in 13 days with site seeing stops ('71 Olds Cutlass convertible), and 10 days driving like a bat out of H$&& (averaging 85 in a '66 big block Vette). I logged just shy of 8000 miles on both trips.

So...luck 'O the Irish to ya!

 

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tdskip

Yoda

Offline

• Jun 22, 2014

• #7

SF Bay Area to Portland in one day is a major haul, especially if you take the scenic way via coast or up through Bend (central OR roads are wonderful).

 

Geo Hahn

Yoda

Offline

• Jun 22, 2014

• #8

That is one tough drive in a side curtain TR.

I am right on your route so here is my phone number if you need it while in the Tucson area: five-2-zero, seven-4-nine, one-1-two-6. I am on the east side of town.

If you are planning on taking I-10 all the way into LA (and it sounds like you are) you might consider the truck route that avoids downtown **** (oops, I mean Phoenix) by taking West I-8 just south of Casa Grande, then north on AZ-85 just before you get to Gila Bend.

I love Phoenix as much as anyone but that alternate route has much less traffic and shouldn't take any more time.

Best of luck!

 

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titanic

Jedi Warrior

Offline

• Jun 22, 2014

• #9

tdskip said:

SF Bay Area to Portland in one day is a major haul, especially if you take the scenic way via coast or up through Bend (central OR roads are wonderful).

Click to expand...

I agree, even if you take I-5, it would be better to plan an overnight stop.
I live in Albany, which is about 70 miles south of Portland. Portland has a very large TR club (PTOA).
Berry

 

TR3driver

Great Pumpkin - R.I.P

Offline

• Jun 23, 2014

• #10

Jer, I think I gave you my phone number. If not, please PM me. Don't hesitate to call if I can help.

Sounds like you are already aware, but JIC, it helps a LOT if you manage to miss the desert during the daytime. I'd suggest finding a place to hide before 10 AM and plan on staying put until at least 8 PM.
Also, somewhat counter-intuitively, put the top up if you have to drive during the day. You'll still get plenty of wind, but having the sun off you makes a big difference. I actually have an old top with the windows cut out, just for that purpose. (Someday I'll have to get it fitted to the current TR3)

 

PatGalvin

Jedi Warrior

Offline

• Jun 23, 2014

• #11

Hi Jer
Let me know if you need any NorCal support. There are several of us that would be happy to help you out when you get up towards the Bay Area. You have my email address!
Have a great trip and please share lots of photos.

pat

 

TR4nut

Yoda

Offline

• Jun 23, 2014

• #12

As I told you earlier you kids have fun now ya hear! You know every nut and bolt on that car of yours, I have complete confidence it'll run just fine. You and your wife sitting in those seats all that time, now that is where I have some questions!

Cheers
Randy

 

apbos

Jedi Knight

Offline

• Jun 23, 2014

• #13

Jer
If you have any problems in our neck of the woods let me know. It will be in the low 90's if you go through the Central Valley of Ca.
Paul

 

OP

T

TexasKnucklehead

Jedi Knight

Offline

• Jun 23, 2014

• #14

Thanks for all the positive feedback.

We plan to drive at night until we are in Ca. Living in Texas has taught me much about avoiding the sun in the summer. I know there are many places and drives much better suited for a TR3, but we only have so much time, and a lot of people to see. Not to mention a lot of ground to cover. I have Randalls number and plan to meet him for lunch near my sisters place. The drive up 1 is only to Wolf Creek Or, and supposed to be one of our 'shorter' driving days -just over 10 hours.

I changed oil today, topped the transmission, diff, and steering box. Last week I checked the brakes, front end, and rotated the tires. The previous week I installed cruise control. I have maps, addresses, a GPS and a packed bag that fits in the boot. We have 2 cell phones, chargers and a camera. The top is up and I have a modified set of temporary side curtains in case it rains really hard. I'm not sure if my wife or I am more excited to get started.

Cheers,
Jer

 

Tr3aguy

Jedi Knight

Offline

• Jun 24, 2014

• #15

Sounds fun! Be Careful.........Cruise Control.....Really??

 

NutmegCT

Great Pumpkin

Gold

Online

• Jun 24, 2014

• #16

ditto - cruise control on a TR3?

details! details!

 

TR3driver

Great Pumpkin - R.I.P

Offline

• Jun 24, 2014

• #17

Tr3aguy said:

Cruise Control.....Really??

Click to expand...

Not a bad idea at all, IMO. My right leg aches on long trips, and cruise control would let me move around. JC Whitney at least used to offer a wide variety of add-on cruise controls.

Some use a magnet on the driveshaft for a speed pickup, others get a signal from the coil. Most use manifold vacuum to operate the servo (the TR3 intake can easily be drilled and tapped for that), but some use an electric servo. After that, it's just getting things mounted.

Here's a shot showing one of the manifold vacuum taps I added to TS39781LO. It's plugged, because I never installed the planned water injection that it was for.


I also had one on the front of the manifold, for connecting a vacuum gauge. You can just barely see it in this shot, the black cap sticks out between the vacuum advance line and the exhaust manifold

 

OP

T

TexasKnucklehead

Jedi Knight

Offline

• Jun 24, 2014

• #18

NutmegCT said:

details! details!

Click to expand...

I stand at 6'1" -I used to be 6'2", but that's another story. I am a little cramped in a TR3. I already cut 4" of foam out of the drivers seat so the top frame clears my head. The roads in Texas go on forever. It doesn't take more than a few hours until my knee gets cramped. I hope the cruise helps.

As stated, there are kits available. Since I already had a later style intake for my H6Ss, I already had a vacuum port to drive the servo. I got an Equus unit off ebay for a song, and it seems to work fine. The controls are mounted under the dash, and don't look too out of place. The servo is mounted under the apron behind the right head light and must be sought out to be seen. The throttle linkage was secured under my home-made heat shield. It uses a inductive pick-up off any spark plug wire (I used #1). I expect it to be very handy on this trip.

 

Last edited: Jun 24, 2014

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rnpennington

Senior Member

Offline

• Jun 24, 2014

• #19

You guys have fun. I envy you the drive (except maybe for the desert part). The Pacific Coast Highway is a blast - provided the fog lifts every now and then and the winds aren't too bad. I did it on the motorcycle from Oakland to Seattle.

Good Luck, I look forward to seeing you when you get back and - if you are lucky - I'll have the new dash installed.

Always remember when driving: If you have the rubber side down - good. If the rubber side is up - not good.

Bob P.

 

OP

T

TexasKnucklehead

Jedi Knight

Offline

• Jun 25, 2014

• #20

Cruising at 80 is sweet.

We got on I10 in Houston in time to see the sun set. We got off I10 in downtown El Paso for our hotel in time to see it rise.

The same person who wrote 'a hundred bottles of beer on the wall' must have been in charge of signage between San Antonio and El Paso. The first sign I saw showing the distance was just outside San Antonio. There isnt much between but another 500 or so signs with decreasing distances. Its almost like having a kid 'how much farther now?'

Tonight, the desert...