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Long[very long] trip

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J

John Morralee

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Unless I come to my senses I am planning to drive to the N. A. Healey Conclave ( get together ) in San Diego next June from Canada (90 mls East of Toronto) in my 1963 BJ7 Mk11 with 71k mls on the clock. Realising that the wheels could fall off 2mls down the road or g/box seize in Kanas what would forum members with long distance experience recomend 'looking at'. My feeling is that even a well maintained car can suffer structural/engine break down and that is the end of that; all other problems should be road side fixable. I intend spending the Winter doing, one-by-one, all the maintainance jobs recomended in the manual ( which I pretty well do any way). With the 'if-it-aint broken --- ' saying in mind I do not wish to disturb unless needed. The'take-with-me' spares list can of course be endless until you see the space available! So what is best?
 
Hi John

I to live in southern Ontario and would love to do the trip in my Healey but I do not think I could take that much time off work. I know that one of the boys in the Austin Healey Club of Southern Ontario is planning on driving out in his Healey. Contact me off line and should be able to hook you up with the boys that are going.

2009 Conclave is in Kingston Ontario.

Mark
 

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I'd start off with a spare water pump, fuel pump (although you could probably buy a generic to keep you on the road if you have a problem), spare ignition (cap, rotor, points, condensor), belts and hoses, duct tape, baling wire, insulated electrical wires, a good roadside tool kit, spare tube assuming your wheels aren't tubeless.

AHCA and AHCA member lists, chances are if you have a failure there is a support within an hours drive or less.

See the front page story on our club's newsletter from a couple of months ago: https://www.flatwater.org/news/aug07.pdf

Carry what you can, track down helpers if you need them, you should be able to make it. Oh, also I carry a softback version of the complete factory shop manual under the passenger seat.
 
Two of us drove our Healeys to the Conclave in VT from Albuquerque this summer, close 6000 miles round trip.
Healey Trip
We did bring a few small spares but in the end we had few problems. We drove these same Healeys to San Diego in 1999. It is extremely hot driving to San Diego in the summer, it is hard to get there without passing through some deserts with temps above 110F. We drove those sections at night or very early AM.

Between the two cars, we brought a spare electric fuel pump, ignition parts for both cars (we had a 6 and a 4 Healey), spare belts, Moss catalog, shop manuals, Healey club directories, a tow rope, AAA membership card, etc. We had plenty of small tools. We also had a spare OD solenoid that we actually used.

We planned to deal with major breakdowns as follows: find a local Healey or old car collector (use the directories) to store the car and help you find a mechanic while waiting for FedEx parts to arrive. For serious problems, leave the car with a collector and arrange for cross country shipping home (this costs about $.75 a mile, door to door, might take a month or so to get it arranged). Go on to the Conclave in a rental car or plane.

The good news is we've always made it in the end and we had a ball doing it -- each trip was incredibly memorable. Note that a group of Eastern Canadians drove their Healey's a few years ago to the Tahoe International meet (2002), I think they all made it just fine. The Healey is really a very reliable car, there is not all that much to them.

Good luck and if you have problems near Albuquerque, give us a call (oops, we are planning to go to San Diego ourselves, we'll be on the road). Hey, maybe we could call you!

Good luck
Bill.
 
What I find interesting is that many of us who drove Healeys and other Brit cars in our youth can probably recall many a successful long distance trip with zero preparation, little more than a spare and a jack, and barely enough cash for gas and coffee. Guess you can only do things like that when you're too young to know better.
 
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