Machine Gun

I couldn't resist taking the Skylark out for a drive yesterday. I only ran a few errands with it, but it was sure nice to get back behind the wheel.

Studebaker introduced it on the 1936 President. They called it Hill Holder. My 2016 Jetta has VW's version of that unnecessity.

Sorry you lost out on that one. It would have been a great addition to your garage.

Start with the easy stuff first. If you haven't done so already, check the fuse. If the fuse is good, then continue with JohnD's procedure. BTW, if the fuse looks good, use a voltmeter to check for voltage on both sides of the fuse, or else pull the fuse and test it with an ohmmeter. It's very rare, but I've seen a visually good fuse be actually open.

Does that mean that vanguard67 no longer needs the taillight housing and lens? 😜

I like to keep things simple. If you enter your cars in judged shows, then you know the standards that have to be met and you should act accordingly if you want an award. Otherwise, it's your car, your money, and your own personal standards of satisfaction. The rest of us can like it or not. 😜

I don't know about you, but at first glance that looked to me like a line of bodies at a disaster scene. Creepy.

A beautiful time capsule.

@NTX5467Thanx for the tip. I'm not familiar with organic pads, but if they're softer and provide better stopping power that's much better than long-lasting pads.

As always, all comments are appreciated. Before I do anything I'm going to pull the drums off all four wheels and see if anything looks off. @avgwarhawkThanx for the info on your success with Raybestos shoes. I bought my shoes from Rock Auto, but I don't remember the brand. @60FlatTopThe shoes and wheel cylinders (along with lines, hoses, booster, etc.) are three years old, and have about 10K miles on them. And thanx for the reminder about Rochester Clutch & Brake. I bookmarked their website back when you mentioned them some time ago in another post. They'll be my go-to shop if I come up dry with other suggestions, particularly if the shoes need arced to the drums. I checked local shops and no one does that anymore. Napa and other parts sources that many of the local wrenches use don't even turn drums anymore. @NTX5467Thank you for the brake lining codes. I don't know if the codes are still visible on the linings I installed a few years ago. Regardless, since all sources of shoes for my will either be special order and/or online purchase it may not be easy to determine the codes beforehand. Perhaps Craig at Mobilparts might be willing to check his stock. If I decide to replace the brake shoes, I might just take the safe way out send them along with the drums up to Rochester to get relined and arced. I'm at least a couple of weeks away from being able to pull the drums and inspect the brake system. I'll keep you all posted.

Only when I wake up at Home Depot!

As long as I don't do it first thing in the morning. The laundry room is too small to accommodate the car

I had considered cold brakes being the issue, but they work normally at the first stop at the end of the driveway so that's not likely the cause. I plan to replace the shoes and drums over the winter anyway because of the issue and start afresh. I'll pull the drums over the coming weeks and report back on anything unusual I might find like contamination or broken parts. In the interim I need to find a local shop that can arc the shoes to the drums. Right now the side of my garage that has the lift is full of truck that's awaiting a new water pump. Two replacements that were sourced from different suppliers failed to fit, but that's a story for another place and time...

So do I. One Christmas my kids gifted me with a complete three volume set of all the published Far Side cartoons.

I've had this issue with my '64 Skylark since forever and keep forgetting to ask about it. I have to practically stand on the brake pedal to stop the car when backing up. This only occurs first thing in the morning, like when backing out of the garage. After I get on the road there's no more of an issue when backing up for the rest of the day. Brakes always work just fine in the forward direction. The car has power brakes with a two-year old power booster, and was converted to a dual-circuit system when I installed the new booster. Any thoughts? I have this on my list of things to attend to over the winter.

Such a beautiful car! There's something about the '69 front end and instrument panel styling that make the Electra and LeSabre my favorite postwar Buicks. My dad bought a '69 LeSabre new from Leschel Buick in Paterson, NJ and kept it for only four years until he traded it on a '73. It's a shame that the full size '69s have become pretty scarce.

Totally different animal, but for what it's worth I just had a set of Tiger Paws installed on my wife's 2016 Forester. So far so good. Handling is fine, and not a noisy tire.

I appreciate all of the kind comments. The trip was a blast, and I encourage anyone who has the time and resources to make a big road trip to do so. And do it in your old Buick, or old whatever, if you can. I don't know about you, but car shows and cruise-ins got old in a hurry for me. Take your car on vacation. Route 66 has its own charm, but there are Route 66-like roads everywhere in the US. Not all necessarily with the kitsch and pop culture appeal of the Mother Road, but all with their unique ability to connect us to the many cultures that thrive in our vast country. @Ben Bruce aka First BornIf you were indeed in Two Guns when it was still in business, you're either much older than you look or Two Guns didn't age well! BTW, I thought long and hard about converting to EFI due to my carburetor experience, but I went on the cheap and installed a modern Holley. So far, so good. @EmTeeI agree that a 30-day journey was an appropriate length of time for a coast-to-coast, but to be honest we were more than happy to be home. Not so much for the time away, but instead for the daily hotel check-in/check-out routine. @dmfconsultHotels were easy to come by, except for the Route 66 icons like the Wigwam and the Blue Swallow that were fully booked when we were in their areas. We weren't very concerned about getting lodging because we traveled in the off-season.

I made good on the threat I made last year to finish traveling Route 66 in my ’64 Skylark. Here's Part 1. Unlike my trip last year, we didn’t make hotel reservations in advance because we wanted the freedom to take things as they came, instead of adhering to a schedule. We had no specific daily destinations or places to be at any particular time, and that flexibility made the trip all the more enjoyable. We left home on September 21st and drove the interstate highways direct to the Tulsa, Oklahoma area where we joined Route 66 where I left off last year. Days One and Two – Home to Pacific, Missouri Our first two days on the road were spent driving the Superslab, with overnight stops in Ashland, Ohio and Pacific, Missouri, respectively. Nothing to see here, folks. At least nothing we took the time to seek out. We had the first of only two car-related incidents in Ohio after only the first day on the road. The carburetor fuel bowl overflowed in the morning, something that previously had only happened after the car had been sitting for several days. Fortunately the issue resolved in short order, and it didn’t happen again during the remainder of the trip. Day Three – Pacific, Missouri to Catoosa, Oklahoma We rode into Catoosa late in the day. Our first Route 66 stop was at the Blue Whale. We met a family from England there who were also traveling the Mother Road. They were the first of many visitors from across the Pond who were making the trip. We spent the night in Catoosa. Day Four – Catoosa to Sapulpa, Oklahoma We spent the morning in Tulsa visiting the Holy Family Cathedral, and shopping at the Mother Road Market where we had lunch before moving on to Sapulpa, where we visited the Sapulpa Historical and Waite-Phillips Barnsdall Museums. The Sapulpa Museum was the first of many museums we visited on our trip, and it was typical of museums that are staffed by locals who are proud of their towns and histories. The museum isn’t very large, and we could easily have been in and out of it within a half-hour had it not been for our tour guides. One was a high school senior who plans to be a history major in college. They explained each exhibit in detail with a contagious enthusiasm for their local history. We ended up spending an hour and a half there, and we weren’t bored for a minute. We returned to Catoosa where we spent another night. Day Five – Catoosa to Edmond We spent the morning in the Tulsa area visiting various attractions that included the Heart of Route 66 Auto Museum. The museum had a nice collection on cars from all eras, including relatively recent examples like an early General Motors electric vehicle. Our drive out of the area included a short trek down Old Route 66/The Ozark Trail that brought us over the Rock Creek Bridge, one of several historic bridges we crossed during our trip. Our next stop was Bristow, OK, where we saw the Bristow Historical Museum, which was an historic town square and train depot. It being a Sunday, the train depot was closed so we were only able to walk around outside. One of the outside attractions was a set of billboards that spotlighted some of the town’s prominent families. We continued on to Chandler, where we made a stop at the Route 66 Interpretive Center, which is housed in a former National Guard armory. Although the facility focused on Route 66 it included much local history, which is always of interest to us. We see little point in driving through the country just to look at tourist attractions without taking time to learn a little about the local areas. An interesting feature of the building were the artillery shells that were embedded in the exterior walls. Did you know that Paul McCartney stopped along Route 66 in Arcadia, Oklahoma back in 2008? I didn’t. I tried my best to care, but it wasn’t working for me. I have a friend who is a die-hard Beatles fan so I took a photo and sent it to her. Our next stop was the Round Barn, also in Arcadia. It’s an interesting building that now houses a small museum and gift shop. There was nothing particularly interesting there apart from the building itself, but we’re glad we stopped because we met two couples who were traveling parts of Route 66 together. One couple lives in the Boston area and the other in Edmund, Oklahoma. We struck up a long conversation with them right there in the parking lot, and we decided to continue the conversation over dinner. We traveled to Pop’s Soda Ranch where we hoped to grab a bite. Pop’s has the iconic giant soda bottle out by the road. The store has a sizable display of soda bottles containing more flavors than one can imagine. There’s also a small gift shop and diner-like restaurant. The place was a mad house when we were there. We would have had to get on a waiting list to get a seat. All of us being retirees, we agreed that waiting for a table for the privilege of having a burger not unlike a burger you could get most anywhere else in the USA would not be the most productive use of whatever time we have left on this Earth. We moved on to downtown Edmond, where we enjoyed a delightful dinner and conversation at a place called The Mule 2. We checked into our motel in Edmond afterward. Day 6 – Edmond to Weatherford We began our day in Edmond with a stop at the Touch the Clouds Monument that was erected in honor of the Lakota Sioux warrior and chief of the same name. A cousin of Crazy Horse, he is remembered as a brave warrior who was an advocate for his people, and who was a delegate to Washington, DC in 1877. The large monument was beautifully crafted and is worth the time to stop and see it. Before we left Edmond we stopped at the 1889 territorial schoolhouse. It wasn’t open to visitors, but it’s a part of local history that we wanted to see. We traveled on to Oklahoma City, where we made two very worthwhile stops: the Oklahoma City National Memorial and the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. The Oklahoma City National Memorial commemorates the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building on April 19, 1995. The outdoor site consists of various elements, including commemorative tiles made by school children from around the country, and a field of chairs, one for each person lost. Two sizes of chairs are included, full-size for the adults who were lost, and smaller ones for the children. Definitely worth a stop. The National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum was larger and considerably more interesting that we expected it to be. It contained beautiful art and sculptures of the Old West, and our tour guide provided riveting glimpses of life of the cowboys and pioneers on the frontier. We were there for hours, and the time flew by. El Reno was the next town we stopped at, but only for a photo of the Route 66 Monument. We hoped to drive through Historic Fort Reno, a former US Cavalry post just west of El Reno. Unfortunately we arrived just past closing time, so we moved on to Hydro where we made a photo stop at Lucille’s historic gas station. Not far down the road in Weatherford is Lucille’s Roadhouse, a restaurant where we had dinner that evening. Great food, and good service. We bedded down in Weatherford. Day 7 – Weatherford to Shamrock, Texas The Heartland of America Museum in Weatherford was a worthwhile stop. We got a personal tour from one of the volunteers. There are a couple of outbuildings that include a country schoolhouse and a Porterhouse diner that Elvis reportedly visited. We stopped at the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum in Clinton, another worthwhile stop that had lots of Route 66 memorabilia and displays. We met some very nice visitors from Scotland there. At least we think they were nice. There wasn’t an interpreter available so I can’t say for sure what they were saying, but I like to think it was pleasant. We stopped in Elk City to photograph the Parker drilling rig. I’m not sure why I bothered to photograph it...it’s a drilling rig. Meh. But we were there, so why not? Elk City has a Route 66 Museum that includes several outbuildings. The main building has a display of very creative and interesting metalwork sculptures. Nothing worth a dedicated trip from the east coast, but worth a stop if you’re in the area. We made a side trip to Cheyenne, where the Washita Battlefield National historic Site is located. It’s run by the National Park Service. The indoor displays provide a glimpse into a particular part of Native American history. We had planned to walk the grounds, but it was very hot that day and we decided against it. Next stop was the Sandhills Curiosity Shop in Erick. What can I say about the place? It’s owned and staffed by a gentleman known as Harley. The place is stuffed with ephemera (or detritus, if you prefer). Harley was quite the talkative sort, and it’s very much the kind of place that you’d want to stop if you enjoy language and humor of the most colorful kind. Best enjoyed in a chemically-induced state of mind. Leave the kids and your sensibilities outside. Our last stop in Oklahoma was the famous one-cell jail in Texola. We stopped to see it only because it was there. That’s the best reason we could come up with. After we saw it we wished we’d have had a better reason, but by then it was too late. We rolled into Shamrock, Texas where we spent the night. That’s where the iconic Conoco Tower gas station is located. I met and chatted for a while with a local mural artist, and soon after he left a couple of guys from Missouri drove up in a 1966 Volvo P1800. Such a neat car. I was disappointed that the Volvo was the only older car we encountered on our entire trip down Route 66. The coffee shop is open for business, but it opened too late the following morning for us to eat there. Day 8 – Shamrock to Amarillo Our next stop was the Pioneer West Museum, a former hotel. Another small museum staffed by a delightful lady who was proud of her town. Right across the way from the museum was a restored Magnolia service station. If you like old gas stations, Route 66 is the route for you. I photographed a ton of them, and I won’t take up any more bandwidth by posting them all. You get the idea. McLean has a few interesting attractions. The McLean-Alanreed Area Museum is in the heart of town. It contains various displays of local history, not the least of which was a display of photos of Western-themed murals painted in the mess hall by some of the German World War II prisoners of war that were imprisoned at the nearby McLean POW camp. The camp is long gone. I somehow left with the impression that the POWs we imprisoned fared somewhat better than their imprisoned Allied counterparts in Europe. Into barbed wire? There’s the Devil’s Rope Barbed Wire and Route 66 Museum in McLean. I had no idea of the number of barbed wire variants there are, nor could I have imagined that there exist people sufficiently interested in the stuff to dedicate a museum to it. I could go on for seconds raving about it. Just off Route 66 in Groom is the giant Cross of Our Lord. It’s a small religious-themed park that includes an indoor display, outdoor stations of the cross, and a remarkable reproduction of the Shroud of Turin. A most worthwhile stop for the Christians among us. Panhandle has Peace Field. It can tell its own story. I sent the photo to the same friend who is a Beatles fan. Who would have guessed? Our next, and final stop of the day was Amarillo. We checked out the 6th Street Historic District that we didn’t think very much of. We moved on in short order to St. Mary’s Cathedral where we were fortunate to get a private tour. Day 9 – Amarillo to Tucumcari, New Mexico Upon leaving Amarillo in the morning we took a detour off Route 66 and traveled to Umbarger where we attended morning Mass at St. Mary’s Church. There once was a nearby World War II POW camp in the area that housed Italian prisoners. The POWs painted murals inside of what previously had been a bare-walled country church in the middle of nowhere. Their art is strikingly beautiful. Another highlight of the day was our visit to Palo Duro Canyon State Park. Striking scenery, and we were told there’s much to see if you hike into areas where cars can’t travel. Unfortunately for us it was quite hot the day we arrived, and we were told that hiking isn’t safe unless one is prepared for hiking in such conditions. Without sufficient water, we took a pass on the hike. The famous Cadillac Ranch, west of Amarillo. A must-see, if you must see such things. You can buy spray paint on-site from trailer-housed vendors so you will be able to leave your own literary profundity for future generations to ponder. That is, if those future generations arrive before your masterpiece gets sprayed over by the rattle-can philosopher standing behind you with an equally compelling message. Vega was the next town we hit on our way west. The Millburn-Price Culture Museum was a fun stop. Lots of memorabilia inside, and a nice looking Willys sedan with a sorry-looking interior parked outside. The midpoint of Route 66 is about a 20-minute drive west of Vega. There’s the Midpoint Café that serves up some deadly (in a good way) homemade pies. I’m convinced that our fuel economy dropped slightly after we ate there. We ended the day in Tucumcari, New Mexico. We stopped at the Glenrio Visitor Center shortly after crossing into the state, and had dinner at Del’s in Glenrio. Good, simple eats. Days 10 thru 16 – Tucumcari to Corrales, and Various Off-Route Activities On Day 10 we made two stops in Tucumcari, one at the Route 66 Townhouse Welcome Center and the other at the New Mexico Route 66 Museum. There are murals everywhere along the Mother Road. The Route 66 Auto Museum in Santa Rosa. We tried to hit as many museums as we could along the way, and most were worth time to stop and look around. We spent Days 11 thru 16 wandering around New Mexico, mostly off Route 66. We have friends who live in Corrales and Las Cruces, and we wandered around various parts of the state with them enjoying places like Old Town Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Calderas National Reserve, the Jemez Mountains, Petroglyph National Monument, White Sands National Monument, Dripping Springs Natural Area, and the New Mexico Farm and Ranch Heritage Museum (another great museum where you can spend more time than you’d expect). The second, and final car-related incident occurred in Moriarty, about a half-hour from Corrales. We had stopped for lunch at a gas station/convenience store, and after about a 40 minute break we started up the car and left the parking lot only to stall in the nearby intersection. After a little coaxing the car restarted, but it ran like crap so we limped back to the gas station and discovered the carburetor percolating fuel all over the top of the engine. That was a new experience for me, so I called my friend in Corrales who has a PhD in Motor-Headery, and asked him WTF, over? That’s when I got my first lesson in carbureted engines running on Ethanol-blend fuels on a hot day at high altitude (Moriarty is a bit over 6,000 feet ASL). Things cooled off sufficiently after about 15 minutes for the car to restart, and it ran flawlessly for the remainder of the trip. Considering that we had many more miles to go and much higher altitudes ahead of us I was somewhat on edge for the rest of the trip, but fortunately the problem never recurred. One of the highlights of our stay in Corrales was the 50th International Balloon Festival. Quite the sight. We just happened to be in the area at the same time as the festival. Hotels were insanely expensive, but fortunately we were staying with our friends. Balloons of every type imaginable were present, and many types that I would not have imagined. Day 17 – Las Cruces to Grants We left our friends’ place and headed back North to reconnect with Route 66. Along the way we made a stop at the Very Large Array at the National Radio Astronomy Laboratory. A must see for the technology nerds among us. After a drive through El Malpais National Monument and a stop at La Ventana arch, we made our way to Grants, where we spent the night. Day 18 – Grants to Holbrook, Arizona We made the first of our two passes through the Continental Divide, along Route 66 in Continental Divide, New Mexico. Our second pass, which was in Colorado, was much more impressive. We passed through Gallup and had lunch at the famous El Rancho hotel. You seem to step back in time when you enter the lobby. Had we passed that way much later in the day we’d have taken a room there. Day 19 – Holbrook We spent the entire day at Petrified Forest National Park and the Painted Desert. We did lots of walking around the park, taking in the spectacular views. We spent a second night in Holbrook after a delightful dinner at Tom & Suzie’s Diner. Day 20 – Holbrook to Flagstaff Our first stop after leaving Holbrook was the Jack Rabbit Trading Post, located in the middle of nowhere near Joseph City. In addition to the usual tourist fare, the place sells various pieces of Native American pottery and other items produced by local artists. Very nice pieces, and definitely worth a look. The proprietors are very nice, friendly people who were a delight to talk with. Our next stop was in Winslow. There’s the Remembrance Garden and Standin’ on the Corner Park. Apart from these two attractions, there doesn’t seem to be much going on in Winslow. The Eagles song elevated Winslow out of total obscurity and into relative obscurity. If you choose to stand on the corner, you’ll have lots of company. We looked at the park, said to ourselves, “Well, there it is,” and we moved on. Two Guns is a ruin of an erstwhile tourist trap. The dirt road leading to the ruins is a bit rough, but easily passable if you’re careful to navigate among the potholes. The Walnut Canyon National Monument was up next on our places to see. We walked the Island Trail among numerous Indian cliff dwellings. It was quite impressive to see how they used the natural terrain features to construct their homes, and it was equally impressive to contemplate how they managed to survive in what appears to outsiders to be an inhospitable environment. From there we traveled to Flagstaff, where I got an oil change at the Jiffy Lube on Route 66, and where we spent the night. The youngsters at the Jiffy Lube were quite taken with the Buick. Fortunately we were the only car in for service at the time, as the staff spent a good deal of time checking out the car and asking questions about it. Day 21 – The Grand Canyon South Rim We spent the day at the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park. I’m not going to post any photos of the canyon. In the unlikely event that some of you don’t know what it looks like, there are plenty of photos online. For any of you who may have been there you’ll understand that not even the best photography can begin to convey the grandeur of this natural wonder. Therefore my photos will remain in my camera phone. We spent the night at the Grand Canyon Plaza Hotel. Despite its lofty name and price, the hotel was unremarkable. Day 22 – The Grand Canyon East Rim, and Travel to Kingman We did a drive along a portion of the East Rim before moving on to Ash Fork, where we toured the Ash Fork Route 66 Museum. By now you probably figured out that there was hardly an open museum that we passed by without stopping. While most every museum that had “Route 66” in its name contained much of the same auto-related memorabilia (spare us yet another rusty relic or “Get your kicks…” sign), many contained information on local history. That’s the sort of thing that Ruthann and I sought out, particularly in museums whose local volunteers were lifelong residents of the area, and who were more than willing to share firsthand stories of what life was like back when. We made the obligatory stop at Angel Delgadillo’s barber shop in Seligman. We were surprised in a very good way to learn that Angel is still alive and kicking in his 90s. His presence at the shop is now limited to a cardboard cutout, but he is reportedly doing pretty well for a nonagenarian. I don’t know if there’s more to Seligman than Route 66 and its attractions, but if there is we somehow missed it. We spent the night in Kingman, where we arrived in time for dinner and a drive-through of the Route 66 sign. Day 23 – Kingman to Barstow, California Route 66 between Kingman and Oatman takes you through the Sitgreaves Pass. That stretch of road is a narrow, two-lane affair with more than its share of tight turns and switchbacks. A travel trailer directly in front of us kissed pickup coming in the opposite direction. They became stuck, completely blocking the road. A wall of rock on one side and steep drop-offs on the other with no shoulder make for very limited maneuvering options. Fortunately they managed to free themselves from each other and let us pass by while they engaged in what must have been an awkward discussion. Oatman, Arizona is at the end of the pass. Famed for the wild burros that inhabit the area, we encountered what we thought was a representative of the welcoming committee standing in the road. As it turned out, it was only a panhandler that gave us a contemptuous look when we failed to provide a handout. We passed through Oatman and made no more stops until we reached Needles, California, where we enjoyed our time at the Needles Regional Museum. Continuing westbound we decided to stop in Fenner to top off the gas tank. This is how we will remember Fenner: To be fair, this was not typical of gasoline prices in California. We were able to buy gas elsewhere in the Golden State at bargain prices between $6.50 and $7.50 per gallon of regular. Much of Route 66 between Needles and Newberry Springs was closed and inaccessible due to multiple bridge and road washouts from recent heavy rains. We had to travel Interstate 40 instead, which was disappointing. Some of the locals aren’t sure when parts of Route 66 will reopen, if they will reopen at all. Parallel I-40 provides the transportation route, and it remains to be seen whether money will be allocated to repair a secondary route that accommodates relatively little traffic. A shame. The famed Bagdad Café in Newberry was closed when we passed through, and it appears to be abandoned. There’s junk on the property, and I don’t know that we’d have gone in had it been open. We spent the night in Barstow. Day 24 – Barstow to Monrovia Our only stop in Barstow was the Route 66 Mother Road Museum, which was adjacent to a former Harvey House Hotel along the railroad tracks. Harvey House was a chain of upscale hotels famous for the quality of their accommodations, food, and service. The hotels were staffed by the Harvey Girls who were reportedly held to very high standards of conduct. Oro Grande is the home of another famous Route 66 landmark, Elmer’s Bottle Tree Ranch. Elmer, now deceased, accumulated piles of stuff that most people would have thrown away. He managed to turn those piles into vertical arrays of stuff that most people would have thrown away. Elmer’s greatest contribution to the art world was getting most of the stuff off the ground. It’s a must-see for anyone whose taste in sculpture hasn't fully developed. The trip between Elmer’s place and Victorville that should have taken 15 minutes took 2-1/2 hours. A ways down the road from Elmer’s is the Oro Grande Asphalt Plant. Tragically, there was a dual fatality traffic accident just past the plant that closed the road. We saw a helicopter land and realized that we weren’t going anywhere right away, but shortly afterward the aircraft took off, and so we decided to wait it out. While we waited, a California Highway Patrol officer began walking the line of stopped traffic to suggest that we turn back an find another route. Just then a second helicopter arrived, and we got the message. The only way around that desolate part of Route 66 was to travel nine miles back to Helendale where we might find a cross road. When we reached Helendale we had stopped at a traffic light when a Highway Patrol cruiser stopped in the lane alongside us. Great, we’ll now get directions to Victorville! Instead of providing directions however, the officer told us that the second helicopter had just taken off and the road would probably be reopened by the time we got back there. So back another nine miles to meet up again with the line of stopped traffic. The officer on scene said that the road would remain closed for several hours, and that we should go back to Helendale and find an alternate route. OK, another nine miles later we got back to Helendale and finally got directions to Victorville. Less than five minutes into the alternate route we hit road closure #2 due to another serious traffic accident. We had to take a detour around the detour, and eventually rolled into Victorville. The worst part of the ordeal was that we saw Elmer’s place four times. Moral of the story: don’t believe everything that a California Highway Patrol officer tells you. Victorville has the California Route 66 Museum, a nice little place staffed by a very friendly attendant. As we pulled into a space in the parking lot at the front of the building the museum attendant suggested that park out back because there’s a significant homeless population in the area that often breaks into cars and steals their contents, even in daytime. How very sad for the people who live like that. Route 66 between Victorville and Upland consisted of a constant string of traffic lights. Various areas along the way were depressed, and the two sights we would have wanted to stop and photograph (the Rancho Cucamonga Service Station and the Madonna of the Trail Monument) had no vehicular access or places to pull off the road to take photographs. We could think of no reason to continue the slog other than for the sake of being able to say that we traveled all of Route 66 in California. We left Route 66 at Upland and took Route 210 toward Monrovia. We spent the night at the Extended Stay America in Monrovia. I’m not sure why they named the chain “Extended Stay.” If the place in Monrovia is typical of the chain’s properties, I can’t fathom why anyone would stay there for an extended period of time. Day 25 – Monrovia to Santa Monica and the End of the Trail We high-tailed it out of Monrovia in the morning and drove through Los Angeles to the Santa Monica Pier. It was a cool, dreary and rainy morning. We didn’t spend much time on the pier because of the weather, the fact that many of the businesses were closed, and to be honest I think the piers at the Jersey Shore are nicer. And so ended our trip along Route 66. That wasn’t the end of our journey, however. We were on the road for nine more days as we made our way to visit various missions and friends in Southern California before heading home on mostly interstate highways through Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio where we picked up I-80 for the rest of the journey home through Pennsylvania and into New Jersey. We made quick stops at various other locations along the way, but this writeup was about traveling Route 66 so I’ll spare the survivors who made it this far into the read any further torturous details. Summary, Stats, and Overall Impressions Trip duration: 34 days Distance traveled: 8,120 miles Fuel economy: 18.3 mpg. Car performance: Nearly flawless, except for the Moriarty percolation incident. The car impressed us with its comfort, reliability, and its ability to navigate (although not enthusiastically) over the Continental Divide through Loveland Pass in Colorado at 11,990 feet ASL. Friendliest states: Texas and Oklahoma Most enjoyed meal: Lucille’s Roadhouse in Weatherford, Oklahoma. Two positive comments: The service was very friendly, and the food was delicious. Least enjoyed meal: A Mexican restaurant in Utah, on the trip home. Two positive comments: Same day service, and the food stayed down. Future Plans: More road trips in the Skylark.

Doesn't this belong in the "Almost a Buick and Almost a Plane" thread?

I gather from your post that when you refer to "cold out" you mean ambient temperature, and not engine/transmission temperature. Also, by "stiff to move" do you mean stiff when you pull the lever toward you to release the detent, or do you mean stiff to move through the gears? You need to isolate where the problem is occurring. If the problem occurs when moving though the gears, I would first disconnect the linkage from the steering column right near the firewall and see if anything changes. If it's all good there, then then the innards of the steering column are probably good. Next, proceed down to the transmission and see what's happening underneath. And so on. You get the idea. In my '64 Skylark shift lever was very stiff to pull when releasing the detent, but it moved through the gears easily. The grease at the pivot point inside the steering column at end of the shift lever had hardened. I cleaned out the old grease and lubricated it, solving the problem.

I imagine that the market for that sort of thing would be very, very limited in the Netherlands.

Did you actually go anywhere, or did all of you just sit in the car for the stroke of midnight? Seriously though, I'm happy to see that you're now able to enjoy the fruits of your hard work. Happy New Year!

Sure, but not necessarily when parked there.

Which horror movie is this from?