c49er Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 Good question. Hope they are OK... Not a good time to be traveling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48NWYKR Posted March 22, 2020 Author Share Posted March 22, 2020 I was back in Canada for a week (5th to 11th) to make some $$ doing photobooth events and flew back to catch up with my family in Vegas on the 12th One of the events was the giant Dental Conference that the government is now pointing at as a huge contributor in spreading the virus to a number of provinces!! I am now well past the 14 day mark and still symptom free We have no immediate plans to return to Canada, we are hiding out in the Arizona desert right now and limiting our interactions with everyone! We feel safer out here in the middle of nowhere than returning to a densely populated area where panic buying and a serious lack of commonsense seems to be rampant. We have confirmation from BCAA that our travel insurance is still valid because we stated our trip long before the madness started! We are just trying to go about our trip and just make the most of it! We have now been from the Badwater Basin in Death Valley at -282ft to Flagstaff Arizona at 7335ft and both us and the car are doing great! If it all comes to a head, my family is still young and strong and if we get Covid 19 we will most certainly survive. We are just trying to be good citizens and not spread it around! On the flip side we are losing all of our summer events for the photobooth as everyone is starting to cancel left right and center because of the public gathering restrictions. Hopefully most of them will re book at a later date. We were banking on that money to keep the trip going. Kids have to quarantine for 14 days before they can go back to school and we don't know when they will re-open anyway. As my good friend Dug says, "a good plan is a flexible one" Hope you guys stay safe as well, this can't last forever! Stop the madness and wash your hands! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48NWYKR Posted March 22, 2020 Author Share Posted March 22, 2020 Oh and I got to meet Danny from Counts Kustoms in Las Vegas ... he loved Lucy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r1lark Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 48NWYKR, glad to hear that y'all are doing well and staying safe! My wife and I normally make a spring trip to Arizona, but will stay home this spring ☹️. But agree that the AZ desert is a good place to ride out this pandemic. Glad Lucy is doing so well. All your work on her has paid off! Continue staying safe and having a good time! And thanks for the update. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithb7 Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 A great update with a good plan. Staying out in smaller, remote communities seems beneficial. I’d rather enjoy being camped out in the desert, doing things, versus self isolated at home here in the city. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48NWYKR Posted April 22, 2020 Author Share Posted April 22, 2020 Back in Canada, just finished our mandatory 14 day federal quarantine, had to rent a place to stay because our house is still rented out (until January.....ooof.) So with the world gone crazy we are forced to re-think our plan.. not sure what to do yet. We left the trailer in storage in Albuquerque NM and drove just the car back to Canada. 2534km in 46 hours, we just slept in the car on the side of the road for a few hours. Dam she runs like a champion without the trailer I will post a few more pictures from the trip soon and keep everyone updated on our future plans. A few small modifications planned but for the most part it was a resounding success!! Thanks for sticking with me and stay safe out there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countrytravler Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 1 hour ago, 48NWYKR said: Back in Canada, just finished our mandatory 14 day federal quarantine, had to rent a place to stay because our house is still rented out (until January.....ooof.) So with the world gone crazy we are forced to re-think our plan.. not sure what to do yet. We left the trailer in storage in Albuquerque NM and drove just the car back to Canada. 2534km in 46 hours, we just slept in the car on the side of the road for a few hours. Dam she runs like a champion without the trailer I will post a few more pictures from the trip soon and keep everyone updated on our future plans. A few small modifications planned but for the most part it was a resounding success!! Thanks for sticking with me and stay safe out there. A customer from Vancouver Canada and I was just talking about you. He is buying a 1936 Dodge cab, 2 of them to make a quad cab. He has 8 year old twins that he is going to do the same in about 5 years. Keep us posted and be save. Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48NWYKR Posted April 23, 2020 Author Share Posted April 23, 2020 LeMay Car Museum Tacoma WA. They let us camp overnight in their parking lot so we could visit the museum the next day Astoria OR and Seaview WA both sides of the Megler Bridge and the Sou'Wester Lodge. The Lodge was built in 1892 as a vacation home and opened to the public in the 1940's. As well as RV spots for rent they also have about a dozen vintage trailers you can rent on the property to spend the night in, very cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48NWYKR Posted April 23, 2020 Author Share Posted April 23, 2020 A little poking around in Vancouver WA car graveyards are the best! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48NWYKR Posted April 23, 2020 Author Share Posted April 23, 2020 Lincoln City and the worlds shortest river.... the "D" river, shortest name as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48NWYKR Posted April 23, 2020 Author Share Posted April 23, 2020 Sea Lions, Caribou and big Blue Bulls.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48NWYKR Posted April 23, 2020 Author Share Posted April 23, 2020 California Giant trees with holes in them..... we did not fit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48NWYKR Posted April 23, 2020 Author Share Posted April 23, 2020 San Francisco, spent just more than 2 weeks exploring the area. And yes we drove Lucy (no trailer) down Lombart Street. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48NWYKR Posted April 23, 2020 Author Share Posted April 23, 2020 Down to Monterey CA to my buddy's house. Closing in on 2000km by that time and a good opportunity to give Lucy a good look over and grease all those fittings! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r1lark Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 Wow, great places to visit! Hope you can get back to your trip soon! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JACK M Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 Fun stuff, We all got waylaid so understand. The D' river, the shortest river in the world. Not much to see is it? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48NWYKR Posted April 23, 2020 Author Share Posted April 23, 2020 On the way to Vegas... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48NWYKR Posted April 23, 2020 Author Share Posted April 23, 2020 Vegas Baby!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48NWYKR Posted April 23, 2020 Author Share Posted April 23, 2020 TV's Danny Koker from Counts Kustoms, he was pretty stoked about the car and what we were doing! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48NWYKR Posted April 23, 2020 Author Share Posted April 23, 2020 Day trip into Death Valley.... even in early March it was hot and windy!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48NWYKR Posted April 23, 2020 Author Share Posted April 23, 2020 From -282ft below sea level to Sunset Crater Volcano and SNOW at 8000ft in Flagstaff AZ the car is a beast.... it just runs. Yes its slow, yes it's brutally slow up long steep hills, yes it tends to get hot if you push it too hard uphill, yes it loses performance above 5000ft, yes it uses more gas than a modern V8... WHO CARES????? It's 72 years old!!! and still going! Working on another small cooling mod, adding in a small engine oil cooler and will look at getting a high altitude carb kit to swap over next time we are up there! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithb7 Posted April 24, 2020 Share Posted April 24, 2020 Awesome photos! You have balls man...Not everyone would tow a trailer on a trip that far with a 25 year old truck. Let alone a 72 year old flathead....And take the family! Kudos to you for making it happen and creating great family memories for your kids. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r1lark Posted April 24, 2020 Share Posted April 24, 2020 (edited) More great pics! My wife and I have been to many of those sites in western US, but unfortunately not in a cool car like that. This is a trip of a lifetime! Seeing all the pics with y'all sitting and standing on that New Yorker, it drives home the fact that our old cars were make of much thicker sheetmetal! (Don't try this with a new car or pickup folks! ) Is 'the Count' as nice a guy as he seems on the show? Edited April 24, 2020 by r1lark (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48NWYKR Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 13 hours ago, r1lark said: Is 'the Count' as nice a guy as he seems on the show? He was every bit the gentleman and was a really cool guy to talk to! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48NWYKR Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 Grand Canyon and the rest stop at the crossroads. We heard on the news a few days after our visit that they were wanting to close all the parks. This is around the time we were seriously thinking about heading home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48NWYKR Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 On the way to Albuquerque, there are more abandoned places than you may think Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48NWYKR Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 "Standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona....." Then on to New Mexico, we left the trailer in Albuquerque and headed home Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48NWYKR Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 Gave the old girl an oil change today, also had a small oil cooler lying around so I popped that in as well (for the engine oil, just put it after it leaves the bypass filter. It just dumps right back into the sump) I have lots of space so if it works at all I might upgrade to a bigger unit. As for cooling, well it works 90% of the time. When you are going really slow up a long hill with almost no air moving over the rad from the forward speed of the car it gets a bit "warm" there are a ways to keep it from going nuts but its still not right. (running temp is usually between 180F and 210F) My options are going electric again... after a bunch more googling I found that the electric fans that move enough CFM's draw way more amps than I can supply. The smaller 12v sub 10Amp ones move around 1100/1300 cfm (cubic feet per min) that is enough to keep things cool ish at idle and in traffic as a helper to the mechanical fan but so far I have not needed it. However an old engine this size needs around 2500cfm+ to keep cool while runnig at rpm's. Now this is not a problem with the stock setup when you get going but it does not work pulling hard in first or second gear uphill dragging a trailer. To get enough amps to run the bigger fan is going to be a LOT of work because of the 6v system. (step up converters from 6v to 12v can only give you 10A) (so far I have been unable to find a 2500+ cfm 6v fan) The OTHER option and probably easier and certainly worth a try is a new 7 blade high volume mechanical fan to replace the old stamped stock steel fan blade. Flexalite made a big 19inch 7 blade fan for big 440 motorhomes etc... I'll try that first. (should be less than $100 CAD) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countrytravler Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, 48NWYKR said: Gave the old girl an oil change today, also had a small oil cooler lying around so I popped that in as well (for the engine oil, just put it after it leaves the bypass filter. It just dumps right back into the sump) I have lots of space so if it works at all I might upgrade to a bigger unit. As for cooling, well it works 90% of the time. When you are going really slow up a long hill with almost no air moving over the rad from the forward speed of the car it gets a bit "warm" there are a ways to keep it from going nuts but its still not right. (running temp is usually between 180F and 210F) My options are going electric again... after a bunch more googling I found that the electric fans that move enough CFM's draw way more amps than I can supply. The smaller 12v sub 10Amp ones move around 1100/1300 cfm (cubic feet per min) that is enough to keep things cool ish at idle and in traffic as a helper to the mechanical fan but so far I have not needed it. However an old engine this size needs around 2500cfm+ to keep cool while runnig at rpm's. Now this is not a problem with the stock setup when you get going but it does not work pulling hard in first or second gear uphill dragging a trailer. To get enough amps to run the bigger fan is going to be a LOT of work because of the 6v system. (step up converters from 6v to 12v can only give you 10A) (so far I have been unable to find a 2500+ cfm 6v fan) The OTHER option and probably easier and certainly worth a try is a new 7 blade high volume mechanical fan to replace the old stamped stock steel fan blade. Flexalite made a big 19inch 7 blade fan for big 440 motorhomes etc... I'll try that first. (should be less than $100 CAD) I would have located the cooler under the car with a fan for cooling with a temp gauge. along with the condenser. I have done this on street rods with cooling problems and limited space.. Your hampering the air flow for the radiator. Just a thought. Edited April 25, 2020 by countrytravler (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48NWYKR Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 17 minutes ago, countrytravler said: Your hampering the air flow for the radiator. Just a thought The AC condensor has been there since before the trip started, tucked right up to the rad was a recent development, it actually works better there than further away. I towed the trailer from Flagstaff to Albuquerque like that and then drove it all the way home, no heat issues at all. If the condensor did not hamper it there then a few extra square inches for the oil cooler wont do much? but I will keep an eye on it. I have thought of mounting it all under the car but could never find a good spot. Lots of road grime and stuff gets kicked up around the fender wells and that general area. Don't get me wrong if I come up with a better spot to locate it to I will, right now the easy way out with the least amount of effort and money is just to get a better mechanical fan that will move more air at lower rpms. And the big problem with electric is that I cant find a strong 6v fan, and cant get enough amps for a 12v fan. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48NWYKR Posted April 25, 2020 Author Share Posted April 25, 2020 Just to be clear, I don't have cooling problems under most conditions..... just a few times things got a bit hot on stupid steep and long hills. Most normal hills and regular roads don't pose a problem, steep slow twisty mountain passes with a heavy trailer is another story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countrytravler Posted April 26, 2020 Share Posted April 26, 2020 On 4/24/2020 at 8:18 PM, 48NWYKR said: The AC condensor has been there since before the trip started, tucked right up to the rad was a recent development, it actually works better there than further away. I towed the trailer from Flagstaff to Albuquerque like that and then drove it all the way home, no heat issues at all. If the condensor did not hamper it there then a few extra square inches for the oil cooler wont do much? but I will keep an eye on it. I have thought of mounting it all under the car but could never find a good spot. Lots of road grime and stuff gets kicked up around the fender wells and that general area. Don't get me wrong if I come up with a better spot to locate it to I will, right now the easy way out with the least amount of effort and money is just to get a better mechanical fan that will move more air at lower rpms. And the big problem with electric is that I cant find a strong 6v fan, and cant get enough amps for a 12v fan. Under stood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48NWYKR Posted April 27, 2020 Author Share Posted April 27, 2020 Time to grease the 4321 grease nipples under the car AGAIN!!!!! But I take comfort in the knowledge that the extra "work" we all put into these old cars will keep them on the road for a very, very long time! So yes, they need more maintenace and attention than modern cars, but it is worth it. For myself I have found it is just easier to jack it up and take the wheels off than try to squeeze in and around the tires to get to it all. I'm sure if I had a giant lift in the shop it would make my life easier but hey, we do what we can with what we have. Also a battery opperated grease gun with a locking head! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countrytravler Posted May 2, 2020 Share Posted May 2, 2020 Found you a trailer> LOL 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48NWYKR Posted May 2, 2020 Author Share Posted May 2, 2020 Made a new addition to old Lucy, now we have a space to document our travels. My wife was absolutely 100% against putting the stickers on the car..... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48NWYKR Posted May 2, 2020 Author Share Posted May 2, 2020 Fun ride yesterday with our oddball "car club" 2 Mini's an AMX a 28, Lucy and a Supra.... mismatch made in car heaven. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48NWYKR Posted August 20, 2020 Author Share Posted August 20, 2020 So with the pandemic making life difficult, Lucy is now in storage..... and I have started work on a new project. 1954 Chrysler Windsor Deluxe. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r1lark Posted August 21, 2020 Share Posted August 21, 2020 Oh, NICE car! Tell us more about it, and the story of how you obtained it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
48NWYKR Posted August 21, 2020 Author Share Posted August 21, 2020 This one came from a friend who knew a guy who knows a guy who had it parked in an underground lot for about 8 years...... Last officially licensed in 1983, a few temporary permits since then and it has not moved under its own power since 2012. I had some trouble getting spark to the plugs, traced the problem back to the Field wire on the voltage regulator on the firewall. It was very badly corroded right at the terminal plug that screws to the regulator. Drained about 25Lt of old gas out of the tank, cleared the line, cranked the motor and pumped it all the way to the carb, removed and cleaned the carb, I made sure we primed the engine properly to get oil to all the places before firing it up.... new gas and hey presto it runs!! Holy trinity right?? Fuel/Air/Spark and it should run! It's not perfect but a beauty none the less! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c49er Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 Sounds like/ looks like one cylinder is down.🙁 Hopefully after running awhile it will clear up and idle so you can balance a nickel on it's side. Those 265's are a good engine.🙂 I have two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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