Kurt Zimmerle Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 (edited) Scroll down to see my daily agenda/Plan with room for other spontaneous stops for fun. I want to invite anyone who wants to join me in helping me drive my 1925 Cadillac home. I will be leaving Chaplain Illinois and heading north to Petoskey Michigan. The dates are June 14-19 , little over 100 miles a day. I have stops planned each day of interesting things solar system model, circus museum and car museums. I am going to Gilmore for sure. I have road side oddities to visit too. Come for part or join me for all of it. Back road fun. There is even a spot in Northern Michigan that if you drive down a little hill away from a church and put your car in neutral your car will appear to roll up hill back towards the church! I want to meet other older car enthusiasts If your interested call/text me 231-632-5968 kurt.zimmerle@gmail.com If this is not the spot to post feel free to delete. First day I will be traveling from Savoy Il and heading east on country rd 1200 N/W to Danville Il to see some local art and a brick sculpture. I will then head north east to West Lafayette IN and see the Voss Model of our solar system. Spending the night in Lafayette, a nice easy 94.5 miles for the first day.Second Day, Lafayette to Fort Wayne with stops in Peru IN to see an oddities museum and then circus Museum. Later in the afternoon I hope to stop at Tom Hoczyk Hearses. Then spend the night in Fort Wayne.Third Day depending on if anyone has joined me, I hope to go to the fire Museum in Fort Wayne and then head to Auburn IN. If I have guests and we want to stop and see the Cord, Auburn, Dusenburg Museum, I have been recently so we could skip and head strait to Gillmore car Museum and get pics of our cars in front of the Cadillac Building, old Gas station and dinner. Ending at hopefully the Comfort inn in Plainwell Mi. Its a big day not sure how else to break this up.Forth Day, Painwell, to Holland and up the coast to Muskegon to see a WWII Sub? and then up the coast to Mears MI possible Dunes Waterfront Resort. I plan on stoping at the little towns along the way or stop for photos of the lake. Fifth Day, Mears Mi to Glenn Arbor. There are some yellow dinosaurs and a cool spot where you drive past a church and when you put your car in neutral it appears to roll back up hill to the church. Empire has a nice little Ice Cream Shop and then to Glenn Arbor and Cherry Republic for awesome food treats. Cherry ginger Ale and Cherry Salsa. I will be spending the night with friends in the area there are lots of little places to stay.Sixth Day, meet up for breakfast and head east again to Traverse City then north to the 45th Parrell to get our pics half way between the equator and the North Pole! nice slow drive up the coast again to Charlevoix and then over to the Ironton Ferry a fun short little boat ride with 4 cars at a time. then back roads to Petoskey there is a nice hotel just up the street from me that has covered parking for your car that you could stay at. If you want to stay Sunday I could take you up the tunnel of trees, Petoskey is awesome and so is Harbor Springs. Edited May 17, 2021 by Kurt Zimmerle Updated information (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RansomEli Posted May 7, 2021 Share Posted May 7, 2021 Sounds like a beautiful trip. Can't make it but hope a lot of people do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C Carl Posted May 9, 2021 Share Posted May 9, 2021 Hi Kurt ! Man that Cad is looking good ! A suggestion before you take off, is to pull the distributor and set it up on a machine. Set and synchronize the points, and check bushing. Perhaps replace the bearing with a sealed one. And do not neglect to de-couple the direct exhaust heat to the intake manifold, and cap the ports on the exhaust manifold with steel plates. This trip will generate memories for life, and you want to tip the balance in favor of good ones. Hot intake on hot days raises the drivers blood pressure and temperature to the third power. As the miles and hours and days go by behind the wheel, your thoughts will turn to all sorts of state-of-the-art century old technology. Engine reliability is particularly fun to contemplate, as you realize what the Spirit of Saint Louis was about to do. Etc, etc, etc. For all of the forum : I have been talking to Kurt as he has been looking for a 1920s Cadillac. He is exactly the age I was when I bought my first “oldie” from Eastern Ohio, the beloved ‘24. Have always wished I had got the turn key car sorted for long distance driving as it awaited the snow to melt off the Rockies late June. Driving home with a chase and tool truck would have been a fantastic shake down cruise. But I wouldn’t have got far. Might have just made Indiana before the multiple plate clutchpak froze up. A sleepy parade car put back in heavy duty road service may well have that happen. If it does, you want to do some bearing replacement in the trans while it is out. Input bearings with scores of thousands of miles accumulated with inferior lubricants of the times, should be replaced routinely. But we just don’t know what the road holds for Kurt’s clutch. Sometimes they do seize up. On the other hand they sometimes loosen up. Sometimes they stay the same. I really treasure my phone calls with Kurt, and Jason as they discover the wonderful world of Roaring Twenties Cadillackin’. They bring me back to the enthusiasm I had when I was in the prime of my life. I am deeply grateful to the people on this forum who share their old car lives with me. I encourage all to include tips for Kurt as he prepares for departure scarcely over a month from now. Kurt, you are soon to be the most popular guy on forum. I hope you find companions for each leg of your trip. The rest of us all here will be “armchair shotgun riders”. Bon Voyage ! 😎, - CC P.S. Don’t let me forget to tell you of the lesson Gil Duffy gave me about driving interesting old machinery on the road. I would right now, but I am typically late. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunnyjay Posted May 10, 2021 Share Posted May 10, 2021 13 hours ago, C Carl said: I really treasure my phone calls with Kurt, and Jason as they discover the wonderful world of Roaring Twenties Cadillackin’. They bring me back to the enthusiasm I had when I was in the prime of my life. I am deeply grateful to the people on this forum who share their old car lives with me. I encourage all to include tips for Kurt as he prepares for departure scarcely over a month from now. Thanks for the Shout out Cadillac Carl! I've enjoyed the calls, learned a lot, and really appreciate you helping me learn about my '22 and suggestions to keep it running safely. BTW - I did remove the carb this weekend and the float is a mess as you and others suspected. Very soggy and deteriorated. It's being shipped out today to be rebuilt. Thanks for the tips! Kurt, I wish I could join this tour. It's just a little too far away, although I would love to explore western and northern Michigan someday. I hear it's beautiful! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt Zimmerle Posted May 10, 2021 Author Share Posted May 10, 2021 Cadillac Carl the man, the Myth, the legend! Thank you for your kind words. I Love our phone calls, they are so informative and hearing you talk of your adventures is so fascinating. I wish you could join me on this adventure. I am hopping to meet more old Cadillac lovers and drivers and learn from them on how to keep this beauty on the road and have many safe miles of travel. I am hoping that if all goes well I will be driving it to the Cadillac weekend at Gillmore. Jason, You are welcome anytime to come to Northern Michigan I have a spare bed room and could help show, lead, or direct you on some fun day trips around the area. It is a beautiful part of the country and I love sharing it with guest. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt Zimmerle Posted May 14, 2021 Author Share Posted May 14, 2021 I was wondering what safety precautions do you all take when you are on a road trip when you park for the night at a hotel. Do you disconnect the battery ? I have seen old wheel locks. I was just wondering. Planning and Packing is going well as June 14th draws near. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael J. Barnes Posted May 15, 2021 Share Posted May 15, 2021 Disconnecting battery sounds like a good idea. You will be the only person who knows where it is. Likewise — who could really start one of those cars nowadays and drive off in it? I didn’t know about the starter pedal till I bought my 1924 Cadillac. I can imagine you in a parade of early Cadillac V8s! But alas, not this trip. I am really only a few hours north of Cadillac Carl. I used to imagine me driving south in my V63 touring while Carl drove north in his. Two nearly identical touring cars meeting in the middle. But that trip-dream-project has yet to take place. In fact, though I have seen his car in Seattle, I have never met him face to face. Happy driving, Kurt. Be sure to post many pictures of your tour here and on the Early V8 Cadillac forum! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael J. Barnes Posted May 15, 2021 Share Posted May 15, 2021 For others interested in early V8 and nickel-era Cadillacs, feel free to join our forum: https://groups.io/g/EarlyV8Cadillac Mike Barnes Forum moderator Vancouver, B.C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAKerry Posted May 15, 2021 Share Posted May 15, 2021 My brother and myself used to do a lot of long distant motorcycle touring. Not that we really cared that much, or looked for special attention but typically the hotel/motels we stayed at would let us park under the canopy at the front entrance. I would imagine any place you stop would be more than glad to have you park your car right up front and centre. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C Carl Posted May 15, 2021 Share Posted May 15, 2021 (edited) 3 hours ago, TAKerry said: My brother and myself used to do a lot of long distant motorcycle touring. Not that we really cared that much, or looked for special attention but typically the hotel/motels we stayed at would let us park under the canopy at the front entrance. I would imagine any place you stop would be more than glad to have you park your car right up front and centre. YES ! Collateral benefit is protection from destructive UV sunlight, and rain. - CC NOW I HAVE THE UPSIDE DOWN CURSE. I HAVE EVEN COPIED THE PICTURE INVERTED IT, AND ADDED BOTH VERSIONS. Both came out insisting to provoke me. I’ll mess with it later, but now Sandy and I are going to my brothers house. Edited May 15, 2021 by C Carl Trying to right up an inverted pic WITHOUT ANY LUCK ! (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C Carl Posted May 15, 2021 Share Posted May 15, 2021 Let’s see : That got it ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt Zimmerle Posted May 16, 2021 Author Share Posted May 16, 2021 3 hours ago, C Carl said: Let’s see : That got it ! I forget how people love to see old cars out on the road. Today I drove my 1954 Cadillac on my usuall mothers day gift to mom of driving 110 miles visiting 6 plant nurseries and love the peoples responses. I was telling about my car every stop and some even remembered us because of the car. Which makes total sense that I could maybe ask to part under the canopy to keep my baby safe. 28 days before my next adventure starts I am supper excited. The response has been good on this adventure. I have no one joining me as of yet but several maybes and maybe a day visit or two. I hope they work out. I will be posting my full schedule for the 6 days on the road soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt Zimmerle Posted May 19, 2021 Author Share Posted May 19, 2021 I received a new Review Mirror for my 1925 and I went with tires from Universal in Hersey PA. The tires should go on next week when we get the fluids changed. The 1925-2021 Cadillac Adventure is coming together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt Zimmerle Posted May 21, 2021 Author Share Posted May 21, 2021 Latest addition to the trip is on Day 6th on the last leg of the trip I will be swinging buy the village that I teach art in the student have begged me to be in the towns parade that day. So anyone who joins me is also welcome to the parade with me. It will be all of 6-8 blocks and then we will be on our way north to Ironton Ferry a fun little short ferry ride on a little 4 car ferry. Then through some little towns and ending in Petoskey Mi for dinner that night. There a ton of places that would be fun to take anyone who joins me on the trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt Zimmerle Posted May 21, 2021 Author Share Posted May 21, 2021 I have bought tires and getting them put on this week as with the fluid changes so I am getting ever ready for the big trip. I bought a cell phone charging battery so I can recharge my phone as I go during the day. I have a suction cup cell phone holder that I can put on the windshield to help with the navigating and check on my speed etc with it for the trip. I was thinking of a cup holder that clips on the door like the old ones in the 80s before we all had cup holders all over in our cars? or should I get one of the newer ones that fits between the seats? Besides tools, fluids, what am I missing? What kind of Jack do you all carry with you on these trips? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C Carl Posted May 21, 2021 Share Posted May 21, 2021 Has your windshield been replaced with safety glass ? - Carl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt Zimmerle Posted May 21, 2021 Author Share Posted May 21, 2021 3 hours ago, C Carl said: Has your windshield been replaced with safety glass ? - Carl I don't know, I do remember seeing the little safety glass etching on a window on the car but not sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael J. Barnes Posted May 26, 2021 Share Posted May 26, 2021 Where did you get the rearview mirror? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt Zimmerle Posted May 27, 2021 Author Share Posted May 27, 2021 21 hours ago, Michael J. Barnes said: Where did you get the rearview mirror? someone on here introduced me to, https://restorationstuff.com/shop/ they have a lot of things for older cars of this era. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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