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I don't mind the comment about the age of the car and safety - it doesn't hurt to have that in mind and not try to play bumper cars during rush hour, etc.
The travel times are manageable based on previous trips we've done - the biggest difference being we are doing this multiple days in close succession. We've planned to drive part of a day, rest the afternoon and evening, spend the next day sightseeing, then rinse and repeat.
I like the cargo net idea.
The car has AC.
Theft has crossed my mind. It happens. I've got a few ideas (park out front in well lit area, if hotel looks like it's in a sketchy part of town keep driving, etc...). I'll have to look into the kill switch idea.
lol at earplugs.
I replaced the front tires a few months ago, not due to wear but due to age. The rears are older but have rarely been outside/exposed to sun, so I'm not too worried.
... I replaced the front tires a few months ago, not due to wear but due to age. The rears are older but have rarely been outside/exposed to sun, so I'm not too worried.
Wrong. If they're over ten years old, replace them. Matter of fact, given that long road trip ahead, maybe even eight years old.
New tires are usually put on the rear unless size difference prohibits. The theory is that if a tire fails which is more likely with an old one, the front can be steered, the rear cannot.
The travel times are manageable based on previous trips we've done - the biggest difference being we are doing this multiple days in close succession. We've planned to drive part of a day, rest the afternoon and evening, spend the next day sightseeing, then rinse and repeat.
That's awesome! I really am excited to hear how it goes.
We have a group of fellas locally who get together once a year and take their various classics on a long trip. No families, just the guys. They load up their trunks with tools and parts likely to have issues, and off they go! Despite being prepared, they told me they still ran into a few issues where a car sometimes has to be towed back. But for the most part, they'd join together and help each other with repairs along the way. It sounds like fun.
Originally Posted by BangScreech4-4-2
Wrong. If they're over ten years old, replace them. Matter of fact, given that long road trip ahead, maybe even eight years old.
Agreed. I have no idea how old they are exactly, but BangScreech4-4-2 is spot on. Even if they are barely driven, it's wise to replace 6 year old tires that have been in the elements; 10 years at most if they've been kept in great conditions and in storage. My first experience with that was when I had some high-end Michelins on another car that were barely driven and stored out of the elements. By the time year 8 rolled around, they were very unsafe with hairline cracks radiating out from the rims everywhere in the sidewalls and running alongside the treads. They could have blown out at any point, even with short local drives. I even got an earful from the local tire place when I rolled in for a new set.
X2 No-AC no cruise I did the Power Tour in the 67 years ago...Had no issues going from Dallas to Michigan, but the the was almost all rebuilt. The 455 ran 160 degrees all the way up and back...at 8-10 MPG...
If you’re coming to California, especially SoCal and the BayArea, please know you’ll be doing well under 40 mph during daytime for at least part of your time in those areas. The great thing about LA, San Diego is they have parallel routes, so there are usually options to get around accidents and traffic.
Bay Area? You’ll be taking a bridge at some point no matter what. I highly recommend taking time to go up highway 101 vs 5. 5 is 300 mile straight ribbon of road with nothing to offer except shorter time between NorCal and SoCal. 101 a classic 4 lane in a lot of places which runs you through Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez and Monterey if you like. Also there are more towns on the 101 route in case you get into car trouble. Nothing much on I5, but it is a good 1.5-2.0 hours faster between LA and Bay Area than 101.
Consider modeling your route in Waze or Google Maps to get a traffic-sensitive view of time between destinations. In high population areas with traffic, distances can be very misleading. Lots of water, snacks and treats in the car and at least 1 charger for each person’s tablet or smartphone.
Tourist wise, Disney is great but expensive. In SD, Legoland is great depending on kids age/interests, LA has a great food scene these days, Santa Barbara has killer Mexican food (Los Agaves) and the prettiest mission of them all. Santa Ynez has fine dining and a ton of wineries. As does Paso Robles. A few hours north of there is the excellent Monterey Bay Aquarium and that’s not far from SF Bay. Our local cool trees in Marin are in Muir Woods, but require parking reservations 100% of the time. The walk through them is great, but no driving through that I know of. Continuing north you have Napa/Sonoma and enough food/wine to require hospitalization. Car valets up there love old cars and could care less about the next Ferrari or Lamborghini.. 101 going north of there up to Oregon has some of the most beautiful trees and rocky beaches you’d ever care to see.
Good luck on the trip. You’re a braver man than me!
Chris
Good lord, why even bother with owning a classic car if your scared to drive it?! Might as well keep it in the garage.
People managed just fine for almost 80 years without ABS, airbags, or any of the other safety features that society thinks you absolutely have to have. I’ll argue that a lot of these mandated safety features tend to make drivers over confident.
Know the limitations of the car, know the limitations of yourself, pay attention to the environment around you, and maintain a safe distance around you.
Don't be putting words in my mouth. I never said I was afraid to drive my old cars. I drive them all the time, including with my grandchildren to the local ice cream shop.
What I DON'T do is drive them 5,000 miles with my wife and children. I want them in a safe, reliable, modern car for something like that. Yes, we drove the old cars all over the country back in the day, and that's because that's all we had. In 1968, a '68 Cutlass WAS the most safe, modern, and reliable car you could get. But it isn't now. Not even close.
Thanks cfair, definitely doing a decent chunk of 101, assuming there aren't more mudslides. Some of the prep for the trip was installing a hidden dual-usb charger port in the back seat area on a dedicated circuit. My wife and kids don't to to the corner store w/o their giant water bottles either, so between that and the small cooler in the trunk we should be good there.
Driving an old car on a long journey is a very cool romantic thought. Very doable if you prep correctly.
I am with Jaunty on the safety. The way idiots drive these days?? Do people even look at the road in front of them? No. Fools are on their phones etc. Zero care. Stupidity is rampant.
(Cross posted on garagejournal.com as well for more views and potentially more local-specific advice)
I'm 1000 miles from home w/ the family on a roadtrip vacation in my 68 Cutlass. The engine has less than 5k miles on a rebuild, always checked out in tip-top shape (good compression, no leaks, etc...). About an hour outside of Colorado Springs, CO we stopped for gas and there was a noticeable leak under the car when I came out from the restroom. No oil leaks from top or front side of engine, drip appeared to be coming from the area of the flywheel cover. I've got it narrowed down to either rear main seal or oil filter seal, but it is too dark and I can't get my fat head under the car far enough to confirm on or the other. I'll figure out how to get under it in the morning and find out for sure but want to sleep on what my options are in the morning.
If it is the filter (I'm really hoping it is), that's easy I can handle it.
If it is the rear main seal...
There are people who could drop the trans, replace the seal, and reinstall in a motel parking lot. I'm not even going to try given the situation (family vacation). Any recommendations on auto repair shops in the Colorado Springs area that are open on Saturday (I know, I know, terrible timing, etc...).
The leak is bad - about half of the size of an 8.5x11 sheet of paper on the pavement of the hotel parking lot...but as long as I keep it from running low enough on oil to lose pressure, I should be able to limp it along...right? I understand the risk of doing this and not keeping a close enough eye on it and damaging the engine from uncovering the pickup. What other downsides are there to this?
If it is the rear main seal, it went from no leak to bad leak within the last 600 miles (I checked the car over thoroughly before leaving the previous hotel at the start of the day). Is that common, unheard of, rare, etc...? What could go wrong to cause that?
The worst case scenario is we abort the vacation and I u-haul it home to fix it there. I'd really like to salvage the vacation though if at all possible. Appreciate any comments in advance.
It takes multiple puddles bigger than the car to lose all the oil. Check oil every time you stop somewhere and put it back to full. Those cars will run on 3 quarts. Drive sanely, don't do high rpm romps or mad cornering and you'll be ok.
Definitely my leak - oil residue visible on flywheel cover and filter, spray all the way down the underside of the car. Watched drips from the flywheel cover.
Definitely my leak - oil residue visible on flywheel cover and filter, spray all the way down the underside of the car. Watched drips from the flywheel cover.
Ok. Noted.
Rope main seals don't normally die horribly like this. In the morning, check the oil filter tightness. I'd wipe it down as much as you can, and perhaps start the car and get under it on cardboard asap and see if you can see where it is coming from. I suppose the oil filter might have just up and died on the seal. If that's the case, new filter, more oil, be cured.
Please also check the rear of the valve cover for leak above your soaked area.
If you have a massive leak you can't fix (unless it's a pressurized leak like the oil filter mount gasket - easy fix), you can bypass the PCV valve and try to create a higher vacuum inside the engine that will slow down the leak.
We made it to Colorado Springs, CO near the Garden of Gods area. Filter is tight, and after wiping it off and dropping the cover it doesn't look like it is from the filter.
Found a shop open on Saturday, but no openings until 3pm...
it could be coming from a plug above the crankshaft on the rear of the block but I couldn't see up in between to tell. There are plugs in that area, I believe(?)
Since you're this involved w/ no apparent location identified I'd strongly suggest you add some fluorescent dye to the oil & evaluate w/ a UV (black) lamp. Every automotive parts store will carry a UV oil dye & UV pen light.
Assuming it is in fact oil, I'm in the camp that says limp it home with frequent stops for top-ups. By the sound of things, at least it doesn't seem to be getting worse.
It takes a lot of dripping to make a quart of oil. I once had a canister type filter( o ring type filter) start leaking on a trip to the coast, you could see drips on the ground leading to my car when ever it stopped. Only took a quart and a half every two hundred or so miles till I got it to an oil change place on the coast.
Try some time to put a cap full of oil on a clean piece of type paper and leave it overnight, usually it will cover most of the paper by morning. Check your oil more than often and carry extra oil. You should be fine and a little nervous but be OK...Tedd
Check the oil every fuel stop, top off as needed. Unless it starts to hemorrhage oil, I wouldn’t let anybody mess with it on the trip. If they don’t fix the leak, are you willing to drive back for the shop to attempt another repair? Unless it’s leaking enough for oil to drip off the rear bumper, I can’t imagine it going thru oil faster than fuel.
Even if you have to stop and add oil every hour, more than likely you will spend less time and money than you would attempting a repair on the trip.
I’d suggest getting a bottle of A/C oil with the fluorescent dye and adding some to the oil. Shine a black light on the suspect leak area, Stevie wonder will be able to see where the leak is coming from.
I’d suggest getting a bottle of A/C oil with the fluorescent dye and adding some to the oil. Shine a black light on the suspect leak area, Stevie wonder will be able to see where the leak is coming from.
Have you quantified how much oil you are losing? As suggested earlier, you may be better off carrying a lot of oil and doing frequent refills, rather than canceling your vacation. Also go with a thicker oil, since it's warm outside anyway.
Assuming you started out with fresh oil, a 5200 mile trip should incorporate an oil change. You didn't stop at one of those quickie-lube places, did you? They're notorious for doing things like stripping drain plugs with impact wrenches and manhandling oil filters.
Still alive. Very certain it's not from the rear of the valve cover or intake, both visually and bare hand wipe-check (that sounds weird). Got another 500 mile in today, leak is not getting worse (or better). If it goes suddenly I'll have it towed and repaired properly. We have several days planned in the San Diego area - if it makes it that far I'd like to find a shop to fix it properly so I don't have to worry about it on the return trip. I'll have to do some digging to figure out a good shop to bring it to.
Also very certain it's not from the filter or housing. I was able to run one side of the car up on a curb and crawl under, remove the flywheel cover, etc... Eliminated everything except rear main seal or plug on the rear of the block.
I spent a ton of time under this car w/ it up on a lift prepping for this trip - oil change, fixing minor exhaust leaks, replaced DS valve cover, etc... To say I was startled when I pulled in for gas and noticed oil dripping was an understatement. No sign of oil leaking before, and I've had the car on multiple 2+ hour drives over the past few summers, w/ a ton of short trips (work, kids' softball games, etc...). Doesn't make sense, but **** happens.
If anybody has recommendations for an auto repair place in San Diego, preferably as close as possible to the Mission Bay area I would appreciate it. I can google the options, but have no idea how to pick an auto repair place. I'll be in town later this week, assuming the leak doesn't get drastically worse in the meantime.
April 10th, 2024, 08:17 PM
