Hot Rods Road trip summer, 13,676 miles in topless roadsters and an A coupe.

• Early this spring I decided this would be the summer of the mega hot rod road trip, I don't mean just a two day run to a show or event a couple of states away but a real multi day multi thousand mile trip. In order to make the tsk a bit more manageable I planned three trips.
• The first trip was with my younger brother in my Y block powered A coupe, we left on May the 1st on a two week journey to the western states. We made it as far west as Moab Utah and by the time we returned had covered 4100 miles and had ascended into the Colorado mountains above Durango to an elevation of 10,640 ft. and encountered plenty of snow still unmelted. We passed through eight states by the end of the trip and had no problems with the weather or the car, the Y block took all the hard driving punishment we gave it without protest.
• The second round of travels was begun on July 7th with my good friend and frequent traveling buddy Russell "Duck" Guy in his deuce roadster which has never had and probably never will have a top. We shared the driving on this 5200 mile cruise, again to the western states. We passed through eleven states, got as far north as Montana and as far west as Nevada. The zenith of this trip ( pun intended ) was the drive up Pikes Peak to an elevation of over 14,000 ft. and getting caught in a sudden hail storm on the way down the mountain. The hail storm came with no warning while we were descending at about 13,000 ft. there is no shoulder on the Pikes Peak road so we could not pull off to wait it out we kept going very cautiously till visibility went to near zero and we had no choice but to stop in the middle of the roadway and hope everyone else did also. The storm only lasted about 10 minutes and when it stopped the footwells of the roadster were inches deep in hail stones.
• Amazingly the car suffered no damage and except for repeated knocks on our bare heads by the hail neither did we. As we traveled westward Duck mentioned that he had never been to the Bonneville Salt Flats and would really like to see them. So even though I was scheduled to go there in a few weeks to see the LSR competition we headed to the Utah Nevada border. The only other minor problem we encountered was an after noon of 107 degree weather in the Oklahoma panhandle. I have traveled the west in closed modern cars with all the comforts, in air conditioned convertibles, and on touring motorcycles, but nothing compares to doing it in a hot rod roadster.
• The third leg of this adventure was my solo run in my deuce roadster to the Bonneville salt for Speed Week. I left on Sunday morning July 30th with a plan to hook up with the Rolling Bones Circus somewhere in the mid west. I caught them Monday evening in Paxton Nebraska and even though I had not run with them before I was welcomed by Keith and the others as one of the gang. Running "full Schimdt" down a long lonesome highway with the Bones crew is like nothing else in hot rodding. Along the way several stops were planned at hot rod shops and private venues for lunch and socializing with the local car crowd. i was fortunate to attend one of the lunches at Youngblood's Hot Rods in Centerville Utah and a brunch at Justin Linares' estate near Salt lake City to experience his class A collection of early Ford hot rods, customs, and race cars. Continuing on to Bonneville on Thursday we found that it had rained a few days prior and there were several inches of water on the surface of the salt, but the sun was out and everyone felt like the course would be opened by Sunday. We checked into our hotels checked out the scene around Wendover then headed down to the Nugget parking lot for the usual display of hot rods driven or trailered to Bonneville and also explored the temporary pits that sprang up in the large parking lot behind the Shell station, all the while seeing old friends and making new ones. By Sunday the salt was still wet and the odds of whether or not the course would be open was 50/50, a lot of the old timers said no and I agreed and decided to begin my return home. The short course did open Tuesday and Wednesday but was not in the best shape. I left Nevada running solo again and had a great drive through the Snowy Range mountains of southern Wyoming narrowly missing another hail storm. The next day while cruising through the Nebraska plains I noticed the volt meter only reading 11.5 after investigating I determined the alternator was bad. I happened to be near a small town and the only parts store in town didn't have the one I needed and said it would be a two day wait to get one so I checked into one of the few motels there and remembered that Ben Haag and Holly Orel were a few hours behind me in the "Pale Rider" coupe I contacted them and they were closer to bigger town and found the part and were soon on their way to rescue me. When I was back on the road Ben, Holly, and I decided to stop in Lincoln and visit the Speedway Motors Museum. That place is awesome and the variety of hot rods, race cars and speed parts they have is beyond description, it's a must for your bucket list. After the museum I headed for home solo again with all going well until in a construction zone a traffic control barrel jumped out in front of me and I hit it head on with the driver side front tire. The impact made a loud noise but didn't cause me to lose control of the car or seem to do any evident damage the car drove on smoothly no vibrations or clanging noises from dragging parts I drove on for several miles then stopped to take a look. I was quite surprised to see that the drivers side font wheel was seriousl off camber and very toed out yet still drove as if there was no damaged, I inspected the entire front suspension for cracks, or distortions but found none. Since the car drove very well I continued the 500 mile or more drive home, fully expecting the drivers side tire to be toast by the time I arrived again amazed to find that after being measured for tread wear irregularities there were none. I now suspect the spindle is bent but will not really know until I take it apart. In spite of the few problems it was a great trip and added 4426 miles to the total since May 1st and I am not done yet still have the Old North State and the Gathering at the Roc which will add at least 2500 to the odometer. As we say without pictures it didn't happen so here are a few of the many I took.

 

TRUE HOT RODDERS!

 

Well done! Enjoying them how they should be enjoyed.

 

more pictures, I will post a seperate thread with pictures of the Nugget parking lot gathering and the Speedway museum

 

@garage2small, you've become one of my long distance hot rod heroes.
I hope we can get acquainted at the Old North State Invitational.

 

Road trip threads are my favorite. Great trip and great photos!

How "couped" up were you two in that Model A?

 

Plus one for the old guys. Good job.

 

Very cool and all the trips sound like a blast!

 

Great trip! Thanks for sharing. For those of us who are possibly contemplating doing long distance miles in a hot rod, what would you do differently now that you’ve made it back home?

 

For sure if I don't find you first just find me intr0duce yourself.

Well two people in a chopped A coupe is really not that bad but the trunk which had two weeks clothes for two people and the 14 gallon gas tank was quite full.

 

Great story and photos. It was almost like going on that ride with you.

 

Were not old we are just well experienced!

 

I wouldn't change a lot maybe take less clothes say four days worth and just do laundry more often, so I would have room for souveniers and such .
Also force myself to stop and spend more time outside the car exploring the sites, museums, the small towns, I am always anxious to get down the road.

 

Wow great trip(s) …. Now come on up to Canada ….. maybe plan the next deuce days and hook up in Saskatchewan with more hard core drivers ‼️‼️. You are definitely in the running for president of the HEMORRHOID HOT RODDERS INTERNATIONAL ‼️

 

You’re my hero for today!

 

Kudos for you guys! I drive my cars a lot, but nowhere near as much as you. Proves they are well built too. Livin the dream

 

Nothing short of epic! Congrats.

Lynn

 

Excellent, enjoyed your photos and trip details. Thanks for posting.

 

Really enjoyed the narrative and pictures. Did the girls at Bellas give you a souvenir hat?

 

So cool nothing like flying down the highway with a YBLOCK powered car no radio just listening to that engine sing.

 

Looks like a good time. Thanks for the pictures.

 

I only stopped for the photo op had to save cash for fuel!

 

Love it! Your definitely my hero. Doing trips like this is 100% on my bucket list.

Following you and a few other folks on Instagram is the only reason I have a account over there haha

 

Go man go!

 

Thanks for the pics! Sounds like a great adventure.

 

Dang, GaryB, that’s a lifetime’s worth of adventure in just a few months!
I don’t think (know) that I could do it.
Well done and thanks for the great pics!
Here’s my fav:

 

Way cool,
Love watching your adventures

 

that was my favorite photo and spot I stopped at also

 

Congratulations. What an adventure.

 

Way to go, I appreciated the ride along and next time you go please post more...we all enjoy your car in the photos too.