Event Coverage *Mr.ModelT and Powerwagonmaniac's epic journey to Bonneville!*

Clayton posted this up on his build thread but I figured more would see it if it was on it's own.

"Bonneville or Bust"
Part 1

Forward
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Chris and I have pushed hard, draining every resource of time, energy and extra cash to make our Bonneville "Speed Week" deadline and venture out on the trip of a lifetime. For the last two years We worked for this trip....working up to the very end, refusing to give up even in the face failure or setbacks.



Had it not been for our devoted friends and families who gave so much to make sure that we reached our dream....we never would have made it.

It is to all of you and our fallen heros (my Grandpa Thor and Chris's Dad Bill)
that this trip is dedicated.


The trip begins:

As Chris and I had planned, Wednesday was our "hit the road" date, but of course (as any good road trip has) we hit a few snags in final adjustments and staging making for a late Tuesday night. We already knew that both cars were going cold with NO road time....but hitting the road with less then 4 hours of sleep was just not safe....so we all chose to head out Thursday early.

3:30 am Thursday morning came all too early, but there was no shortage of excitement from all parties going. My best friend Dan was riding shotgun with Chris in the "Special", Andy Bolig (C5 rider here and tech editor for Auto Enthusiast Mag) was riding with me and watching out for us on the road as well as running the much needed "trouble truck" was Troy..our awesome machinist friend who put in many tireless hours making much needed parts to get us on the road.

We still had a few more small adjustments to make...but it was now or never, so we got to work with final prep...







With all of the finishing touches complete and H.A.M.B. tags present..







...we hit the road and made great time in the great Columbia River Gorge. Both car ran out famously...notably the "Special" who gave me a run for my money and looked great doing it..



Then, tragedy struck

Just 52 miles out of Portland, Chris put his foot into the throttle a bit and with a "BANG!" the "Special" just quit. Chris coasted to the shoulder and I pulled in behind. We pulled off the hood and hogshead cover to find that when the starter was hit, the flywheel and tranny was spinning....but the front end of the motor was not.



Fearing the worst, we dropped the pan to take a look...and our fear was realized, we had a nicely broken crankshaft.





And with that....the "Special's" journey was over

I began to have a second thought or two about continuing, but Chris urged me to press on...that I "couldn't quit now"...

So I got back on the highway, poured the coal to the roadster's strong new motor and pressed on into the gorge for Hood River, Cascade Locks and The Dalles.



...until running into a little snag....



Apparently the Arlington Co. Oregon Sheriff was none to happy with the roadster being licensed as a regular passenger vehicle and having none of the required lighting for safe night driving...in the middle of the day. He told me that the car was not safe and should be on a trailer, to which I replied "she doesn't like trailers...she is a driver and I built her that way". I also told him that when I licensed the car (nearly 6 years ago) I had asked the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles if I would have a problem with that...To which their reply was "no, the car is exempt".

According to the Sheriff....it was not and he proceeded to read my the Oregon State Vehicle Code Book page by page....wasting nearly an hour of valuable road time. After issuing me a $160 dollar ticket, he told me to head back to the nearest town and get it on a trailer....Like hell I will.

I ran back to The Dalles (100 miles in the wrong direction) waited in the DMV for nearly 3 hours (the DMV employees were VERY helpful) before hitting the road again with the roadster licensed as an "Antique Auto" and a temp permit in my window..



We hauled ass for Pendleton, trying to make it to Ontario before nightfall, but we came up short and had to end Day 1 in Pendleton for beer, pizza and a good nights rest.



Stay tuned for Part 2!
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heros

 

had the same thing happen to me ,cop said car was unsafe it had to be trailered !
he than told me to drive accross the street to a parking lot and call for a trailer ,i told the cop :i couldn,t because car was unsafe to drive ! : i sure hope that i don,t
run into him again!!!!!!!!!

 

You're my new hero!

 

So what was all the hub-bub? Only one tail light? No fenders? Speeding? Gary

 

get him a box of donuts and tell him to go aft. killers and dope dealers. good for you.

 

one of the benifits of being an old fat guy, the cops don't hassle me for no good reason any more.

 

Thanks to all who replied! I posted this on my rebuild thread, but I will post Parts 2, 3 and 4 here as well.

 

I fuckin love you man!!!

Sorry to hear about the special though.



BloodyKnuckles

 

Great story; shame about the broken crank. S**t happens. Excellent thinking on the antique registration; you can't let the bastards grind you down.
Keen to see the following episodes!

 

One of my favorite builds, can't wait to read the rest!

 

Way awesome. I'm jeleaous.!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Sorry about the crankshaft and the cranky cop ! We're all hangin on and riding with you. Keep smilin!

 

It was cool to see you crusing the strip sat night. I was the guy with the 8 year old who stopped by when you were fixing the fan sat night.

Tim

 

... and HAMB legends!

 

He came all that way just to give my wife a ride. Thanks!

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/z0Yq6CB2h6U" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

So sorry about the "Special", but sure happy to see you motoring on! That car is probably safer than the Sheriff's ride. Bet you his car has had more safety recalls, than any HAMB friendly cars have. Looking forward to the rest of the journey, thank you for the thread.

 

Sounds great . We're proud of you guys !

 

This thread looks like fun.Sorry to hear about the "special".
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

Was because it didn't have the proper lightening to be categorized as a passenger vehicle. The T just has one rear brake light and no blinkers. The guy literally sat there with his rule book trying to find what he could pin on him. Must have been a slow day in Arlington.

 

"Bonneville or Bust"
Part 2

Friday morning at 5:00 am came just as early as Thursday had with a not so subtle wake up call from my childhood friend Daniel.....Should I have expected anything else?

After a hot shower and a decent breakfast, we headed down to the parking lot to clean off the bugs from Day 1 and service the car for the days drive.





As we rolled out of town, we encountered one of the steepest grade of the trip...Cabbage Hill just outside Pendleton.



the view from the top...



The T preformed flawlessly, making an average speed of 55 mph + up the grade the whole way..

Once we crested the summit, I opened her up in overdrive and we pushed on for Ontario and the Idaho boarder..



...and she ran out flawless over the next 100 + miles...





We triumphantly roared across the Idaho state line at about lunch time...



Many other travelers slowed down to get our picture as we rolled along..



...but I was about to be hit with another problem.

My original Ford fan pulley (an aluminum hub with two bronze bushings), which was not designed for the high speed abuse and the long mileage began to show signs of kicking the bucket in Ontario, OR with massive amounts of play and wear. I packed it full of grease with the hope of it making to at least Wendover where we could formulate a plan of repair for the trip home...but the hub had other ideas.

20 Miles west of Boise, ID the engine temp was climbing abnormally high, the engine working too hard against the damaged fan hub, so I pulled over in the shade of an underpass to let her cool down and remove the fan belt.



We got back on the road and the motor stayed plenty cool..as long we kept moving...

...Until we hit traffic through Boise. In the stop and go gridlock...the temp rose way to high and I was forced to pull off and wait for the Chris and Jay to run back to the last town and pick up a double axle U-Haul trailer and the parts needed to convert the T to an electric cooling fan. By the time they got to us...it was after 5:00 pm and our chances of making Wendover in the daylight were long gone.

I was forced to make the call (the right one I felt) to load her on the trailer and "U-Haul Ass" for Wendover...



This worked out...because even at 65-70 mph we still got in at 2:00 am



...for a good nights rest before our first day on the salt.

The next morning, most of us slept in 'till 9:00....lord knows we needed it, whilst Troy and Chris had an early start and headed out to the salt on a "do and don't" mission. The rest of us joined them later for our first sight of the salt...and what a GLORIOUS sight it was..exactly the same sight my grandfather had seen 60 years previously.

We had FINALLY reached the salt!



We were also lucky enough the meet Andy's friend, fellow photographer and Bonneville regular Jeff Conger who graciously gave us the full "$5.00 tour" which showed us all that we would need to know....things that we would NOT have known with out such a tour.

After our first day, we headed back to the Hotel for dinner and a shower before heading out to the parking lot to commence repairs on the T along with her 500 mile break-in oil change to have her ready for her day on the salt in morning.





After that....she needed a night out, so I let her go "clubbing" at the nugget ....



...Meet a ton of great H.A.M.B.ers (many I have known but never met in person and many new people too)....



...and gave plenty of rides (like this one, seen here with H.A.M.B.er Rapid Rob)



Part 3 coming soon!
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This is way too cool, you sir must have quite a pair of brass balls. Its certainly something not for the faint of heart

 

cool thread..waiting for part 3..awesome trip despite the mishaps..glad you got there and back..

 

Reads like a good novel. Good for you....sounds like a big check off the bucket list.

 

Very impressive Clayton! That was some cool hot rodding right there! Very impressive!

 

Awesome.

 

"Bonneville or Bust"
Part 3

The next morning...with yet another not so subtle wake up call from Daniel...we awoke at 5:00 am just before sunrise, loaded up the T and headed for the salt...

...and this is what Dan and I captured with our cameras...









As my wheels kissed the salt for the first time...I could not help but get choked up a bit. I had succeeded in my journey...my "pilgrimage", but I wished that Grandpa had been there with me...in life rather then spirit.












After the light came up a bit more, Andy and I wandered off for a bit into the un-driven parts of the salt in search of the perfect location for a photo shoot.
...here is a sample of what he and I captured..









A great panorama that Dan took..



Troy and I collected a bit of salt in little glass jars from my tired treads as a trophy that I had made it..





Then...it was off to the races!







Stay tuned for Part 4!
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So freakin' awesome

 

Great to meet you in person Clayton, your do or die attitude is awesome!

 

Can't wait for part 4, fantastic!!!