Projects NYC to Detroit Roadtrip!

I posted a thread a few months ago asking your opinions about whether I should ship my car after moving or if I should drive it. I received an overwhelming response from the "Drive" group, so I booked a one-way plane trip Thursday night to begin my journey! So today, while my boss thought I was at home sick, I've been working on my car 700 miles away getting ready for the trip. I'm pretty excited about spending some much needed time behind the wheel and hopefully make a trip that will make for some good stories to tell. I gotta admit though, alot of people I've been talking to today have been telling me I'm crazy for driving that old car that far, and that "You've got more balls than me, kid!". I get nervous when too many people tell me good luck on my trip, I get superstitious with stuff like that. I'm gonna try and post my progress as I go along wherever I get an internet connection and keep you guys updated. I've never gone quite this far with it before, so I'm nervous and excited!

Here's the link for the original post with more details:
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/drive-it-or-ship-it.1010010/

 

Getting ready for some mileage!

 

See the USA, in your Chevrolet.

 

Man just drive and enjoy. Dont wory everything will be ok. Just keep a tool box carry some cash and comon sence. Just check that if everything on the car is tightend up. Good luck

 

A lifetime of memories are made on the road, safe travels. People told me I was nuts when I drove my truck from MD to Brooklyn for the Rumblers show. Had some problems but we STILL talk about it years later.,

 

I always say ; if it will drive down the street it will drive across the country.

 

Thank you for some much needed reassurance, I'm going over the car again this morning just to make sure.

 

700 miles?? Piece of cake! If it will not go that far, scrape it.

Ben

 

Some good advice here. Just go for it and enjoy and deal with whatever comes along!

When living in Sioux City, Iowa I bought an '50 F1 (289, C4 and 9") from a fellow in California. I flew out and met him in Sacramento.....did the exchange and drove it back to Sioux City, 1650 miles. I didn't get out of the state of Cal when it rained (in Cal?) and the 12v wiper system failed........I managed to find a shop off the highway where the fellow dropped what he was doing to help me. The wiper motor was toast. I had my sister bring me a new one from C.W. Moss. Waited a few hours for her to deliver it......he installed it right away and off I went.......not another drop of rain the rest of the trip. The pickup ran great and I had a ball!

 

I bought a ramp truck, cleared all the dead rats from the cab, added a heater, fuel lines, brake lines, cleaned up interior and drove it from Seattle to Detroit. Took lots of side roads. Great trip. I hope you go for it.

 

My wife & I flew out to Denver, Co to drive a '62 Nova Convert home. It was a epay purchase. We ran into rain, had trouble with the wipers coming off, drove of to a K Mart and parked under their awning and luckily found some to fit in KMart. It was a great trip, we were prepared for more problems but didn't have any. It was a great trip & we've had others as well. Enjoy your drive!

 

All road trips turn into stories! Can't wait to hear yours common sense will get you there no problem! ENJOY! Joe

 

I have a friend who bought a stock Model T in Alaska and drove it back home to Texas, 6,000 miles. He says with a cell phone and a credit card, you can drive anything anywhere.

 

I was driving across the dessert in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night when my heap just died. Walked a few miles (w/ my best friend and sister), to a town (which consisted of a service station, motel and diner), got the car towed there. Got up at six am, waiting outside the service station, no one there. Sign said "hours 6:00 am to 5:00pm. Waited till 7:00, no one showed so I went to the diner for some eggs. There were only two other customers, looked rough-missing teeth, so I asked them when the mechanics usually got in. "They get there whenever they feel like it..." Was the answer. I went back out there and waited in front of the garage until 8:30, then all of the sudden the door starts rolling up with that real slow electric motor vibration. Guess who was standing there, looked me in the eye and said "what can we do for ya?"




Answer: guys from diner. I was only 23 years old so it was a surprise.

 

Go for it !! I'm not sure what route you will be taking but I am just of RT.86 in Horseheads /Elmira NY if you run into any trouble I will be willing to help any way I can have a Great Trip!! Hobo Jim

 

Ok I was hoping to update as I went along but wifi has been pretty tough to find. So right now I'm sitting in a McDonald's parking lot just past the Ohio border using their internet.

I got a late start yesterday (2:30ish) and drove through until about 10:00, making plenty of pit stops along the way. I drove through a bit of rain early on, but luckily I had the foresight to rain-ex the windshield before I left (my wipers don't work.. I know, real smart!). I've been cruising 60-65mph at about 2,800 rpm, water temp hovering around 200 degrees so I'm really happy with it. Every time I stop for gas, my GPS takes me along local roads to find the interstate and it's taken me through farmland and really nice two-lane roads that break up the long stints on the highway. Everywhere I stop I meet older guys with stories about how they had cars just like this and that mine reminded them of good times. One of my favorite things about this car is the way people light up reminiscing about days gone by. Last night around 10pm I was about a half hour from the Ohio border and it started raining so I stopped at a rest area not knowing when the next one would be. It was a good thing I did, because it started pouring buckets and didn't let up for another hour. I slept in the car, with one eye open and a tire iron under the seat and caught a few hours. That about brings us to where I'm at now, I'm gonna attempt to upload some pictures depending on how good my connection is. After that, it's back to the wheel!

 

Excuse the shaky/blurry photos, I tried taking them while driving

 

Two cup holders and a skeleton.......top shelf ride for sure. Safe travels.

 

You seem to have things coverdTheres a couple guys in town that are lucky to make it to the corner store and back in their wrecks. There is a Flying J at the point where you will start going north near Toledo,good place for breakfast!! Good luck and enjoy the ride.

 

Alright....another Detroit guy on here...to bad ya couldn't have gone a day earlier..ya could of had it at Sins of Steel yesterday..next weekend is the Detroit Dragway reunion / Billetproof deal at Milan...another road trip for ya. Congrats on the purchase and a successful ride home

 

The past 5 years I have enjoyed driving my 56 Custom ElCamino from Upstate New York to Michigan in August to see my Son and his Family and to participate in the Woodward Dream Cruise. Your trip from NYC will be about 350 miles longer. The Thruway and Ohio Turnpike makes for a decent ride. I sometimes like to take the northern route through Canada from Niagara Falls to Port Huron. Depending on the border crossings, it can save about an hour from my trip.
Been traveling to Michigan since my Son went to College there in the 90's. Before I built the 56 I used to make several of my trips in my old 37 Chevy Custom Kingcab pickup, my 37 Chevy Chopped Sedan and a 69 Camaro I had.
Enjoy your ride.

 

Glad to see you chose to drive it, it's an easy drive. Route 80 gets a bit boring though PA, but you can cover lots of ground easily. Ohio has nice rest stops. There is a Waffle House in OH just past the PA border and there is a solid IHOP on 75 near Detroit. Have fun!

 

Looks like your having a great time as any road trip should be! Joe

 

I hope your trip is as fun as my "2600 mile Test Drive" from Denver to LSR to Dallas & then home to Detroit was.
I broke stuff, fixed stuff, slept in rest stops (like you), etc.

What a BLAST!!!

 

I made it! Thankfully the car held up really well and made for a very enjoyable drive. All I can say is rainex is a godsend and I would have been in major trouble without it. PA was tough to tackle but I atleast covered most of it on the first day. I forgot to mention that me and my friends had recently re-done the exhaust with some tube headers and thrush glasspacks. I honestly thought the noise would get to me so I brought earplugs to keep myself sane. I didn't end up wearing them because I think it sounds so great especially on runoff- I didn't even turn on the radio the entire trip. My ears are still ringing but it was worth it. It's a shame that in the videos there's alot of wind noise, I'd listen to it again and again if I could. I'm so glad I decided to take the drive, I feel like it was good preparation for the Bonneville trip I'd like to make some day (If there's any salt left by the time I can do it!)

 

I'm gonna try to make it for the reunion, I have yet to really get into the scene here

 

Couple stops here and there to stretch and let her cool off

 

You don't want to get into any "scene"....just have fun with your car....drive the wheels off of it..seems a lot of folks got into the "scene" only to move on to the next big thing....long hair, beards, denim vests, red wing boots, and some kind of ratty motorcycle, many went from 50's greaser to 1969 biker....next disco will make a comeback....than the 80's and the iPhone's will be replaced by bag phones...can grunge be far behind....just be you...enjoy your car, come out to some cruise nights, hang out, and have some fun..
Very cool deal ya did...you should be proud...hope to meet ya someday