i'm going to repost a blog i put up somewhere about my move from des moines, iowa to blacksburg, va. keep in mind that i am driving a 1960 ranchero. while i do mention getting help in the blog, i do not thank ron nearly enough for saving my dumb ass in indianpolis. thanks again, brother!!! a funny thing happened on the way to the dirty south... well, maybe not so funny. at least not ha-ha funny. so, i work thursday until 5, put the last of my shit in boxes, have some dinner at a friend's house, and go home to crash. i got up at 4, showered, and packed the car. i lived on the 4th floor, so that whole process sucked. i left around 7. the car was packed to the gills, so i could barely see anything. no biggie, i'm a trooper. around noon or so, i stopped for gas again. when i started it, it backfired, there was a puff of smoke, and then smoke was rolling out from under the hood. i popped the hood open and FLAMES!! i ran into the gas station and the clerk was pointing to a fire extiguisher. i grabbed it, ran out and put out the fire. i checked things out and it looked like it melted the choke off and really didn't do anymore damage. being the idiot i am, i just hopped in and kept going. i got to indianapolis and the car died on an offramp where was stopping to get gas. it would not start. i was having trouble idling before that. five minutes later, my savior showed up. he walked up and asked if i needed any help and said he built old cars in his spare time. luck was on my side. we fiddled with it for a bit, ran back to his house where his wife had dinner ready, called some auto parts places and some guys he knows for advice, and went back to the car to fuck with it some more. couldn't get it started and figured i needed a carberator. i crashed on ron's couch and in the morning, he had to go pick up something he had bought on ebay about four hours away, but he was able to get me the shuttle van at the airport he works in, to use for the day. i bought a carberator and that did not solve the problem. i went back to the shop and the guy fucked with it for a while and i tried it again. i started to blame the fuel pump. i found an electronic pump and bypassed the mechanical one(i couldn't find one of those.). it was still giving way too much gas. by then, it was starting to get dark again. i said 'fuck it' and headed out on the road. at highway speeds, it ran fine. in town, or coasting, i had to use a switch to shut the pump off for a few seconds then on, etc, etc. not great, but at least i was moving again. i quickly decided i was exhausted and crashed in a motel at the indiana-ohio border. it was a good call. i had some cold beers, dinner, and crashed. it made it so i could do the rest of the drive in the daylight. turns out it was a better call than i thought because, in w.v. at a toll booth, i discovered i had no brakes. i got off at the next town, almost killed myself blowing a stop sign(had to swerve to the right to miss a truck), stopped at a gas station and figured out that one of my rear brakelines was broken. there were no auto parts stores in the town and the closest was ten miles away. i used a piece of fuel line and a couple hose clamps on each side to stop the leak and headed down the road. i stopped a couple times to check my fix and it was fine. small drops here and there, but holding. finally, two and a half days into a 15 hour drive, i made it to blacksburg!
Wow a hell of an intro... Sounds like too much Drama in one road trip. Ron is a good guy. I have bought some pieces from him in the past and everything was better than he said they was. Dawg
Scoob rocks. Did you ever see the last scene of the warehouse in "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom"? That's actually Scooby's secret parts pile. He has 6 NOS Arks of the Covenant, all hooked up to a 25 B.C. Latham chariot supercharger.
I have never met him, but from what I've read of him on the HAMB, I am sure he is, no doubt, hung like a moose.
Aw shucks Jason, you are making me shy. I'm glad to see ya found the HAMB. I like your old Ranchero and you'd make a great addition to the board. I took a picture of your Ford and I gotta figure out how to post it on here. It's cool...despite the fits it gave ya. You gotta expect a little something when you drive a 46 year old car cross country! I give Jason huge props for knowing to carry a full toolbox on the trip though (and for knowing how to use em). Plus a TV, guitar, amp, every possible article of clothing, and every other earthy possession! Anyway, please stick around on the board and post up some pictures of that Ranchero. It's was good to meet ya and I'm glad to hear ya made it safe to Virginia. Stop in whenever you are back this way.
sounds like i'm not the first friend unclescooby has made on here. also sounds like i'm not the only one who's a little jealous of his parts stash. he's got a pretty impressive set up in indy. i wish i had taken a picture or two of the fully (over)loaded ranchero, it was a sight to behold. there is an old saying about god taking care of fools and i definitely fit the bill. it was a hell of a trip and i really should have shipped just about everything except the tool boxes. thanks again ron!
Thats a great road trip story. It sounds like you know your way around a car too. Thats what makes taking trips in old cars kind of an adventure, you never know whats going to happen. You can also test your skills cobbling pieces together on the side of the road. Post a pic of your Ranchero.
Post a pic of your Ranchero.[/QUOTE] I've got some pictures of your Ranchero FULLY loaded down. I'll try to post em up tonight. Good thing you got out of here when ya did too. They bulldozed that gas station the next morning. No kidding.
This is from the first time I started posting on the board. Still owe Unclescooby big time! My girlfriend laughs at me every time I tell these sorts of stories because I end them with things like "and that was the second time I had a car fire..."
The Jalopy Journal
