In 1916 my grandfather, CW Tuthill and PG Scull made a round trip from Newark, NJ to California and back in a 1917 Maxwell. On the 100th anniversary of this accomplishment my brother and I are planning to do it again, using a 1917 Maxwell (but we are just going one way). Our grandfather kept a diary so we have pretty accurate list of the towns they p***ed through and landmarks they saw as well as some pictures and letters. We want to take the same route as closely as possible. Starting with the Lincoln Highway, US 40, and Rte 66 to Los Angeles, CA. Planned departure is November 16th (the 100th year anniversary start date). We created a website with his diary, pictures, letters and our plans to relive history. http://rtb***emir.com/1916-transcontinental-road-trip/ We learned a common issue with this kind of trip in the older cars is over heating. The Maxwell had a siphon type of cooling system. We want to add a water pump to the car (using the original engine). Although we have some idea how to do this, if others out there have experience adding a water pump we would like to hear how you did it and maybe some pictures. We also would like to replace the flat belt with a v-belt and add an alternator to run 12 volts. Again if anyone has experience with this we would like to hear what worked for you or maybe what did not work. One solution we saw as running an alternator off the drive shaft. We would also like to build a network of car enthusiasts along our route in case we need technical advice should we run into issues, or maybe the name of a good place to eat. Once we start we will post a daily blog on our progress at the web site (if you are interested in following this adventure, you can subscribe on our web site for updates). I am including a picture of Tuthill and Scull in the car they used. Thanks for any hints or tips you can provide. Richard Tuthill B***emir
Are you sure you will have a heating problem driving that late in the year. I think modern coolants and better roads will be beneficial to the car . My shop is close (10 miles) to The Lincoln Highway in Central Iowa if you need services. Car services that is. lol Sounds like a load of fun.
Thanks John. True we hope keeping cool is not going to be a significant issue, we are just trying to reduce a weak link. After all, our grandfather did it without a water pump. He writes in his diary about draining the radiator at night so it would not freeze. Still, if we can add the water pump it will give us a little more confidence in the engine. Our grandfather headed south after Pittsburgh so we won't be on the Lincoln Highway in Iowa, but thanks for your contact information.
Upon your arrival in Los Angeles I strongly encourage you to drive the car to the Saturday morning Donut Derelicts Car Show in Huntington Beach. Located at the corner of Adams and Magnolia. This is the best FREE car show on the West coast. About 250 vintage cars and trucks arrive from 5:30am-8:30am. You have to trust me this is worth the effort. Good luck with the trip.
Man that'll be one heck of an adventure! Thoughts •electric water pump, drag cars and some street cars run them •if you run the alternator on the driveshaft not only is it possibly turning slower than a crank pulley but when you stop so does the alternator. I can't imagine that car moves that fast so charging it off a slow moving driveshaft might be a bad idea •speed. Though many of the roads are much better now traffic is also moving at a rate that would get you killed if your not rolling with it. Consider some of those roads are fast moving now and maybe a side road is the one to take. I mention this after a trip to Austin with traffic going a steady 85mph and seeing low geared hotrods going 60 nearly getting smashed into every few minutes.
Cool - saw what I believe was a 1918 Oldsmobile on a local secondary highway yesterday - it was bright yellow, and hard to miss.
That´s a great adventure you are getting yourself into! I can´t wait to see updates on this... I have one silly question: How could they accomplish a "1916" roadtrip in a "1917 "car? Maybe it was so fast it went back in time, hahaha
Good question but that was not a typo. According to my grandfather's diary he bought it in November of 1916 for $512!! I guess the new models were out just like we see now.
November is probably not the best time for a road trip, but that was when grandpa did it and the idea is we want to do it the same time. Interesting how he mentions some nights they slept in the car. Gesh, I guess back in 1916 was when men were men, ha!
Thanks Tim for the thoughts. You must have been at LoneStar Roundup driving on Interstate 130?? Yes, our route avoids Interstates when possible. We don't think this car will get close to 60 MPH even if we want to go that fast. We will have a chase truck and trailer that can provide some cover if we need to hop on an Interstate for a few miles.
Yep, you could sleep in the car or on the ground back when. Remember the R&C coverage of a group of west coast guys coming east for Nats #1 sleeping along side the road. I wouldn't sleep in the parking lot of a Police station now! I would try to prepare for unseasonal cold temps etc. Some novembers here in KY are very nice but some are terrible. I wish you good luck. Take spare everything....gas oil tires, all that stuff. Tim
That sounds like a blast! Please, if you can take a few minutes each day, post a picture or two here on the HAMB. We love this stuff!
I can't wait to follow along . Best advice I can give is to work the bugs out long before the trip, that way it will minimize the surprises. That, and to put an orange triangle on the back of the car, so as to warn fast moving people coming up behind you.
Yup and i35 but it seemed even the frontage roads were hauling ***, I know the speed limit on the two lanes in South Dakota are 65-70 mph even. Just something to look into.
Our plan is to a daily blog to our web site. Folks that are subscribed to the web site will get that update in an email. But I realize not everyone wants to subscribe so I will also try to keep a thread going here as well once we start (in November). Would anyone here have a contact at Texaco that might be interested in what we are doing? Our initial contact has gone missing on us. Since Texaco was a sponsor for our grandfather we were hoping they would have an interest in what we will be doing.
That is so cool!!!....repeating a 100 year old trip in a 100 year old car....that is epic,... any way you look at it!!! Please post pics along the way...I love the 'time warp' experience ''like they used to do it''
Yea , you're probably right - but it couldn't hurt , LOL !! Hell , around here the Amish buggies even have battery-powered lights and flashing 4-way lamps , but you still see an orange triangle on something like a courting buggy or a flatbed buggy . I also wanted to add , that I am not far from the Lincoln Highway here in eastern PA (near Lancaster) - so may be able to lend a hand if needed .
Thanks Allen, yes our plan is to take US 30 right past Lancaster. I appreciate you willing to lend a hand if need but man oh man, I hope we don't need help that early in the trip, ha ha.
I'm 2 to 3 hours away from Rt 66 in most of Missouri, but would come to help if needed. Send me a PM if you want my contact information. Best wishes on a fantastic trip. And yes, I'm jealous. I'll be watching your daily thread.
Just thought I would add a picture of the Maxwell we will be using. We are getting it ready for a black paint job, and notice the engine is missing (being rebuilt) MaxwellPrep by b***emir posted Apr 19, 2016 at 9:20 PM
Great idea for a road trip, hope you do a thread, as for water pumps the easiest would be electric but Neighborwood on here built a belt driven remote water pump system that looked good to me.
Yes, I hope you don't need help that early either, but (poop) happens , lol ! Great looking Maxwell , BTW ! I ***ume your painting it so that it more closely resembles the one from the original trip ?
Adding a water pump adds complexity, and points of failure. A lot of machines built well into the 50's used thermo-siphon cooling with no issues. If you have good clean water jackets in the engine (***ume you do given it's being rebuilt) and a clean radiator I wouldn't forsee any issues. If you're having the radiator rebuilt or recored, you might consider having another row of tubes added. Chuck your crank and fan pulleys in a lathe and cut grooves for a serpentine belt, then the alternator will be easy to run. Sounds like one hell of an adventure, best of luck!
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