Would it be a sin to your car a long distance?

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I'm getting a little disheartened because I may not get my ultra reliable '54 Chevy painted in time for The Lonestar Roundup.


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Am I missing something here? Drive it unpainted.

 

If it will make you feel any better I towed my roadster to Bonniville last year. Mainly because four people wouldn't fit.
I know for a fact I wouldn't of had half the good time with out the car there.
ANd I know I wasn't the only one that towed a car there. Some very high profile cars (very traditional ones) were also towed .
There were also cool cars towed to the Pileup last year. SO don't think you will be the first,last, or only one to ever tow your hotrod somewhere to have some fun with it.

And if some little greaser fag gives you some shit ask to see his car...Yeah right, trust me, he won't have one anyway!

 

HRP
I like your attitude.

Back to the tow issue. Just drive the '54 unfinished if that's what it takes. Then you don't have to sweat it.

Ah Hell what do I care. I'll probably just put some Pomade in my hair and stay home.

 

if it isn't painted by the time of the Roundup, spray it with Cosmoline, or perhaps wipe it down with pomade. just show up, though, or risk a nightmare of needling.

 

Ill throw in two cans of F.O.P. and one half can of Royal Crown

 

........fuckin trailer queen..............

 

I live on the way in alabama right off of I10, if your 34 breaks down on the way. Tim

 

My boss has a 50 ft. hauler/2004 Chevy Duramax duallie combo I'm using for Indy. Why? Because my crap is a T-bucket with a hot-runnin Flattie and I can take three more cars with me!!! Tow it, push it, drag it, hell, mail it if ya have to!! Get there and have a great time!

 

thats not a sin

 

NADS-I live 95 miles east of Austin, in the country, lots of room. Safe place. Tow whatever you want here, you can leave tow vehicle & trailer or dolly @ my place,(seriously) drive rest of way to Austin & no one will ever know, as long as you pay me hush money. I'm not going to have anything street legal by Roundup, dammit!

 

I've never owned a trailer or tow-bar, so I've had to resort to making my shit as reliable as possible, and packing a few strategic spare parts and basic tools and supplies in my heaps for road trips.

(Of course, all that's ever really done is to add ballast...never NEED it if ya BRING it!)

Having taken freshly completed project vehicles on long road trips in the past, I can offer a few pointers that have served me well...

1. Make sure your brakes and steering are up to snuff. This is basic car care and repair. Easy stuff for sure...but WAY too often overlooked.

2. Inspect everything...give the engine compartment a good once-over. Look for leaks, loose bolts, hoses rubbing on metal or wiring problems.

3. Tighten your belts and hose clamps...put a wrench or socket on as many bolts as you can reach and make sure they're tight, too.

4. Check the tires and lug nuts. All lugs there and tight? Proper inflation and enough tread? That's what you're lookin' for!

5. Check out all your lights and the wipers. Not only a safety issue, you don't want to deal with an equipment violation ticket two states away from home for something as stupid as a burned out brake light!

6. Pack your basic hand tools and a few others such as a test light, hack saw, prybar, file and gasket scraper...and any others you can make room for!

7. Bring extra fuses, hose clamps, rubber line, fuel filter, wire, crimp connectors, bulbs and zip ties.

8. Add bungee cords, mechanic's wire and maybe a coat hanger to your trunk.

9. Take a few bottles of oil, tranny fluid, power steering fluid, brake fluid, WD-40, brake parts cleaner, and empty gallon jugs for water if needed. I also toss in a can of hand cleaner and a roll of paper towels and some rags.

10. If you can (I worked at a parts store for a while!), bring a spare fuel pump, alternator, starter, oil filter, air filter, water pump, thermostat and gaskets. I also like to have a set of plugs, a cap and rotor, and a complete "known good" distributor ready to drop in if needed.

You don't HAVE to drag all this crap with you...but if you do, you'll be able to fix anything short of major internal engine melt-down! I've done this and never really needed that stuff...but knowing it's in the trunk is good insurance and provides peace of mind.

Knowing that your u-joints, brakes, chassis and basic operating systems are in good working order also puts your mind at ease. Cars are just machines, when you break it down, and if they're in good order, they'll keep on keepin' on without much trouble!

I can't AFFORD to buy, keep, insure and register a tow vehicle and trailer...so I get around THAT inconvenience by "suffering" through long drives in my car!

 

Hack, Shame on you, you didn't mention a spare fan (andAC) belt. Its probably as/more important than everything you mentioned. Ask Fuelpump about this one.

Frank

 

Go ahead and tow it. The real question is your additude about it. If you're towing cause there could be a problem far away from home and [thats you] don't sweat it. If your towing so ya don't get butterflies in your radiator you'd be a pussy. I really don't think that's the case.

 

Trailer it to BELLEM's pull it off so he can pull on his
not legal project and you can both come with your heads up
and in the wind.
TZ

 

Well, yeah...belts too, Fab!!

(I even went so far as to have spare radiator hoses and a trans filter kit most times...bring what ya want...and you'll never need it!!!)

 

Ya know Nads.. you have nothing to prove to anybody. You drive the shit out of your cars on a daily basis. I have a friend who has this reputaion of sorts to life up to. He drives his cars thousand of miles to attend events in his cars. Drives the livin shit out of em. His shit is usually built with early shit... usually prewar shit too. Then... he and his lady throw a rod threw the block in a model A 4 banger hundreds of miles from his house. He actually broke down and rented a mercury sable to TOW his car home with. Had to go over the pass with mechanical brakes behind a tow rope hooked up to mercury sable. Lets say it wasn't too fun. Coulda killed him. He builds more cars with V8 shit lately. Is really worth it to prove to people how cool you are because you can drive a that may or may not breakdown? Are those people going to drive behind your rented mercury sable when you tow it home?

I say tow the fucker man... you can do your drag racing when you get there to prove any cool point you need to!!!

 

Hell I say me and you jump in her and get going .Some tunes some snacks a jacket , sleeping bags and if she takes a shit 1-800 u-haul There we were on that lonesome highway with just the sound of the packard at speed and the sound of the pipes.When all of a sudden [keep it going guys and add to the story]

 

Don't trailer, it's sin. You are a few buddys down there and I bet there is more then one car going. So put a rope and tools in your trunk and everything is fine. As long as two or more cars going together to an event it's fun even if one breaks down. Last year we travelled to an meeting her in Germany and I fucked up 2d gear, but made it home with just 3rd. That was in June, had it fixed to got A-bombers in Juli. Blew engine on the way back from Sweden, got towed by buddys flattypowered 34 coupe. Then we went o another gettogether in October with just that 34 coupe, but had trouble with fuelpump. So we showed up at the party when everything was almost over. All in all nothing but shit last year. But I still don't trailer to a show, I rather stay home or jump a buddys ride.

 

I think your using good common since. If the old girl is tired tow it but come.I've taken my daily to the drags before and rung it out. Had to put it on a trailer anyway. Just load your car,your butt and come on.We'd rather you toe your car and make it home than breakdown and not make it back. Besides someone would have to feed you. TP

 

If I'm gonna race [HAMB drags] I'll tow.. If I'm gonna go to bench race, I'll usually leave 2 days early and take the secondary roads at 50 MPH.....enjoy the sights and kick back.
When I had my 48 Pontiac with tired straight-8, I installed a 3.23 gearset from a later Poncho and split it---interstates, 50% and secondary roads, 50%....went all over the US in that car and only hadda replace the U-joints in Springfield, Illinois one day....ok, I hadda clamp the exhaust up under the car a few times too....
Point is, I like to drive 'em....When I tow, the tow vehicle breaks down more often that my towed vehicle!

 

I should be cruising my 41 Poncho with it's massive 223 cu. in. flathead 6. Tuck showed me I shouldn't race overheads with my flathead 6. I'm still smarting from the "spanking" his hi-po rambler gave my flathead rambler...ouch!
Then again, I could slip a poncho "Sprint" 6 cylinder cammer in the 41 with a super T-10......Q-jet with dual exhaust...

 

Rocky...your 41 NEEDS one of them killer OHC Poncho six bangers!!!

That would be SWEEEET!!! (Although you'd likey whip my 173...I'm still all for it! )

 

The '34's still running with the JB welded block, fingers crossed.
Whether it's towed or not I don't want to commit the sin of 'The Concealed Trailer.'
Now I wasn't at this show but my friend Jim was. He says these guys pulled in with a bitching nailhead powered T and claimed they'd driven it some ungodly didtance. These guys had no visible supplies, they weren't freezing and their hair wasn't mussed. Immediately Jim smelled a rat.
Sure enough they were spotted a few hours later putting the T into a closed trailer.
Trailering might be a sin, but trailering and lying about it places you into a category all by itself.

We'll see what's gonna happen, but I don't want to put a windshield into my '54 until it's painted. I don't want to assemble her and take her all apart again. And I don't think I can handle 24 hours one way in the teeth rattling and too cozy confines of the g'damn hot rod.

 

I have seen the pictures of your cars - I don't think you have to worry about anybody calling them trailer queens...

 

Just jamb the window frame then put the w/s in.