Bullet Bob wrote:

When we drove the Heap down to Wimberley in 2015 it was freshly reassembled after metal and paint and a bunch of electrical, mechanical, and comfort modifications.  While it performed well and never required a trailer, a couple of weak spots showed up which I was determined to fixed before the next serious road trip. 

To that end, we spent last winter trying to work out the kinks.  Briefly it had the following issues:  Inadequate braking...they stopped but didn't act like they really wanted to;  EFI not happy to idle at low elevation;  Less than stellar AC performance;  Minor but annoying oil leak;  Even more minor but really annoying (and dangerous since we have a cat) coolant leak after sitting for three or four days; A weird ticking noise that even I could hear. 

​I won't get into the details here but the fixes included addition of a vacuum pump for greatly improved brake booster performance, addition of an Idle Air Adjuster (Apparently this is a problem with most cammed up EFI 5.0's so you can buy a $50 dollar thingie to add idle air...why would I spend $50 when I can make one in only two days?), pulled the pan and re-RTV'ed the pan gasket, added three heaping spoonsful of black pepper (thank you Jersey joe, I think) to the cooling system, re-set and tightened the exhaust head pipe flanges, and most important...replaced my home-brew AC system with a Vintage Air Gen IV.  Now got good brakes, no leaks, good AC, and I think it'll idle anywhere I take it.

​So I decided to do a road test before taking off for FWB and other points southeast in Oct.  We are in the middle of a pretty good heatwave out here in the southwest so what better road test than a 580 mile cruise from Montrose, CO to my sister's place in Las Vegas, NV?  Jean doesn't do heat and elected to stay home (good decision) and I realty didn't feel the need for any other company so Tuesday morning I filled my thermos, loaded an over-night bag and took off. 

​The first 400 miles was warm but not brutal and the car did just fine.  Actually, it tended to run a bit cool so I may have to check the thermostat.  But, when I dropped down from Cedar City, UT to St. George things started warming up.  It was about 111 degrees in St. Geo but the car stayed at or below the "stat" setting of 194 and the AC kept me cool.  ​The run from St. Geo to Vegas was hotter but, again, the car and I did fine.

​When I got to Vegas I-15 was torn up (big surprise) and I was stuck in a four lane-to-two lane pinch for about a mile...engine got up to about 210 but the AC kept me comfortable.  Also, it idled just fine in the stop and go which was my big worry in that kind of traffic.

​I was staying with my sister and that entailed about five miles of surface street traffic and lots of signals.  At the time I didn't know what the ambient temp was but I knew it was damned hot.  The engine temp would climb to around 220 at the lights but would drop back to 205-210 when I got moving.  The AC was running full bore and managed to keep me from melting.  The Gen IV won't freeze you out in Las Vegas in late June but it'll keep you reasonably comfortable.

​When I got to my sis's place she had one thermometer reading 118 and another reading 120 degrees.  The shut-down engine temp went to about 250 and it puked a pint of coolant in her driveway.  Now I know not to carry any extra coolant in the recovery tank.  I'll just fill the rad and let the tank catch any overflow. 

​Yesterday AM I loaded up and headed home.  The entire trip (nearly 1200 miles) was without incident, the only significant issue being that I discovered that since Wimberley the car has developed a wheel balance issue.  I cruised at just under 70 (per the GPS) all the way due to the out-of-balance shakes and would rather have been able to run 75 or so but I don't think overall performance would be any different. 

This car has been very dependable since we first put it on the road back in 06.  It's been to Texas twice, Kalispell, MT, and a number of 200 -600 mile trips, and I wasn't really worried.  I just need to be convinced that it was going to run ok at low elevation and in the heat.  After taking the worst heat it's ever been driven in, and having to idle reliably at below 2000 feet (my sis's place it around 1500) I'm ready to declare the Heap ready for the FWB BASH CRUISE pending a wheel balance job. 

​I'm probably one of the more out-spoken fans of classic car road tripping and I hope to be an inspiration to those who, for whatever reason, haven't enjoyed the experience.  If you make sure all the bolts are tight, have it properly tuned, and make reasonable comfort concessions, these old Mustangs can be driven anywhere...just ask Kelly H.  

Here's hoping to see you all...and your Mustangs...in FWB.

BB 

 

BB...might want to consider Evans Coolant in that kind of heat ??, never tried it myself........jj

Great to hear the trip went well. Maybe it's the misery loves company thing,  but it's comforting to know I'm not the only one who has to redo some things on the Mustang.


Bob

Sounds like a Great Trip for your Stang BB!   Glad you made it ok! 

Bullet Bob wrote:

When we drove the Heap down to Wimberley in 2015 it was freshly reassembled after metal and paint and a bunch of electrical, mechanical, and comfort modifications.  While it performed well and never required a trailer, a couple of weak spots showed up which I was determined to fixed before the next serious road trip. 

To that end, we spent last winter trying to work out the kinks.  Briefly it had the following issues:  Inadequate braking...they stopped but didn't act like they really wanted to;  EFI not happy to idle at low elevation;  Less than stellar AC performance;  Minor but annoying oil leak;  Even more minor but really annoying (and dangerous since we have a cat) coolant leak after sitting for three or four days; A weird ticking noise that even I could hear. 

​I won't get into the details here but the fixes included addition of a vacuum pump for greatly improved brake booster performance, addition of an Idle Air Adjuster (Apparently this is a problem with most cammed up EFI 5.0's so you can buy a $50 dollar thingie to add idle air...why would I spend $50 when I can make one in only two days?), pulled the pan and re-RTV'ed the pan gasket, added three heaping spoonsful of black pepper (thank you Jersey joe, I think) to the cooling system, re-set and tightened the exhaust head pipe flanges, and most important...replaced my home-brew AC system with a Vintage Air Gen IV.  Now got good brakes, no leaks, good AC, and I think it'll idle anywhere I take it.

​So I decided to do a road test before taking off for FWB and other points southeast in Oct.  We are in the middle of a pretty good heatwave out here in the southwest so what better road test than a 580 mile cruise from Montrose, CO to my sister's place in Las Vegas, NV?  Jean doesn't do heat and elected to stay home (good decision) and I realty didn't feel the need for any other company so Tuesday morning I filled my thermos, loaded an over-night bag and took off. 

​The first 400 miles was warm but not brutal and the car did just fine.  Actually, it tended to run a bit cool so I may have to check the thermostat.  But, when I dropped down from Cedar City, UT to St. George things started warming up.  It was about 111 degrees in St. Geo but the car stayed at or below the "stat" setting of 194 and the AC kept me cool.  ​The run from St. Geo to Vegas was hotter but, again, the car and I did fine.

​When I got to Vegas I-15 was torn up (big surprise) and I was stuck in a four lane-to-two lane pinch for about a mile...engine got up to about 210 but the AC kept me comfortable.  Also, it idled just fine in the stop and go which was my big worry in that kind of traffic.

​I was staying with my sister and that entailed about five miles of surface street traffic and lots of signals.  At the time I didn't know what the ambient temp was but I knew it was damned hot.  The engine temp would climb to around 220 at the lights but would drop back to 205-210 when I got moving.  The AC was running full bore and managed to keep me from melting.  The Gen IV won't freeze you out in Las Vegas in late June but it'll keep you reasonably comfortable.

​When I got to my sis's place she had one thermometer reading 118 and another reading 120 degrees.  The shut-down engine temp went to about 250 and it puked a pint of coolant in her driveway.  Now I know not to carry any extra coolant in the recovery tank.  I'll just fill the rad and let the tank catch any overflow. 

​Yesterday AM I loaded up and headed home.  The entire trip (nearly 1200 miles) was without incident, the only significant issue being that I discovered that since Wimberley the car has developed a wheel balance issue.  I cruised at just under 70 (per the GPS) all the way due to the out-of-balance shakes and would rather have been able to run 75 or so but I don't think overall performance would be any different. 

This car has been very dependable since we first put it on the road back in 06.  It's been to Texas twice, Kalispell, MT, and a number of 200 -600 mile trips, and I wasn't really worried.  I just need to be convinced that it was going to run ok at low elevation and in the heat.  After taking the worst heat it's ever been driven in, and having to idle reliably at below 2000 feet (my sis's place it around 1500) I'm ready to declare the Heap ready for the FWB BASH CRUISE pending a wheel balance job. 

​I'm probably one of the more out-spoken fans of classic car road tripping and I hope to be an inspiration to those who, for whatever reason, haven't enjoyed the experience.  If you make sure all the bolts are tight, have it properly tuned, and make reasonable comfort concessions, these old Mustangs can be driven anywhere...just ask Kelly H.  

Here's hoping to see you all...and your Mustangs...in FWB.

BB 

 

Sounds like a great trip!  And no over heating.  You did a good job engineering the cooling system.  Those Nevada summers can be brutal.
One thing that has helped me when driving in very hot weather is to open the hood as soon as I stop for any period like getting gas  or when at my destination.   Lots of heat comes out and has saved me getting heat  soak on my starter and coolant overflow from my radiator.

Last edited by lowercasesteve (6/22/2017 3:55 PM)

almcgee wrote:

 Going through a corn field on a gravel road in Illinois was hairy;but, The Million Dollar Highway in Colorado took the prize.   

Al I'm not sure who pushed that detour button on their GPS that took you thru the cornfields.  But the construction that you guys detoured around would have been a better choice!!
 

terry wrote:

almcgee wrote:

 Going through a corn field on a gravel road in Illinois was hairy;but, The Million Dollar Highway in Colorado took the prize.   

Al I'm not sure who pushed that detour button on their GPS that took you thru the cornfields.  But the construction that you guys detoured around would have been a better choice!!
 

 
There were no gravel roads on the detour. They were very lightly maintained Illinois county asphalt farm roads. They look different on the map, if not to the car.

red351 wrote:

Bullet Bob wrote:

jkordzi wrote:

Inspiring.  What kind of cooling system setup do you have Bob?

It's a 5.0 with a Virginia Classic Mustang 20" two row alum rad, seven blade steel fan with thermal clutch, proper shroud, and a welding rod coil in the lower hose. I have about 18k on that setup and have had zero heating problems since going that route. Butt, I was a bit surprised at how it handled the Vegas heat. It also has alum heads which probably help.

BB

One thing I have notice is there a big difference how a standard and heavy duty thermal clutch works in stop and go traffic. HD is the way to go if your away on border line of overheating in slow traffic.

​Thanks Rich, good info.  Ron, I'm sure you are right about that.  When I put the engine back together two years ago after installing the heads and cam it looked good but I probably should change it.  I wasn't trying to save a buck when it put it in there...I just couldn't find one locally at the time.

​See youse guys in 3.5 months. 

BB
 

Terry,  I'm not sure who pushed the GPS button either.  Whoever it was was several cars in from of me and heck, I was too busy watching rocks fly by to notice.  What an adventure!  It truely was my shakedown trip with so many "not so funny at the time" stories to tell, like my speedometer cable that wasn't connected to the instrument cluster flopping around behind the instrument cluster.   It only clattered when I sped up;but, It sounded like my engine was falling apart.