Wife was out of town on a girlfriends trip so I decided to take the Dart on a season-ending Sierra camping trip.
Trunk is fully packed; beer cooler on the passenger floor. Going alone, miles from cell service in a 50 year old car. Didn't tell the wife what I was doing until the night before.
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Cruising down the backside of Donner Summit into Truckee in 5th gear @ 2,200 rpm. Outside temp low 50's. Temp gauge dropped to below operating; usually sits between E-M. Drove 90 miles to Truckee on 1/4 tank; averaged 15.5 mpg for the round trip.
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Rebuilt the front end in February using a combo PST and Moog parts, plus a Firm Feel rebuild on the man box. The Dart handled incredibly well. Hwy 49 is miles of twists and turns; what a blast to drive.
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Sierra Buttes; lake level is around 6,400'
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Downtown Nevada City, looking past the bug splatter
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Overall trip was 260 miles; started at 160' elev., crested 8,000 at the summit, camped at 6,200'. With the carb the idle was poor at elevation, but the car ran flawlessly. Started on the first try every time. Not going to do it again, but I got one more item crossed off the bucket list.
