8h 600 Mile Roadtrip - Advice

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chinze57

Push Button tranny and a Slant 6 that'll never die
Joined
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Location
Georgia, USA
Hey y’all, my job just offered me travel from GA to Louisiana. It’s about 600 miles and 8-8.5h.

I’d like to do it in my ‘64 Dart 270, 225 /6. Do y’all have any advice about what I should look for and do before I go, what I should be checking along the way, any precautions, etc.

Currently I’ve got an oil leak from the rear main seal, but no metal filings or anything in my oil, just a leaky seal. I’m going to be getting my engine rebuilt soon, after when this trip is.

There’s new coolant hoses and coolant in the car, running 10w-30 oil, and no ethanol gas. It’s got a single barrel carter BBS and 1.25” exhaust if that’s relevant.

I think I should be fine but is there any advice? I currently daily drive this car and have for over the past year. I haven’t had any issues since February with the car that took it out of commission for any period of time. The leak developed a few weeks ago and hasn’t gotten any worse. 1 qt over 3 weeks or so, driving 20-40 miles per day.
 
digital laser point and shoot thermometer to check wheel bearing temps among a lot of other things to check the temperature of.
 
It reminds me of these two old black dudes I knew back in the day,every Friday they would head down to South Carolina from NY In an old Buick 225 they never checked oil,gas,tires just took off With a case of beer and made it back every Monday ,so I say Go For it.
 
Hey y’all, my job just offered me travel from GA to Louisiana. It’s about 600 miles and 8-8.5h.

I’d like to do it in my ‘64 Dart 270, 225 /6. Do y’all have any advice about what I should look for and do before I go, what I should be checking along the way, any precautions, etc.

Currently I’ve got an oil leak from the rear main seal, but no metal filings or anything in my oil, just a leaky seal. I’m going to be getting my engine rebuilt soon, after when this trip is.

There’s new coolant hoses and coolant in the car, running 10w-30 oil, and no ethanol gas. It’s got a single barrel carter BBS and 1.25” exhaust if that’s relevant.

I think I should be fine but is there any advice? I currently daily drive this car and have for over the past year. I haven’t had any issues since February with the car that took it out of commission for any period of time. The leak developed a few weeks ago and hasn’t gotten any worse. 1 qt over 3 weeks or so, driving 20-40 miles per day.
I travel in classic cars. I recently made this quick video about preparing. Probably more than necessary but some good points
 
Spare tire and jack. Beer and hotdogs. Hand tools and hose clamps and wire nuts and electric tape, fuses. Have fun. Sounds like your car is in good shape will probably run better down the highway. Good windshield wipers. Or just use RainX I hardly use the wipers with that stuff on there.
 
Basic hand tools, some wire and, yes, duct tape. Throw a spare ballast resistor in the toolbox along with a spare set of points and condensor or ignition module, depending on the flavor of your ignition. An extra fuel filter wouldn't hurt, either. Make sure your spare tire is pumped up.
 
Spare tire and jack. Beer and hotdogs. Hand tools and hose clamps and wire nuts and electric tape, fuses. Have fun. Sounds like your car is in good shape will probably run better down the highway. Good windshield wipers. Or just use RainX I hardly use the wipers with that stuff on there.

Got a scissor jack, bottle jack, tire iron, and a whole set of common tools that fit my Dart in the trunk. Also chocks, coolant, oil, transmission fluid, etc in the trunk already. I need to check my spare tire.

I’ll wash the car and put rainx on all the windows to be safe and clean out the cowl vents so i can ride with them open. I’ll double check my wiring and make sure everything is sound. I need to get an extra ballast resistor and a points and condenser
 
Hey y’all, my job just offered me travel from GA to Louisiana. It’s about 600 miles and 8-8.5h.

I’d like to do it in my ‘64 Dart 270, 225 /6. Do y’all have any advice about what I should look for and do before I go, what I should be checking along the way, any precautions, etc.

Currently I’ve got an oil leak from the rear main seal, but no metal filings or anything in my oil, just a leaky seal. I’m going to be getting my engine rebuilt soon, after when this trip is.

There’s new coolant hoses and coolant in the car, running 10w-30 oil, and no ethanol gas. It’s got a single barrel carter BBS and 1.25” exhaust if that’s relevant.

I think I should be fine but is there any advice? I currently daily drive this car and have for over the past year. I haven’t had any issues since February with the car that took it out of commission for any period of time. The leak developed a few weeks ago and hasn’t gotten any worse. 1 qt over 3 weeks or so, driving 20-40 miles per day.

I'm assuming you have V-groove pulleys.
Throw a pair of extra strength women's panty hose in your trunk too. They can get you out of a jam if you break a belt along the way. You wouldn't want to make the entire trip with them, but you can use them to get to the next town until you get a new belt. You gotta pull them very tight and wrap them around the pulleys as many times as possible. Tie in a knot and hit the road.
 
I do this all the time in my Duster 400+ miles across the state, i try to avoid any hwy over 65 mph because extended rpm and i like looking at stuff other than concrete.
 
License, registration, insurance card, leather work gloves, Handi-wipes. I hate changing a flat without gloves.
 
On top of above, "survival" gear. Something to sleep in the car in emergency, keep warm, simple food, water a way to heat food IE small LP stove, etc, and a BUCKET TOILET
 
WHAT TO AVOID: a duffle bag filled with plastic tarps, duct tape, zip ties, box cutters, a blow torch and nudie mags... People frown on that...
 
drive-gif-gif.gif
:steering:

I love a good long road trip
 
That's funny how nowa days people wonder if they should take their old car here or there. And what they need to go 100 miles or so , or what ever. Believe it or not , these cars used to run up and down the interstates at will for decades. Put you *** in the driver seat and go like hell. In the slow lane . :rofl:
 
That's funny how nowa days people wonder if they should take their old car here or there. And what they need to go 100 miles or so , or what ever. Believe it or not , these cars used to run up and down the interstates at will for decades.
Wonder??? We take vacation in our classics. However....
Keep in mind, 40 years ago:
  • every auto parts store had everything on the shelf.
  • every service station had a mechanic that understood points and carbs
  • every part, wire and connection was only a few years old
That is why I bring the obvious things that could leave me sitting, and I know how to fix it myself.
 
Wonder??? We take vacation in our classics. However....
Keep in mind, 40 years ago:
  • every auto parts store had everything on the shelf.
  • every service station had a mechanic that understood points and carbs
  • every part, wire and connection was only a few years old
That is why I bring the obvious things that could leave me sitting, and I know how to fix it myself.
Very good point, I just came back from Crusin the Coast, 1100 miles Round trip and my fan relay went out. Luckily I keep a spare just in case. I wish I had room for a mechanical fan. But having just the small things can same you.
 
I'm assuming you have V-groove pulleys.
Throw a pair of extra strength women's panty hose in your trunk too.

Or just buy an extra belt for the trunk, they're cheap. As long as you have a couple wrenches, it's a 5 minute job. But really, a belt inspection before you leave is a no brainer.

My trunk box has points, rotor, distributor cap, etc. I bought a new fuel pump at Carlisle for $10 so that's in there too.

I do wash my windows with women's panties though. I hang a brassiere from the steering column to hold snacks and a jock strap from the parking brake handle to hold nuts.
 
Wonder??? We take vacation in our classics. However....
Keep in mind, 40 years ago:
  • every auto parts store had everything on the shelf.
  • every service station had a mechanic that understood points and carbs
  • every part, wire and connection was only a few years old
That is why I bring the obvious things that could leave me sitting, and I know how to fix it myself.

That’s more why I’m asking. I’m not the most knowledgeable about this car and it still has its fair share of issues. I’ve fixed a lot of things and really drastically improved the reliability compared to the poorly maintained car I bought a year ago. I haven’t had anything fail on me recently, just curious if there’s anything I should look out for.

The parts aren’t particularly available everywhere, so it’s a little concern doing 1,200 miles. I think it’ll be fine, but y’all have much more experience than me here
 
That’s more why I’m asking. I’m not the most knowledgeable about this car and it still has its fair share of issues. I’ve fixed a lot of things and really drastically improved the reliability compared to the poorly maintained car I bought a year ago. I haven’t had anything fail on me recently, just curious if there’s anything I should look out for.

The parts aren’t particularly available everywhere, so it’s a little concern doing 1,200 miles. I think it’ll be fine, but y’all have much more experience than me here
1200 miles is really not that big of a deal though, if you just do a little homework. In just the last 3 years, starting with 2018 we took my wife's '77 Ramcharger through 9 states and almost 4,000 miles. Illinois to the Grand Canyon on old Route 66, and returned up through Dodge City Ks. 2019 we took it on approx 1300 mile trip to Drummond Island, Mi. 2020 we took our '77 Dodge van to Drummond Island. We've took several classics throughout the years across several states.
 
Several have mentioned points and ballast, but the one thing in the back of my mind is the nylon gear on the distributor if it has never been replaced.
 
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