It's 16 degrees below zero. What am I doing out here?

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As weird as this may sound to a lot of you, this actually makes a lot of sense. Too could for snow (usually), no bugs, and best of all- no chance of road salt getting into the nooks and crannies of a car ‘cuz it stops melting at something like +10* F.

Back when I had my ‘69 Mustangs I used to do exactly what Bob just did- crank ‘em up on some of the really cold days, and if the roads are clean, take ‘em out and let ‘em stretch their legs.

Good for you, cruiser! :thumbsup:

Edit: Heck! If my trucks weren’t buried in the back of the shed I might have been out there with you!
Such a nice day (for Minnesota) today, I just had to get Dusty out for another drive - two hours down to St. Peter MN and back along a bare and dry empty highway. Air temperature exactly -20 on my home thermometer. Up in Grand Marias MN, the local news was reporting a static air temperature of -40. She was happy as a clam and my carefully rebuilt heater kept me toasty warm all the way. Temperature gauge locked in at a steady 190 degrees. I get 14.5 - 15.0 mpg at 60 mph. Filled up with 91 octane ethanol-free gas on the way home. As long as the slop and salt dust stay off the car, I could drive it all winter long. The engine runs exceptionally well in very cold temperatures, as I've previously reported. Very lovely and relaxing drive with a beautiful view of the frozen countryside out the windows. A really nice payback for all the work I've put into the car. I'm sure you guys/gals feel the same about your rides!
 
I just finished my post - engine replacement cleanup of Dusty yesterday afternoon. Full underbody cleaning (three bottles of engine degreaser), wash and wax everything and she looks like a million bucks. Got the new motor dialed in, all fluid leaks eliminated and it was time to get her out on the road. I rarely drive in the Minnesota winter due to all the salt we put down, but the highway was completely bare this morning. My thermometer said -16 degrees, with a windchill of -29. Yet Dusty loves the cold, thick winter air up here and she was telling me she wanted to drive. And drive we did.
The new Dart engine came right up to temperature and stayed there the entire time with its new stock 195 degree thermostat. Was out there for an hour and didn't kill a single bug on my windshield. It's just too damn cold for a single insect to survive in this climate in the winter. Passed a dead Tesla on the side of the road - probably batteried out by running his heater. How ironic that my fifty two year old gasoline burning Plymouth with a six cylinder engine designed in the mid-1950s was zooming past him.
This is the beauty of our hobby; seeing a superb piece of Chrysler engineering doing exactly what it was designed to do and running flawlessly and reliably even in the coldest winter weather. That's all for now. Be well, all!

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Mister, that is a beautiful car. It is a color that was popular when it was new but you never see it on new cars today.
Cheers to you for getting out there and enjoying your piece of Mopar history.

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Not me here in Illinois, there's enough salt dust out on the roads to make my black Ram 1500 look white.
 
I just finished my post - engine replacement cleanup of Dusty yesterday afternoon. Full underbody cleaning (three bottles of engine degreaser), wash and wax everything and she looks like a million bucks. Got the new motor dialed in, all fluid leaks eliminated and it was time to get her out on the road. I rarely drive in the Minnesota winter due to all the salt we put down, but the highway was completely bare this morning. My thermometer said -16 degrees, with a windchill of -29. Yet Dusty loves the cold, thick winter air up here and she was telling me she wanted to drive. And drive we did.
The new Dart engine came right up to temperature and stayed there the entire time with its new stock 195 degree thermostat. Was out there for an hour and didn't kill a single bug on my windshield. It's just too damn cold for a single insect to survive in this climate in the winter. Passed a dead Tesla on the side of the road - probably batteried out by running his heater. How ironic that my fifty two year old gasoline burning Plymouth with a six cylinder engine designed in the mid-1950s was zooming past him.
This is the beauty of our hobby; seeing a superb piece of Chrysler engineering doing exactly what it was designed to do and running flawlessly and reliably even in the coldest winter weather. That's all for now. Be well, all!

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Come on down to Texas just as soon as Trump removed 3.5 million illegals form the state. Then we will have room. :BangHead: :thumbsup:
 
Can some of you Yanks send a couple of snow plows to us in S Texas. We have NONE! They are calling for some freezing rain and 2-5 inches of snow!!! But 1200 out of state emergency linemen are here or on the way!!!! I bet they will work form Tx. to Ga. maybe!!
Time to hunker down. We can't spare any snow plows, but you're welcome for the Linemen from the Midwest. We hope you have a generator so that you can still spend your "stranded at home days" working in the garage on your pride and joy. Dress warm though, I'm guessing there is not a gas heater in a Southern Texas garage.
 
Time to hunker down. We can't spare any snow plows, but you're welcome for the Linemen from the Midwest. We hope you have a generator so that you can still spend your "stranded at home days" working in the garage on your pride and joy. Dress warm though, I'm guessing there is not a gas heater in a Southern Texas garage.
We have a generator, but my barn these days is a couple of large pines!! Just 2-4 inches of snow, no ice here. Only time op we were was off was a few hours at the start, a big limb knocked down a line somewhere no doubt! We have a fireplace engineered by a La. Coonass for sure. Wortkless except it did save our butts in "21. It was bad, more than 250 people actually froze to death in Tx.
 
if the roads are clean, take ‘em out

absolutely! CLEAN is the word. I just put mine up after the county salted the frost the other day. I went out with the family yesterday, melty ice and salt water everywhere on the road and we ran into a beautiful '72 split bumper Z 28 and a '63 beetle out and about. What are they thinkin! I've spent many a spring chasing rot and cleaning mud/salt outta the nooks and crannies.
 
Dead of Winter, I won't take mine out until all the salt has been washed away in Spring. Just sayin'
 
It was warm enough here at Christmas that I was considering taking my Goldwing for a ride. Had no snow or ice and temperatures in the 50s, even Santa was out on his Harley!
 

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