And they're off!

[rlux4]

I went down the hill today and had luch with Ace and his Wife Maureen to see them off. His Spider is packed up pretty full, but not as bad as I had been thinking it would be. Looks like they had everything they'll need for the trip. So get ready all you going to FFO, they're headed your way. I'll be going up to the Oregon camp out and will be seeing them there.
Ron

[gary124as]

Just got off the phone with Alvon. Seems his fuel pump got a little tired of the desert heat and decided to hiccup about 30 miles shy of Palm Springs. Alvon being the spry guy he is pushed the car about a tenth of a mile in the 110 degree heat to an underpass where he installed a spare that he brought with him. I think he brought enough spares to rebuild the entire car along the way. Presently they are taking a little break in Phoenix - enjoying the rain and a few blasts of lightning. They are about 200 miles away from their first stop over in Sierra Vista, AZ. He said other than the one fuel pump issue, the car is running great - averaging about 27 MPG while running at about 75 MPH.

[mdrburchette]

Wow, Maureen's some kind of worman to be taking this trip! Alvon's got a looong way to go. I hope nothing else causes him any problems.

[ventura ace]

The first day was certainly an adventure. Thanks to Ron for driving an hour down to meet us and pick up all our camping equipment to carry to Oregon. We had lunch with a group of 5 other folks that I work with, and they were all taking bets on how far we'd get before calling it quits! All in good fun, but as it turned out, they weren't too far wrong. They wished us good fortune, and we were off at about 1:00.

We were humming along in the leftmost of 5 eastbound lanes at about 2:30, packed with folks trying to get out of LA early, and the car just died. Somehow, we got lucky breaks to coast a zig-zag line through the 5 lanes of traffic and over to the shoulder. At 110°F, wind blowing, and traffic blasting by, my fist thoughts were to try to get underneath an underpass that was about 200 yards ahead and up a mild incline, to keep from being scorched by the sun. I pushed while Maureen steered, and was quickly reminded that my 53 year old body wasn't intended to do that! By some miracle, we made it to the shade, and I took a 1/2 hour to flop down and rest, and drink a gallon of water, and cough my guts out!

It turned out that my electric fuel pump gave up the qhost, but I had a spare. Unpacked the trunk to get to the fuel pump, got it swapped out, packed everything up, then on the road again. We drove 10 or so miles, then got off the freeway to buy another spare fuel pump just in case, fueled up, and got going again. It was still 110° at 6:30 PM as we left Palm Springs!

Nearing Phoenix, we were treating to a spectacular light show from Monsoon storms blowing up from Mexico. Lightning flashed every few seconds for the next 3 hours, and was augmented by local fireworks show from many towns making up the greater Phoenix area. The rains were really welcome, and helped to drop the temps to a tolerable 90° or so. We pressed on, and arrived at my sister's in Sierra Vista, AZ at 2:00 AM. About 650 miles the first day.

We've been relaxing and enjoying the 4th with family here, and I hope you all are having a good holiday, as well!

Tomorrow, it's onward to El Paso and Odessa, about 600 miles. More later!

Alvon

[So Cal Mark]

rarely does a part ever fail when you have a spare. Consider yourself blessed!

Keep on truckin'

[rlux4]

Ace, Is that a Fiat fuel pump, or a generic electric. I was wondering how you were able to pull in somewhere and get one so fast.
Keep us posted, this is fun sitting in the nice cool house, reading about your trip.
Ron

[ventura ace]

The fuel pump was a universal electric pump that I had put on about 10 years ago. I think the failure was my fault. The pump has always made a loud humming noise, and just before I left for this trip I wrapped the fuel pump in 2 layers of insulation (like for a water heater blanket) and wrapped that with a rubber sheet. It muffled the sound just great, but I think it also may have trapped in heat, and made it overheat.

Alvon

[So Cal Mark]

didn't Maureen get upset when you took the rubber sheet off of the bed?

[ventura ace]

Thanks for the encouragement and well wishes, folks! We really needed a day to recover after that sweltering first day crossing the CA and AZ deserts. The July 4th holiday was indeed that, a relaxing holiday. And I hope yours was enjoyable, too.

We got up early this morning on the 5th, and prepared for a 625 mile drive through El Paso and on in to Odessa for the night. We really enjoyed the early morning driving. Had the top down all the way to El Paso. We are using a Windblox plexiglass screen behind the front seats to smooth out the air turbulence, and it works great. It attaches to the head rests with some straps, and is a little cumbersome for reaching around to grab stuff out of the back seat area, but I guess that's the compromise we have to live with.

Guess what? Texas has 80 mph speed limit on I-10 and I-20!! That helps. Even Maureen was driving along at about 80 when I took a rest, and I don't think she's ever driven anything over 65 in her whole life! We found Wiley Robinson in El Paso, and had a good lunch together at a superb Mexican restaurant (Baragas) before pushing on Eastward again. We put the top back up again to counter the blazing sun from El Paso to Odessa.

I was quite amazed at the stepped up oil production as we neared Pecos and further on. Every single pumping unit in sight is bobbing up and down. The horizon is populated with drill rigs and workover rigs, and the oilfield smell fills the air.

We had 2 time zone changes today from AZ to TX (partially since AZ doesn't observe DST), so the end of the day came sooner than expected. Tomorrow, we're looking forward to seeing Jeff and Carol Schefferman near Dallas, and I understand that Csaba and family will be there, too. I think we'll have a short tech session around the car to make sure everything is still up to snuff.

The car's running great, and Maureen is great support so far. What more could I ask for? Take care,

Alvon
'70 124 spider, modified 1.8L engine

[So Cal Mark]

I'm sure you will continue to see oil wells everywhere pumping like crazy, with the price of gas well over $4 everyone should have a well in their back yard. It would be interesting to see a chart of what you pay for fuel as you make your way x country

[racydave]

Is good to hear that you are on the run, and seein friends. Alvon, regarding the pass thru in Indy. If I thought you, Maureen and Jim were going to be in town for more than an hour, Id arrange for the day off. Is it still a power stop? Happy trails!

[ventura ace]

Dave, I'll confer with Jim during FFO weekend to decide our plans for travel westward, and we will be sure to let you know. We may be caravaning together for all of it, or we may choose to go separate ways for part of the trek. Who knows at this point!! Anyway, I will be sure to contact you and let you know as early as I can during the FFO weekend. We hope to be able to visit with you --- take care . . .

Alvon

[mbouse]

hang in there alvon. can't wait to meet Maureen in person in PA

[pleiades]

And my wife makes fun of me for saying I would drive my Spider up to PA from NC! Glad to hear you're out on such a road trip!

One question this brings to my mind. What kind of RPM's are you turning to cruise at 80mph, and furthermore, what is too much when it comes to highway crusing? It just seems the gearing of these cars is way too short for good highway use.

Steven

[So Cal Mark]

4k to 4500 is no problem at all