What to do: Road Trip!

[Justin]

So I'm going to be making the drive from Spokane upto Vancouver for the meet... What allshould I do to make sure the car is up for the drive? The engine is fairly new (2k mi) with no problems as of now... I'm going make sure fuel is up to par ( new pump, regulator, injectors are new, etc.)

List anything that you could think that may blow/break/fry/fuck up.

I'm going to replace everything i can think of, and then bring extras

 

[Stretch]

Bring an extra jug of coolant, oil, and an extra hg :biglaugh:
good luck.
eric

 

[Tanya]

check tranny and diff fluid, tires for any unusual wear, bubbles, cracks, etc.

 

[americanjebus]

coolant, if your going over the pass the engine is going to be under load for a while

cooling, make sure you have nothing clogging up front like accumulated leaves and such.

oil, in engine, tranny and diff.

tires and brakes, atleast once on every trip i make over the pass some douche bag pulls out or stops directly infront of me when i'm doing 70+

and alignment, go for a 1 hour drive and address anything that may be of conern, like a carrier bearing.

 

[pimptrizkit]

they basicaly have it covered..

i would also not play with the boost if you have a boost controler. because it's easy to break stuff on trips where you never had a problem before hand..


run decent gas!


any ways, see yeah at the meet tomorrow.

 

[Facime]

for 14 years I drove my old classic 73 celica...poor old car had 334k miles on her (not the engine...that only had 215k...lol) and I made a few very long trips in her, the longest being almost 1800 miles from Albuquerque through Tucson to Corvallis Oregon. On those trips I aways did the following:

Pack a "box o' Chemicals" to include oil, water, brake fluid, Pb Blaster, windex, wheel bearing grease, starter fluid (car was carb'd) and Rain-x.
Pack a "box o' parts" to include a spare fan belt, a small length of heater hose, some vacuum hose, hose clamps, spare fuses, various sized nuts/bolts/screws, some lengths of wire of different gauges, crimps and connectors, a roll of electrical tape, a roll of duct tape, an empty (yes, I prefer this item to be empty) gas can, a wire coat hanger and some shop towels.
I also took my service manual, my road trip set of tools (small plastic toolbox with the basics plus a few extras), an atlas, a couple flares, both my maglights, and a first aid kit. If I was travelling during winter I also packed tire chains, gloves, a blanket, and a small folding shovel.

Always check the air pressure in your spare before setting off and make sure you have at least the stock jack. Also if your running special wheels, make sure you have the right lug nuts for your spare if they are different.

A cell phone is almost a must have, but here is a little trick some people dont know. If you dont have a cell service buy a used cell phone and keep the battery charged for your trip, even without a service plan you can still dial 911.


With a 33 year old car you would probably NOT be surprised to know that I have needed each and every item I listed at least once. On one trip I was between Barstow and Needles and blew a heater core hose inside the car! after my intitial shock and near panic stop from the hot water spraying all over the car including my leg, and steamin up the windshield, I was able to pull out my "box o' goodies" and fix my car right there on the side of the road, and was running again in less than a half hour. Driving around in that old car made me feel like MacGyver!

 

[ForcedTorque]

for 14 years I drove my old classic 73 celica...poor old car had 334k miles on her (not the engine...that only had 215k...lol) and I made a few very long trips in her, the longest being almost 1800 miles from Albuquerque through Tucson to Corvallis Oregon. On those trips I aways did the following:

Pack a "box o' Chemicals" to include oil, water, brake fluid, Pb Blaster, windex, wheel bearing grease, starter fluid (car was carb'd) and Rain-x.
Pack a "box o' parts" to include a spare fan belt, a small length of heater hose, some vacuum hose, hose clamps, spare fuses, various sized nuts/bolts/screws, some lengths of wire of different gauges, crimps and connectors, a roll of electrical tape, a roll of duct tape, an empty (yes, I prefer this item to be empty) gas can, a wire coat hanger and some shop towels.
I also took my service manual, my road trip set of tools (small plastic toolbox with the basics plus a few extras), an atlas, a couple flares, both my maglights, and a first aid kit. If I was travelling during winter I also packed tire chains, gloves, a blanket, and a small folding shovel.

Always check the air pressure in your spare before setting off and make sure you have at least the stock jack. Also if your running special wheels, make sure you have the right lug nuts for your spare if they are different.

A cell phone is almost a must have, but here is a little trick some people dont know. If you dont have a cell service buy a used cell phone and keep the battery charged for your trip, even without a service plan you can still dial 911.


With a 33 year old car you would probably NOT be surprised to know that I have needed each and every item I listed at least once. On one trip I was between Barstow and Needles and blew a heater core hose inside the car! after my intitial shock and near panic stop from the hot water spraying all over the car including my leg, and steamin up the windshield, I was able to pull out my "box o' goodies" and fix my car right there on the side of the road, and was running again in less than a half hour. Driving around in that old car made me feel like MacGyver!

But leave the wife/GF home, cause there will be no room if you take all that. All of it is a good idea, but you may not want to take that much.

I too, have only a couple thousand miles on a new motor. I recently found, as it is my first motor install, that some things will work their way loose in the early going. I got under mine and found a loose intercooler hose, my nuts connecting my Downpipe to elbow had backed out some, and a vaccuum hose had fallen out of place and had a hole burnt in. Go back ove the motor top to bottom before the trip and be sure everything is still tight.

 

[Facime]

But leave the wife/GF home, cause there will be no room if you take all that. All of it is a good idea, but you may not want to take that much.

First of all, have you ever seen the size of the trunk in a 73 Celica? lets just say its not that big and 1/3rd of it is taken up by a big metal object called a fuel tank. All of the stuff listed in mu post plus an over night bag will fit in the Celica.

Secondly, I was just making a complete run down for a very long trip. If I were going from Spokane to Seattle, I wouldnt take half that...but perhaps there was something in there he might have forgotten...

Lastly...forget the wife! who wants her sitting next to you nagging your ear off for 6 hours! :aigo: Road trips are for men only :evil2:

 

[MK3Brent]

Buy a digital water temp gauge.