We be tripin

[rockytopper]

Just thought I would share a few highlights of our latest adventure in our hotrod. Please fill free to add your on road trip adventures in your PT machines. Race events or what ever.



This past week we logged 2100 miles on a little adventure that took us from the flat lands of Cowtown Texas to the highest continues road in the USA and back.

Old ruins just north of Las Vegas NM


Entering the great state of Colorado


Top of Monarch Pass not planned we missed our turn off somehow


On top of the world Rocky Mountain National park


Leaving for home broke after a gambling time in Cripple Creek.


All in all the LS1 powered cutlass was flawess other than the original throttle linkage sticking bad (not much fun in Mountain terrain) took allot of the fun out of my driving experience.
I was somewhat disappointed the old harrison radiator which was leaking some when we left home met it's match on pikes peak. We had to abort the hill climb half way up it was just to much. The car reached the boiling point.
It handled the 106 degree west texas air with a/c on high the day we left but could not handle the famous hill climb. Back to the drawing board I guess.

[andrewb70]

Sound slike you had a great trip. It is amazing to me how reliable LSx powered classic car become. I did a road trip with my daughter back in the summer of 2011. Here is what I reported about the trip:

"Hello Everyone,

I thought I would give everyone an update as to what I have been up to for the last week. As I posted earlier, I spent Father's Day weekend with my son at the Motor State Challenge. We had a great time and the car performed very well.

On Monday (6-20-11), I picked up my daughter and we headed west. Our mission was to spend some quality time together and visit some of my friends. It also gave us an opportunity to see some of the most breathtaking scenery in the world. Monday evening we arrived safely in Lincoln, NE where we spent the night at my friend Brian's house. Brian is a great guy and he is actually the person that did the body work and paint on my car.

Tuesday (6-21-11) morning we continued our journey west and made our first scenic stop. Well, perhaps the word "scenic" is not entirely accurate to describe Buford, WY, but the town is certainly unique. Buford, Wyoming is the highest town on I-80 between San Francisco and New York City. It also has the distinction of being the smallest town in the US, with a population of 1. Word has it that it used to be a population of 2, but the father of the man that lives in town passed away.



From Buford, WY we traveled a little further west and reached our final destination, Laramie, Wyoming, where my good friend Rory lives. I've known Rory since high school and he is a dear friend and a fellow car and motorcycle enthusiast. Rory's current car is a very neat 1966 Corvair Corsa. The Corsa has a turbo charged engine that makes 180HP. It's a very clean, low mileage (25K miles) car that was repainted (by Brian) and has been slightly lowered. Very cool car! (fukk Ralph Nader. These cars are super cool.)



On Wednesday (6-22-11), my daughter and I made our first trip over the Rocky Mountains. We headed west and reached the town of Centennial, WY. While Centennial is 100 times the size of Buford, it is still no more than a clearing in the road and the last stop before heading over Snowy Range.



On our way up over Snowy Range we had a chance to make some stops at various scenic outlooks. The Rockies have received an exceptionally high snowfall this year and there is still much snow on the ground at higher elevations. In fact, Rory told me that as recently as two weeks before our visit, Snowy Range got over 6 inches of fresh snowfall.





As we climbed higher in elevation, the snow pack got higher and more dense. We eventually made it over Snowy Range pass and had lunch in Saratoga, WY. The North Platte river runs through Saratoga, and it was very high and moving very fast. Quite an amazing sight to see.

On Thursday (6-23-11) Rory took the day off and we headed to Estes Park, Colorado. Rory and I graduated from Park High School in Estes Park and he many of his close family reside there. Estes Park is a little tourist town with a population of about 5,000 in the winter and 50,000 in the summer. Many people have summer homes there, and millions of people pass through every summer on their way to Rocky Mountain National Park. We headed up Trail Ridge Road which connects Estes Park with Grand Lake. About a third of the way up we stopped at an outlook point to take some pictures. The scenery is simply breathtaking.



Don't try this with your carbureted muscle car kids! This picture was taken at an altitude of about 9,000 feet. Modern day fuel with ethanol is prone to vapor lock in low pressure fuel systems. I doubt that my car would have made it up that high if it had a carburetor. My wideband O2 sensor showed a constant 14.0-14.9 AFR the whole way up.





My daughter and Rory were having a good time, goofing off. I think the thin air was getting to them....LOL



The drive over Trail Ridge road is even higher than Snowy Range. Trail Ridge road is the highest continuous road in the USA, reaching a peak of over 12,000 feet! The snow pack on the way up was even higher than Snowy Range.



Passing just over the peak and heading down the western slope there is a little store that sells all sorts of souvenirs and trinkets.



We headed down the western slope of the Rockies and reached the town of Grand Lake, CO. From there we headed to Walden, CO and eventually towards the road to Saratoga, WY. We crossed back over Snowy Range and ended up in Centennial, WY where I took the following picture.



Before heading back (6-24-11) to Lincoln, NE, I snapped the following picture. It shows all the bugs we killed on the day before.



We spent the night at Brian's house again and headed back to Chicago, IL on Saturday (2-25-11). While visiting Estes Park, Rory's father suggested that we make a stop at the Strategic Air and Space Museum, which is located between Lincoln and Omaha, NE. I am so glad we went. I always loved airplanes and actually wanted to be a pilot when I was younger. We pulled up and were greeted to the sight of several Air Force rockets.



Once we stepped inside the front doors, this is what greeted us at the door!



It was simply amazing to see the SR-71 Blackbird in person. It's hard to imagine that this plane could fly from New York to London in 1 hour and 55 minutes. In fact, the true top speed is still classified!

The museum is full of really neat planes, helicopters, and space craft. I am sure that many of you eagle eyed people will spot numerous important aircraft in this picture:



Overall this was an amazing trip. The opportunity to drive my favorite car and share quality time with my daughter was simply amazing. She will be 11 in October and was a trooper in the car. I plan on doing similar road trips in the summer with my kids for as long as they will hang out with me.

My speedometer and consequently my odometer were not working for this trip, but using Google maps I was able to get a rough estimate of the total distance that I traveled. Here is a break down of the mileage. Keep in mind that this doesn't include minor trips here and there and the racing miles around Gingerman Raceway.

Wednesday 6-15-2011
Pigeon Forge, TN to Bowling Green, KY – 244

Thursday 6-16-2011
Bowling Green, KY to Geneva, IL – 439

Friday 6-17-2011
Geneva, IL to Watervliet, MI – 141
Cruise -- 50

Saturday 6-18-2011
Gingerman Raceway 15 racing laps = 30 racing miles

Sunday 6-19-2011
Watervliet, MI to Geneva, IL – 141

Monday 6-20-2011
Geneva, IL to Lincoln, NE – 486

Tuesday 6-21-2011
Lincoln, NE to Laramie, WY – 490

Wednesday 6-22-2011
Laramie, WY to Saratoga, WY – 79
Saratoga, WY to Laramie, WY - 79

Thursday 6-23-11
Laramie, WY to Estes Park, CO – 106
Estes Park, CO to Grand Lake, Co – 47
Grand Lake, CO to Walden, CO – 71
Walden, CO to Riverside, WY – 49
Riverside, WY to Centennial, WY – 50
Centennial, WY to Laramie, WY – 30
Total – 353 miles

Friday 6-24-2011
Laramie, WY to Lincoln, NE – 490

Saturday 6-25-2011
Lincoln, NE to Geneva, IL – 486

Sunday 6-26-2011
Geneva, IL to Pigeon Forge, TN – 601

Grand Total = 4,379

At the end of my road trip I traveled nearly 4,400 miles in my GTO. The car ran beautifully and without any high speed vibrations. Both Nebraska and Wyoming have 75 mph speed limits on the highways, which means going 85 mph is not a huge deal. The GTO does 85 mph at about 2,400 RPM and is smooth as silk. I want to thank the following people and companies for making this trip possible:

Bill Howell - Without your generous help and hospitality, this trip would not be remotely possible.

Rory and Brian - You are my dear friends and I appreciate everything you two have done for me over the years.

The Driveshaft Shop - Without Frank's innovation and attention to detail, my car would still be shaking itself apart at speeds over 75 mph.

Global West - Their various suspension components have taken a licking and kept on ticking.

ATS - Their spindles are amazing and allow me to use the very effective, OEM quality C6 Z06 brakes on the front.

GM - The LSx engine family is amazing and makes road trips like this possible. Without the modern engine and EFI my car would never have traveled over the high altitudes or gotten more than 20 MPG on the trip.

Mike Norris - Mike's tuning smoothed out a few rough spots in my tune and made the journey trouble free.

Detroit Speed and Engineering - The Midwest is plagued by severe summer storms. DSE's modern windshield wiper system kept my windshield clean and allowed me to navigate safely through the inclement weather.

In the end, I want everyone to take trips in their favorite cars. We spend years and thousands of dollars building our dream cars, and unfortunately many end up sitting pretty in the garage without having a chance to do what they were built to do: DRIVE!!!"

Andrew

[rockytopper]

Wow thats way cool being from Estes Park how can you stand to live anywhere else now? We stayed 3 days there on this trip our first to the area As stated the scenery truely is breathtaking.

[andrewb70]

Wow thats way cool being from Estes Park how can you stand to live anywhere else now? We stayed 3 days there on this trip our first to the area As stated the scenery truely is breathtaking.

I lived in Estes from ages 15 to 18. While it is indeed breathtaking, it is also mostly miserable about 9 months out of the year. It can snow as late as early June and as early as late August. The wind is also relentless.

For what it's worth, I am trying to move to Texas....LOL

Andrew

[tazzz25906112]

Very cool trip and very cool thread indeed,,,, congrats on your trip I think that is great....

[BuddyP]

Very cool, I've wanted to make a road trip out west for years now but life hasn't allowed it yet. I hope to soon!

[shortrack]

Cool trip!

[BADNBLK]

Nice trip with some familiar scenery! I love Estes Park... got married there last year. Easy project when you live straight down the hill