5000 + mile road trip in a 28 year old Pontiac

[9a pilot]

The route:

0000
The car:

The destination:

Stuff and various scenes along the way:
Typical Atlanta

But usually it looked like this(near Vernon Texas)

Glen Canyon/Colorado River

A Garmin screen shot;

Looking north...Hood is in Colorado, trunk in Utah.

San Jon/Tucamcari,NM on what was once Route 66.

More to follow. Laptop battery is low.

 

[lsx80monte]

I love it. Back in 97 I went from south fl to virginia and back with a leaking water pump in an 85 grand prix. When I got back I changed the water pump and took off to dallas and then browsville tx. even took the car across the border. great memories. And to date, I have been to dallas and back in my 80 monte about 6 or 7 times. counldnt give u an exact # cause I have been back and forth too many times since 07. But i love it.

 

[307 Regal]

I'd love to make a trip like this one day in my Regal. And I'm not just saying that. I mean I literally want to do it.

 

[9a pilot]

To put this in perspective, It would be like accomplishing this feat in a 1956 model in 1984.
The car is completly stock. It is basic. No cruise or tilt. It has good AC and thats about it.
During this trip, I only saw a handful of cars from the same era..an occasional box mopar or LTD. It's not to say the 80's stuff is rare, it just looks like the remaining cars aren't being used like this as much.
More pics.
Windmill farm near Larmie Wy. I had been driving for 24 hours strait when this was taken

Bear Lake near the Wyo/Idaho line. Elevation was about 6000 feet. I was about to climb another 3000 to get through the pass.

 

[9a pilot]

The reason for the trip was to be a part of my youngest brother's Air Force commissioning ceremony. I had to drive because I couldn't book the airfare in time. Plus I enjoy road trips. The '84 was given to me because nobody seemed to be able to fix it. It ended up being a way for unscrupulous/lazy auto repair shops to fleece my girlfriend. For the last 18 + months I have been sorting it out.
I have an '04 Ranger I could've taken instead, but taking an old G body that I have busted my *ss on seemed far more rewarding. I finally got the carb rebuilt and the 'check engine' light to stay off. The car runs as GM intended. Fresh A-arm bushings, shocks, rear axle bearings, and alignment and it was good to go.
Day one took me to Nashville,TN. I got a goodnights sleep because the event was the next day in Utah.
27 hours in one shot is my new personal best. I have no desire to break that record.
But the old Grand Prix was a real trooper. Aside from overheating the power steering coming through switchbacks in Logan canyon, a loose manifold heat shield, and getting profiled as a marijuana runner, the trip was drama free.
I got to see my folks in Vegas, and my son in Illinois for the first time in 5 years.
Final tally was 5100 miles and 250 gallons of fuel. The ccc works pretty well at correcting for altitude, but a low compression n/a 231 really hurts at 6000 feet.
Even though this car is 28 years old, It never left Florida until I got it(with 105k). Since the car is mechanically stock, it has become a sort of time machine. I'm a bit torn as to what do with it. There is alot of potential.... Until then, I'll just keep driving it and taking care of things as they come up.

 

[Bonnewagon]

Man that's cool !!!!

 

[dogsht]

Very cool. Although I have to say installing cruise control would have saved a lot of gas plus you would not have been as tired at the end of the day. I drive semi on a delivery route 650 miles a night 5 nights a week and have been amazed at the difference these two things make. The AC on these things when still sealed up with proper amount of refrigerant works very well. The old R-12 is the good stuff. Some places will still get it for you but most want to retrofit you.

 

[9a pilot]

I am a big fan of cruise.. But on this car, the return spring pressure is pretty easy to manage. My mpg was pretty consistant.. 21-22 @ 70. My extremes were 18(hill climbs) and 28(tail wind?). The box was designed was designed in the 'double nickel' days. And a 200M/2.41 is still not as relaxed as a 200-4R/3.42 in o.d.

 

[Longroof79]

Looks like a great trip with no mechanical difficulties...sweet! My first cross country trip was in '75 in a early '70's K5 Blazer pulling a pop up camper with 3 other guys. The Blazer had recently swapped out 350 with headers and a two barrel carb, it was originally an inline 6.

In '77, my friend and I drove a '70 6-cyl. Nova from NY to Boulder, Colorado. We drove straight thru it took something like 30 something hours..talk about a grueling trip.

In '81 I did the trip in '72 VW bus converted to camper use. Ran like a champ. Only problem was the ignition switch went bad and I had to jump the starter with a screwdriver. We drove from NY to Calif. Hit the national parks...it was awesome.
All in all, I'd love to do it again before I'm too old to.

Glad to hear that it was a great trip for you. Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

[Meano]

Awesome story, i'd love to make a trip in the El Camino some time soon, only has 36k miles, i'm still breaking her in I have to ask though, profiled as a marijuana runner? Care to elaborate?