W.E.G.

De-icing now.

Some jibber-jabber about the "auxiliary power unit" not working.
Is that a bad thing?

Freezing fog at Charlotte may cause delay.

58mark

iTrader: (3)

which route are you taking home?

W.E.G.

On the road from the airport to pick up the Camaro!

W.E.G.

Going east via New Orleans.

W.E.G.

I'm on the road about 100 miles west of New Orleans.

Had some LOUD exhaust when I accelerated after stopping at the stop sign at the end of the off-ramp.

I'm posting from my phone. See if this link to the walk-around vid works.

Johnny Blaze

iTrader: (15)

Exhaust leak? Is it louder near cat?

Can't tell much but I'm watching on my phone.

58mark

iTrader: (3)

hey, some people pay big money to get their exhaust loud....

looks a nice solid car, congrats

musicfreako

iTrader: (1)

Awesome. I love these stories

W.E.G.

Covered 242 miles today.

Only 1,088 more to go!

Parked for the night in Hammond, Louisiana.
It was nice driving I-10 with the windows open, and listening to the crickets sounding off over the rumble of the motor. Yes, that is the full moon rising over the oncoming semi, and just below that string of clouds.



Supposed to be nice temps but maybe some rain headed toward Memphis in the morning.

I've decided to not do any sightseeing detours. This exhaust is just too loud to deal with any local fuzz. Doesn't help that the motor likes to stumble a bit under load at slower speeds, and it makes a backfire sound to rival a Kenworth jake-brake when I downshift it. Even if the car survives the trip, I need to not get arrested.

If all goes well, I might make Nashville by this time tomorrow.

W.E.G.

It is day.

Time to go out and play.

What y'all say we go drives across the whole state of Mississippi?

58mark

iTrader: (3)

what's that black strip above the drivers door?

W.E.G.

She fired right up after sat in the damp all night.

W.E.G.

Well crap.

Motor just shut off while going down the road.

Cranks strong. Won't fire.

Waiting for AAA.

Sad face

58mark

iTrader: (3)

Did you say you had the fuel pump replaced?

eseibel67

Oh man, that really sucks. You even took precautions to prevent this.

Did you at least take a small tool box with you? Are you missing fuel or spark?

W.E.G.

Only the fuel filter.

At least I broke down in time for the Sunday special.

W.E.G.

No tools except the pack of razor blades I bought at Walmart last night to scrape some goo off the windshield

Car towed to a Chevron station. Supposed to be a mechanic on duty tomorrow morning.

W.E.G.

Somebody's creative attempt at addressing a rust issue above the doors.

eseibel67

Even without tools, you can check for spark. If you have no spark, suspect the ICM, even without proper diagnosis. It can crap out and leave you stranded. The tools required to change it are minimal, you can buy a module and a cheap 1/4" socket set and give it a try.

It's got to be uncomfortable to be stuck out of state. No doubt the tow driver sent you to one of his buddies that specialize in "breakdowns".

And take the meatloaf with candied yams.

Good luck.

W.E.G.

Reckon it's home for now

musicfreako

iTrader: (1)

Give a quick little shot of starting fluid up the throttle body. That'lllet you know if iit's spark or fuel related.

W.E.G.

Yeah I could have started yanking on plug wires I guess. Still tricky to crank and look for spark all by yourself. If there's another way, please share.

I was tempted with the gizzards. If I'm still here tomorrow, I'm totally gonna get some.

The car is at the Chevron station the driver works for. I'm going to chance that for a solution. No Sunday mechanic though. If it doesn't pan out, there are some other options - though not very fun ones.

At least I got my phone battery mostly recharged at the fire-ant inn. i think i'll walk over to Walmart now and see if there's anybody to mess with. A milk shake along the way could be pretty good too.

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W.E.G.

Paid for one more night at the no-tell.

Got antsy and decided to hike over to the shop. Speaking of ants, it's impressive the way the fire ants can pick a possom or armadillo road kill carcass. Hollows 'em right out - just leaving fur (or scales), bones, and teeth.

Got to the shop and was pleased to see them not slammed with other jobs. Camaro was in the bay, hood-up, distributor cap off. Mechanic showed me how badly-corroded the distributor cap and rotor were. Waiting for replacements of each to arrive.

The existing distributor cap was so corroded that the center button would not extend to contact the rotor in any meaningful way. Mechanic said we're getting good fuel pressure. Said spark coming off the coil was more orange than he likes, but wants to see what cap and rotor does for it before digging deeper. I like the way he thinks.

It's about lunchtime now. Folks is startin' to show up at Stark's. I been sitting out here on the curb by the dumpster and typing and smelling the kitchen. About as pretty a day as you're gonna ever get in Mississippi. High today supposed to be 82. Now to go see if they got any of them smothered gizzards left!

2007xl50

Sorry she boke donw on you, let us know what it was for sure and when back on the road.

W.E.G.

Gizzards was good.



On the road again!

58mark

iTrader: (3)

I'm glad the problem was not worse and I hope the rest of your trip is uneventful

2007xl50

Glad you are going again and that sorry dude, but that food looks gross!!!!!. Just think soon you will have an all new car LOL!

IMissMy86TA

Have a safe trip back!

Richboll

I'm glad that you are back on the road again. I guess that "Full Tune-up" should be on the list for the next "buy and drive" roadtrip!
Good luck for the rest of your trip.

yaj15

iTrader: (3)

Lol as the owner of a 1988 f-body I'm glad to see that another one is still on the road!

This thread brought back some memories for me. I was looking at a car very simular to this when I was looking to get in to thirdgens. I looked at a 1988 V6/700r4 Camaro hardtop coupe that was gray with silver ground effects. It was an early 1988 model year production car like yours because it also had that short F-40 style rear wing as well. It had a gray custom cloth interior as well. Ha ha it sure wasn't as nice your car and it would have taken a lot more than a cap and rotor change to get that car running right again.

Now that you have had a chance to drive the car - did your plans change? Are you going to keep it stock or modify it? The V6 or the V8 motors in these cars can be modified and perform very well. Even if you keep it stock, these drivetrains will last a long time so long as you drive with common sense most of the time and keep up the service.

Lol next time be sure and take some tools with you. I wouldn't feel comfortable flying in, buying a car and then driving it back home. At least the repair that you had to made didn't keep you on the side of the road for long. Those ignition components that you replaced are often over looked service items.

The V6/T-5 combination that you have should be getting around 30mpg on the freeway when its all tuned up back to factory specs. Ha ha you will surprise a lot of people when you tell them that a 25 year old that was designed in the late 1970's is knocking down fuel economy numbers that are not that far off from what a lot of todays 4-cylinder economy cars are getting now.

eseibel67

Great news! Too bad the the guy in Houston didn't find the burnt ignition. Of course he couldn't find every possibility that might leave you stranded on a cross-country trip in a 25 year old car, but popping off the cap for a look would have been the prudent course of action in your particular case.

Not sure if it's legal on this forum, but you might want to give that shop in Mississippi a plug for treating you right.

W.E.G.

I tried to post a big update but the hotel wi-fi at my homework.

W.E.G.

Safe in Nashville now.

Only 650 miles to go!

W.E.G.

The uneven concrete slabs on I55 thru Mississippi was like Dukes of Hazzard jump-scenes on a repeating loop

W.E.G.

Had some stumbling issues in Memphis rush hour traffic, but at least no full stalls

W.E.G.

I40 in the dark with the trucks on the hills and curves with sloppy steering at 75 mph was surreal.

I'm running windows-down due to A/C issues. Wearing earplugs full-time to keep the noise from inducing highway shell-shock. Exhaust is so loud that people come out of the store to see what is the ruckus when I stop for gas and coffee. I think that cup of coffee at the last stop contained all the caffeine in Columbia.

W.E.G.

Got a cold one in my hand now!

After this experience, I say Kowalski was a piker.

W.E.G.

I think I was joking earlier wi the remark about the V12.

I'm not so much concerned about winning as I am fearful of losing badly. So far I'm keeping a positive attitude. My only immediate objective is to make it home in one piece and without a new set of handcuffs.

If I succeed in that, the car goes to my mechanic first thing to get it legal, and address a few things that are screaming for attention. I've got the rest of my life - however short that may be - to see where else it takes us.
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W.E.G.

Preach it brother!

...and thanks for the good words

W.E.G.

I do plan a kudos post to my mechanics if I ever make it home in something more than zinc urn!
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2007xl50

Glad you are making it and keeping hopes high, Like I said before I would never buy a car like that and drive it even a 1/4 that far. Good luck brother and keep the updates coming.

scottmoyer

Were you smelling gas when the car was stumbling through Memphis rush hour traffic? My car stalled one day driving through Nashville on the Hot Rod Power Tour. We were in traffic, the car was running hot and I could smell fuel vapor. I got the car to our hotel and let it sit over night. I didn't have any issues getting the car to Indy or my return trip as long as I kept fuel above half tank. The first thing I did when I got home was replace the gas cap. I've not had any more issues of smelling gas or stumbling so I'm assuming my gas cap wasn't venting properly and caused other issues. Just a hunch and I may be way off base. If I am, please chime in and let me know what happened to my car and WEG's.

W.E.G.

Wytheville VA now.

Still rolling... Still LOUD!

No Virginia inspection sticker (not that it would pass anyway!)

Right lane and ducking the blue meanies.

W.E.G.

She positively REEKS of gas. Not as much since the ignition work. But still strong.

scottmoyer

Replace the gas cap. Be sure to get an AC Delco one though. I noticed two weeks ago that the Stant cap that I purchased wasn't working correctly and didn't seal at all. I filled the tank and every corner I went around allowed gas to spill out and run down the side of the car. I ordered an AC Delco cap and it seals with no issues at all.

W.E.G.

Oooops... I did it again.

Damn rear end blew this time.

Now at a shop in Radford.

Gonna get a room for the night and bus it back to Fairfax tomorrow.

yaj15

iTrader: (3)

I had the same problem with the Stant cap I bought. A new AC Delco cap fixed that problem too.

eseibel67

You mean the diff is out of it? This is unbelievable.

How an adventure that should be fun has turned into such a disaster. You probably wish you never traded that gun.

The only bright side is that years from now you'll have a good story to tell.

Johnny Blaze

iTrader: (15)

Dang man!
What a trip, I hope you're bonding with this car, it's a helluva start!

W.E.G.

I'm not really regretting anything (yet).

It's not like I expected a lot for what was basically a $500 investment to start.

I would never have seen Mississippi - the WHOLE length of the state - had it not been for this car... Or drove the whole length of I-40 across the whole length of Tennessee. I-40 is an amazing driver's road. Add the big trucks, and night in that car, and Katie bar the door!

I ran 1100 miles, and never rolled the windows up, or turned on the wipers!

I'm in my old stomping grounds in downtown Radford right now. I'm gonna go find a bar!