jdustu
06-10-2007, 04:00 PM
man alive, our group had some crappy luck this trip. this was my first trip, but a few of the guys we rolled with have done it 7 times now. after the first few days of constant breakdowns they kept trying to tell us new guys "don't worry about it, we're getting it all out of the way, we never have this many problems"
but it only got worse:)
we started out with a good mix of cars:
a super clean 327 impala(late 60s) he went to clev and k-zoo
66 grand prix
66(i think) impala with basically a race engine(high compression 383, this car was sick)
70 superbee w/440(the car that's on all the "power tour" adds in hot rod magazine
94 trans am w/396(10s on juice)
3 fox body mustangs
99 vette
dodge ram(tool hauler)
my 98 z28
chevy wagon with a fi 502
right outside of detroit the superbee needed a new ballast resistor, and then just inside ohio we stopped to help another mopar replace a tire. one of the mustangs met us there and had some trans problems as he was getting in, the linkage had come loose; other than these three incidents and waiting in line for 1 1/2 hours to register, saturday was a really good day.
sunday: they snaked us through a town with a dozen or so lights and no police escort. we made it through alright, but it was an hour and a half sitting in traffic that was not needed, epecially with the rain coming. between storms, at lunch i got under my car to remove a trans mount shim and tried to fix a squeak from my upper shock mount...still haven't fix the squeak...still in ohio, the wipers stopped working on a mustang....the air pump had gone bad and shredded the belt...after a while trying to find a belt to work at the autozone in coldwater, we got back on the road and got to k-zoo at quarter to 8.
monday: one mustang has a trans line leaking and the 383 impala gets a knock. another mustang is missing really bad, turns out the distributer wasn't tightened down...change the plugs on the imp and get out of town around noon. while they mess with that, i'm trying to fix my wheel hope to no avail....trans line comes loose again about 10 miles outside of k-zoo, and then right outside of chi-town.....a couple hours in a parking lot and then at a very helpful trans shop and we are on the road again...traffic through chicago wasn't bad, and we get to racine at 8pm, everyone is already gone from the water front....
tuesday: one mustang got a nail in his tire, had to get fixed....the impala is running bad again, can't go over 55.....we get outside of springfield and someone says " looks like we're gonna make it!" then the belt flies off the other stang:jest: we get there about 6pm or so, very early by our standards:)
wednesday: the fun really starts; me and my buddy take off, because i want the tech guys to check out my suspension to figure out my wheel hop. the grand prix and the truck headed home, one guy was sick and the grand prix owner was his son, so they left together....the other guys change the intake gasket on the impala, then the starter goes...they get it changed and get the motor running, but its still knocking....its my friends dads car, so he rents a truck and tows it to his home in louisiana, grabbed his l88 vette and met us in little rock. they pick up another z28 when they leave, and he has issues with a hose leak....then the trans am starts having starter issues..they don't get to evansville till 9:30.....we were there at 1:30 with my camaro, but the tech guys didn't get there till 4. so we got under my car and found that the panhard and lcas were loose. my freaking lca relo-bracket had busted off due to the wheel hop! when i welded them on originally, i used a mig welder that wasn't rated to weld that thick of metal, and i know better. i'm stilled pissed at myself about that:eyes: i had been going 120mph with a busted lca bracket:eek2: they let me weld it back on, and gave me some ideas about the wheel hop.
thursday: we make the drivers meeting and decide to follow the alternate route they print up for us. after fixing the leak on the other z28 we get going, and somewhere we miss route 81 off of 231 and end up way out of our way, on 65 south by bowling green. then my car dies in a construction zone....the new fuel pump i installed was dead. the tow truck didn't come for 2+ hours, and it ended up causing a huge traffic backup...me and my co-pilot were the only two white guys in the group, my car was broke down, and the idiots rolling by were yelling racial slurs at the guys who were with me trying to help me. that was nice:eyes: our motto the whole trip was "no man left behind" and they stuck with me as my car was towed to a dealer in b.g. the dealer got it in and diagnosed it right away(i was right about the pump), but had to order it and they were closing up. so we ended up leaving the car there and picking it up on the way back. 900 freaking dollars for a job i could do for 60. shit happens.
we get to memphis pretty late on thursday, and go to the hotel that everyone else is staying at....our hotel was across town, so the clerks say they have room for us, and they call our hotel to see if we can cancel due to the circumstances. the girl at the other place says they can't, but she'll ask her gm and call back. ten minutes later they call back and check, still no answer. finally i call, explain the situation again, and they tell me the CANNOT cancel my room....fine. we go downtown and hangout, then they drop us off at our hotel which is quite a bit out of the way. i'm sure you can see were this is going: they freaking cancelled our reservations and already booked the room!!! she put me on with the gm, and i let him have it...my friend with the trans am starts telling the clerk "this is how people fuck around and get killed, shit like this just puts you over the edge!! its not your fault, but this is how people snap, go get their piece and go nuts!" her eyes were as big as saucers:eek2: the gm still hasn't heard the last from me. we call the other guys hotel, and they have a room still, so i reserve that. we go to leave and the starter on the trans am is still too hot.....thats when he started laughing "we can't sugar coat this anymore, this has been the worst power tour we've had, by far, not even close"
friday and saturday ended up being alright, other than the fact that my car was in bowling green. it may be hard to believe, but this is the short version of the crap that happened this week:)
we had some good times too, and i met some cool guys and got to know some other friends better. everyone stuck with each other as we pretty much all had problems at one time or another. i'll get some pics up soon, and i we've got some video to edit too. they're all hoping this week doesn't scare me from coming again! i think i'll do it again, but man was this week long:judge:
but it only got worse:)
we started out with a good mix of cars:
a super clean 327 impala(late 60s) he went to clev and k-zoo
66 grand prix
66(i think) impala with basically a race engine(high compression 383, this car was sick)
70 superbee w/440(the car that's on all the "power tour" adds in hot rod magazine
94 trans am w/396(10s on juice)
3 fox body mustangs
99 vette
dodge ram(tool hauler)
my 98 z28
chevy wagon with a fi 502
right outside of detroit the superbee needed a new ballast resistor, and then just inside ohio we stopped to help another mopar replace a tire. one of the mustangs met us there and had some trans problems as he was getting in, the linkage had come loose; other than these three incidents and waiting in line for 1 1/2 hours to register, saturday was a really good day.
sunday: they snaked us through a town with a dozen or so lights and no police escort. we made it through alright, but it was an hour and a half sitting in traffic that was not needed, epecially with the rain coming. between storms, at lunch i got under my car to remove a trans mount shim and tried to fix a squeak from my upper shock mount...still haven't fix the squeak...still in ohio, the wipers stopped working on a mustang....the air pump had gone bad and shredded the belt...after a while trying to find a belt to work at the autozone in coldwater, we got back on the road and got to k-zoo at quarter to 8.
monday: one mustang has a trans line leaking and the 383 impala gets a knock. another mustang is missing really bad, turns out the distributer wasn't tightened down...change the plugs on the imp and get out of town around noon. while they mess with that, i'm trying to fix my wheel hope to no avail....trans line comes loose again about 10 miles outside of k-zoo, and then right outside of chi-town.....a couple hours in a parking lot and then at a very helpful trans shop and we are on the road again...traffic through chicago wasn't bad, and we get to racine at 8pm, everyone is already gone from the water front....
tuesday: one mustang got a nail in his tire, had to get fixed....the impala is running bad again, can't go over 55.....we get outside of springfield and someone says " looks like we're gonna make it!" then the belt flies off the other stang:jest: we get there about 6pm or so, very early by our standards:)
wednesday: the fun really starts; me and my buddy take off, because i want the tech guys to check out my suspension to figure out my wheel hop. the grand prix and the truck headed home, one guy was sick and the grand prix owner was his son, so they left together....the other guys change the intake gasket on the impala, then the starter goes...they get it changed and get the motor running, but its still knocking....its my friends dads car, so he rents a truck and tows it to his home in louisiana, grabbed his l88 vette and met us in little rock. they pick up another z28 when they leave, and he has issues with a hose leak....then the trans am starts having starter issues..they don't get to evansville till 9:30.....we were there at 1:30 with my camaro, but the tech guys didn't get there till 4. so we got under my car and found that the panhard and lcas were loose. my freaking lca relo-bracket had busted off due to the wheel hop! when i welded them on originally, i used a mig welder that wasn't rated to weld that thick of metal, and i know better. i'm stilled pissed at myself about that:eyes: i had been going 120mph with a busted lca bracket:eek2: they let me weld it back on, and gave me some ideas about the wheel hop.
thursday: we make the drivers meeting and decide to follow the alternate route they print up for us. after fixing the leak on the other z28 we get going, and somewhere we miss route 81 off of 231 and end up way out of our way, on 65 south by bowling green. then my car dies in a construction zone....the new fuel pump i installed was dead. the tow truck didn't come for 2+ hours, and it ended up causing a huge traffic backup...me and my co-pilot were the only two white guys in the group, my car was broke down, and the idiots rolling by were yelling racial slurs at the guys who were with me trying to help me. that was nice:eyes: our motto the whole trip was "no man left behind" and they stuck with me as my car was towed to a dealer in b.g. the dealer got it in and diagnosed it right away(i was right about the pump), but had to order it and they were closing up. so we ended up leaving the car there and picking it up on the way back. 900 freaking dollars for a job i could do for 60. shit happens.
we get to memphis pretty late on thursday, and go to the hotel that everyone else is staying at....our hotel was across town, so the clerks say they have room for us, and they call our hotel to see if we can cancel due to the circumstances. the girl at the other place says they can't, but she'll ask her gm and call back. ten minutes later they call back and check, still no answer. finally i call, explain the situation again, and they tell me the CANNOT cancel my room....fine. we go downtown and hangout, then they drop us off at our hotel which is quite a bit out of the way. i'm sure you can see were this is going: they freaking cancelled our reservations and already booked the room!!! she put me on with the gm, and i let him have it...my friend with the trans am starts telling the clerk "this is how people fuck around and get killed, shit like this just puts you over the edge!! its not your fault, but this is how people snap, go get their piece and go nuts!" her eyes were as big as saucers:eek2: the gm still hasn't heard the last from me. we call the other guys hotel, and they have a room still, so i reserve that. we go to leave and the starter on the trans am is still too hot.....thats when he started laughing "we can't sugar coat this anymore, this has been the worst power tour we've had, by far, not even close"
friday and saturday ended up being alright, other than the fact that my car was in bowling green. it may be hard to believe, but this is the short version of the crap that happened this week:)
we had some good times too, and i met some cool guys and got to know some other friends better. everyone stuck with each other as we pretty much all had problems at one time or another. i'll get some pics up soon, and i we've got some video to edit too. they're all hoping this week doesn't scare me from coming again! i think i'll do it again, but man was this week long:judge: