Longest I've done is about 900 miles from Ft.Rucker, AL up to Ft.Eustis, VA
back in '86. Me and an army buddy were transferred and went in my '78
Spitfire. 4 duffle bags strapped down on the luggage rack. The only
problem we had was about 50 miles from Eustis we took the top down and
stowed it in the trunk, about 5 minutes later we ran into a storm and
couldn't get the duffle bags untied fast enough to get the top out. Had
about 2 inches of standing water in the floor boards.
On a side note, the engine blew when I was there, and I ended up leaving
the car in the Ft.Eustis gas station parking lot when I was transferred out.
Mike Welch
http://home.turbopower.com/~mikew
'68+/- Triumph Spitfire
'60 Jaguar MkII 3.8 auto
'87 Jeep Cherokee
'96 GMC Suburban
-----Original Message-----
From: SJagGo@aol.com [mailto:SJagGo@aol.com]
Sent: Friday, February 18, 2000 11:58 AM
To: spitfires@autox.team.net
Subject: Long distance Spits
Greetings:
What's the farthest drive any of you have taken in your Spitfires?
My personal best, no CO-driver has been 6100 miles, including the last 1500
(Lava Hot Springs, ID to Springfield, IL) stopping only for gas, oil, and
fast foods. That's what the 1500 really stands for-1500 miles.
The quirkiest has been Springfield to Macon, MO to Columbia, MO to St. Louis
back to Springfield. Over 500 miles. Why? A girlfriend called and wanted
to go for a drive. "How far?" I asked. "Till I say to turn back," was her
reply. She fell asleep about 50 miles out and never told me to turn back
until she woke up near Macon. We ate a very late dinner at a country bar
with live band in Macon and headed home by way of St. Louis. Great
sunrise-darn those bucket seats and parking brake handle!
If you've gone 1500+ miles, what breakdowns occurred. In my case, the
gasket
between the head exhaust pipe and the exhaust manifold blew out. Found one
in Missoula, Montana. A couple thousand miles later on the return trip, the
headpipe broke away from the flange attaching to the exhaust manifold. I
had
it welded in Arlington, Oregon.
Bill Brockschmidt
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