On Mon, 8 Mar 1999 HMENTZEN@aol.com wrote:
>
> I'm planning a 5 - 6 hour drive to Maine this May. I've had my Spit for a
> little over 2 years now, but have never gone more than 100- 150 miles at any
> one time. I've stayed off the Interstates because of concerns about running
> the car at higher rpm's and the interstates aren't any fun. What I'd like to
> do is put together an emergency kit and was looking for advice from the
> experienced listers.( Not to be pessimistic , my AAA is paid up .) Actually
> the only breakdown I've experienced on the road was a broken accelerator
> cable. I enjoy reading about other people's cars and repairs but I really
> like hearing about where people drive their cars.
> Hans Mentzen
> 79 Spitfire (still looking for a name)
>
I went to the NATC in Albany many years ago in my TR4 (its first
REALLY long trip)...
I took:
my ENTIRE tool collection (except for the floor jack), a
spare coil, generator, votage regulator, fuel pump, points,
plugs, dizzy cap, rotor, a complete set of hoses and a fan
belt. I also took a gallon of water/coolant, 5 quarts of oil,
5 bottles of lead additive/octane booster... Except for
1 quart of oil, 2.5 bottles of the octane boost, my pen
knife and a wire cutter I didn't need any of it.
My TR ran faultlessly until we got to the hotel, where it
refused to start. The trouble was traced to the high tension lead
at the distributor end from the coil. It had burned through and was
not making contact. I trimmed back the insulation with my knife
and cut the end of the wir that stuck out with my cutters. The car
ran fine afterwards.
So what's the moral? The more you drive your car over long distances
the more tuned you will become as to what your car may need.
The wonderful thing about Triumphs is the fact that they aren't over-
bred delicate machines. They are really rather sturdy. A 5-6 hour
trip is really not a long one at all. Caravan with some friends and
their TRs you'll have a ball.
I caravanned to the vintage races in Mid Ohio with a friend who was
towing his Vitess on a trailer with his Isuzu Trooper. The trip
normally takes about 6-7 hours. We were on the road about 10 hours
stopping to fix a flat tire on his trailer and replacing spark pugs
on the Trooper that would spit them out every 50 miles or so
Greg Petrolati
gpetrola@prairienet.org 1962 TR4 (CT4852L)
"That's not a leak... My car is just marking its territory!"
Greg Petrolati, Champaign, Illinois
|