[Roadsters] Road Trip - 1200+ miles (1931 kilometers)

[Daryl Smith]

I'm home!
For those that know the area or want to look it up on a map I went from Delta (Vanclouver, BC), out the #1 to Hope, north to Williams Lake to visit Mallory (another roadster owner), up to Quesnel to look at a roadster he had heard about (thrashed/rusted/mostly stripped high windshield), back down to Williams Lake, down to Cache Creek and over to Kamloops to visit family, down to Summerland/Penticton to visit more family, then to Osoyoos and headed back home on the Hope - Princeton highway. 
Stopped at the Gold Dust Pub in Hedley for a pint and to cool off from the 35*C heat and was greeted by some very freindly staff who happen to be car crazy also, but the marque of choice was Pontiac! Cold beer, good food, freindly conversation, I highly recommend a stop if you are passing thru..... 

This was another shakedown run for the EFI system and 1800cc stroker. Everything went very well, except for the oil leak which I will have another shot at fixing very shortly, along with a few other things.

Some thoughts:
- Still very rich in some areas of the fueling map, on some hills the air fuel ratio would be into the 10.5 to 11:1 range.
- Cruises very nicely at 15.5 -16:1 air fuel ratio. No load, so no worries about burning holes in anything.
- Deceleration fuel cut works great! On downhill runs with your foot off the gas I have it set to cut fuel altogether. The A/F gauge pegs at 18:1 and basically coast down the hill until I put my foot on the throttle again. I was surprised at how smooth the transition back and forth is. I thought there may be a bit of a stumble or jerk, but it is a very smooth transition when you get on the throttle again.
- Lots of power for passing! A lot of the highways I was on are windy 2 lane highways where you wait for the extra passing lane or pass when it is safe on a dotted centre line. A quick drop to 3rd and punch it and I'm past the big trucks and slower drivers in no time at all.
- The ride is actually quite nice. I run 185/65/15 tires on 280ZX Turbo wheels and find the ride quite liveable for longer drives. I may have given up some cornering ability with the larger sidewall, but I'm very happy with the all around drivability of the car. Minor sidewall rubbing on the right side to fix.
- Rattles and buzzes, lots of them to find and fix. Both doors and a couple from under the dash. Very irritating on long trips.
- Wind noise increases significantly over 70 mph! Cruising at 60 mph is serene in comparison.
- 5 spds are a HUGE improvement for long road trips. I cruise at 60 mph at 2700 rpm and about 3100 rpm for 70 mph. No problems from the engine standpoint as it will accelerate from about 2000 rpm in fifth, and I only had to shift to fourth for a couple of really steep hills. Once I have the fuel/spark dialed in that may not even be nescessary.
- Milage...According to my Classic Instruments speedometer, my best was 43 mpg and the worst was 31 mpg, average being about 39 mpg. I am trying to confirm my calibration, but I know it is well within 10% on the speed at least, so worst case average for the trip should be about 35 mpg? I used 1/2 tank of gas between Chilliwack and Cache Creek..........and slightly less than 3/4 tank from Summerland to Chilliwack (28.7 ltrs)........

Very happy with it overall, with a new list of things to work on.....
1. Eliminate as many rattles as possible!
2. Change transmission and rear diff to synthetic oil.
3. Replace little nylon bushing on end of shifter inside tranny. (it's a little sloppy)
4. Lean out high load fuel a little.

Cheers
Daryl