[DeTomaso] Vegas (or, What I did on my spring vacation) LONG

Tue May 1 17:59:20 EDT 2007

Dear Chris,

Don't lose heart. It can be done.

In brief: three trips from Oklahoma City to Las Vegas in 1989,1990 and 1991---no problems----round trip mileage 2500 miles.

five trips for road rallies from Oklahoma City to Santa Fe and northern New Mexico 1999 through 2005----average round trip mileage 1100 miles--no problems (although Jim Gray had to replace the water pump on his brand new engine in Tecumcari, New Mexico)

one Texas 1000 Rally trip from Oklahoma City to San Antonio in 1998 plus rally mileage approximately 1800 miles----one problem: the new engine bent a handful of pushrods.

So, I would point out that it can be done. I would point out that the best Pantera to take on a long trip is one that has been driven frequently and I would also point out that fresh engines (and engine mods) do seem be particularly vulnerable.

Stiff upper lip lads, Chuck Engles

---- Christopher Kimball <chrisvkimball at msn.com> wrote:
>Dear Art,
>
>I would love to try to drive to Vegas from Washington State next year in my
>Pantera, but after reading your story (and the stories of others left
>stranded going to or coming from) I'm getting the feeling it may not be such
>a good idea. I'm having problems getting the thing to operate sitting in my
>garage, let alone in the middle of the boonies!
>
>Then again, life is full of risks...
>
>Great story, though, thanks for telling it.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Chris
>
>
>>From: "Art Stephens" <artstephens at charter.net>
>>To: <detomaso at realbig.com>
>>Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Vegas (or, What I did on my spring vacation) LONG
>>Date: Tue, 1 May 2007 13:33:09 -0700
>>
>>
>>WARNING!!! This is LONG!!!
>>
>>
>>I left as planned, (sort of), on Tuesday morning for Vegas. I
>>wanted to get out at like 2:00 AM to have a nice traffic free drive up to
>>Bishop where I planned to meet the PCNC group. I had a millon things I
>>wanted to do to prepare for the trip and of course only a few of them got
>>done. Anyway, I finally got on the road at 4:45 AM. Five minutes from
>>home, they had just finished grinding the freeway so it is now covered
>>with concrete dust and water! So ten miles from home, it looks like I've
>>already driven across the country chasing tornados! Working on
>>approximately ZERO minutes sleep, I drove the 300 miles to Bishop. I was
>>so excited about this trip, that I had no problem staying awake. I'd been
>>dreaming about this trip since I bought the car almost ten years ago. This
>>trip was supposed to include driving out to Colorado Springs to visit my
>>sister and her family. Based on my recent history with the car, some
>>thought I was delusional. Uh, I guess they were right. I got to the
>>motel in Bishop and collapsed into a coma for a couple of hours. On my
>>first tank of gas, I got 14.4 mpg. Uh-oh, I was hoping for 16 or 17.
>>Let's see, $60 to go 240 miles, oh man this is going to get a little
>>pricey. Little did I know that 14.4 was the best I would see during the
>>entire trip. The worst was 11.78 and I figured I averaged 12 or 13 mpg.
>>So I'm hanging around Bishop waiting for the gang and saving money because
>>I'm not driving. And I thought, "I don't want to be kicking myself for
>>sitting around a motel to save a few bucks when what I really want to do is
>>go driving". So driving I went. I headed up highway 6 north out of Bishop
>>for about 30 miles to highway 120 that heads west. Driving up highway 6,
>>I've got 14,000 ft. White Mountain Peak on my right and the Sierras on my
>>left, life is good! Highway 120 takes me to Mono Lake and HIghway 395.
>>The sign on hwy 6 says dips ahead. I have never seen dips like these! If
>>you weren't paying attention, I think these things would launch you to the
>>moon! The drive on 120 was great fun, very scenic and I think I saw less
>>than ten cars over the 46 miles, although one of those cars was a sherrif
>>in an suv. As the sun went down, I drove 395 back to Bishop, gorgeous
>>mountain scenery! So that was just a little 150+ mile afternoon cruise. I
>>went to my favorite Mexican restoaurant in Bishop, I think the name is La
>>Casita? Two thumbs up. While minding my own business and enjoying my
>>dinner, I suddenly and without provocation, found myself being harrassed
>>by a wandering band of Pantera owners :-) We talked cars for awhile then
>>went back to the motel to rest up for the next big day. Wednesday morning
>>we left Bishop driving south on 395 to hwy 168 at Big Pine. Highway
>>168/266 takes us North East over the White Mountain range to hwy 95 in
>>Nevada. The road up out of Big pine was awesome! Curves and rises and
>>dips as it climbed up into the mountains. There was one little surprise
>>for me, over one of the rises, was an immediate right turn! Lesson
>>learned, If you don't know what is on the other side of the rise, assume
>>the worst. New Pantera owner Trevor and I both saw two antelope near the
>>side of the road. I had never seen an antelope and I didn't know they were
>>in the area. The road was great, very little traffic and beautiful
>>scenery. At the junction of 266 and 95 was the Cottontail Ranch. At this
>>point the rest of the group headed south toward Vegas and I headed north,
>>(or at least that's what I told them) :-) I drove up to Tonopah where I
>>hung out for an hour or two. The local kids were fascinated by the car.
>>After they left, a couple of them came back with a camera and asked if
>>they could sit in the car. I gladly let them do so. I saw Pantera owner
>>Steve Rovarino and his family at the Mcdonalds, nice people the Rovarinos.
>>From Tonopah, I headed north on hwy 376 to Austin. About 30 miles north
>>of Tonopah, in the absolute middle of nowhere, I pass a bicycle rider
>>pulling a trailer! That dude was tough! Austin was a pretty cool little
>>place. Population 200, on a windy, steep road in a conyon. Not much
>>traffic on 376, but one vehicle was a chippie. My old Escort, battery
>>operated Passport gave me two little blips when I was in watermelon
>>throwing range of said chippie. I couldn't see him till I got close due to
>>curves, but I would assume they were using instant on? Of course I was
>>driving the speed limit, which I don't think I have ever exceeded. What's
>>that like anyway? From Austin, I took 305 to Battle Mountain. From
>>Battle Mountain I took Interstate 80 to 278 which I drove south to Eureka.
>>Off of 278, I saw a very cool old prop trainer or fighter parked at a
>>small airstrip. It was the only plane there. It was dusk and I wanted to
>>keep moving but I kind of wish I would have stopped to take a picture. I
>>rolled into Eureka after dark, where I got some gas, another cup of
>>coffee and some more little Hostess donuts. Man, I was eatin good on this
>>trip! From Eureka I headed east on hwy 50, (the lonliest road in
>>america), to Ely where I spent the night. My primary concern about
>>lodging was the security of my car, so I picked the motel with the
>>emptiest parking lot. An empty motel parking lot may be good for the car
>>but perhaps not as good for the driver. The place was a dump but it was
>>cheap, like 32 bucks for the night. There was a reason it wasn't listed
>>in my AAA tourbook. The name was The Deserest? I hung around Ely for a
>>couple of hours before hitting the road south on 318 to Vegas. 318 is the
>>road the Silver State is run on. That is an event I hope to do when I
>>finally get my car where I want it to be. When I got into Vegas, it was
>>hot outside, probably in the 90's? The car didn't want to idle and I just
>>figured it was due to the heat and running the A/C. I turned up the idle
>>and it was ok. The next morning when I fired up the car to head out to
>>Pahrump, the engine popped a bit before I left the parking lot. Once I
>>got going, it seemed to run fine. The engine ran well until I was on my
>>way back from the track. I was cruising along when I could feel I lost
>>some power. I pulled over and it sounded like an exhaust leak. The day
>>before, one of my exhaust brackets had broken and I wound up using a wire
>>tie to secure the muffler. I figured the exhast leak was due to the
>>bracket breaking and allowing the parts to move around. I found loose
>>bolts at the collector and tightened them. No improvement, so I checked
>>header bolts, tight. Then I noticed oil aroung one of my spark plugs,
>>damn! This was the second time this year I had a spark plug come loose.
>>I'm sure I've installed over a thousand spark plugs in my life and I never
>>had one come loose till this year. Am I just getting weak in my old age?
>>I brought a bunch of extra tools for the trip, but of course no spark plug
>>socket. I had driven the northern route to Pahrump which of course no
>>other Pantera owners took, so no luck there. After hanging out at the
>>intersection of the 120 and 95 for a hour or two, hoping to get lucky and
>>find someone with the right socket, I finally decided to limp to the next
>>gas station in hopes of finding a socket. I thought about calling AAA for
>>a socket, but I didn't. I stopped at the next gas station but no one had
>>what I needed so I got back on the road driving 60 mph toward Vegas when
>>the car started making a very expensive noise. Son of a _____! I bought
>>my first cell phone prior to this trip for just such an occasion. The
>>phone was deader that a beaver hat! Mother ____er!!!!! After recovering
>>from my Terets outburst, I noticed a motor home broken down on the other
>>side of the highway. Hmm, how did he get there? I hadn't even noticed
>>him as I was a little pre occupied with my own situation. The motor home
>>owner had blown a front tire and said it was a white knuckler getting it
>>stopped. He was about done changing his tire and he let me use his working
>>cell phone, thanks man. The lady at AAA kept asking me what city I was
>>in! I'm not in a city, I'm in the middle of the friggin desert! "What
>>city are you in" ? I told you I'm not in a city, I'm surrounded by
>>sagebrush! I can't see a city, all I can see is desert. A highway patrol
>>shows up and I tell him that she keeps asking me what city I'm in! He
>>says, just tell her Las Vegas. He was cool and that was what she wanted
>>to hear. Anyway, I got towed to the Orleans but the tow truck was too
>>tall to go up the ramp. So I talk him into dropping me off near the base
>>of the ramp, on the side of the little road going thru the hotel. He
>>wasn't supposed to leave me in a tow away zone like that but he was cool.
>>I ran up to the hospitality suite to try to find some help getting my car
>>up to the Pantera parking area. Steve Wilkinson and Bill Gagnon came thru
>>for me using Steve's pick up and tow strap to get me up the ramp, Thanks
>>guys! After a long day, I just chilled out and didn't want anything to do
>>with the car. The next morning, Saturday, I pulled the right valve cover
>>and saw no problem. Then we pulled the plugs. Oh boy, this doesn't look
>>good. I have never seen plugs that looked like these. On two of them,
>>half of the electrode was burnt away. The number one plug had been smashed
>>the smithereens. It appeared a valve had slammed into it completely
>>removing the electrode. On the left bank, only the number 5 plug looked
>>good, although 6,7 and 8 looked a lot better than 1,2,3 and 4. When we
>>could see a hole in the number one piston, we knew the party was over :-(
>>The engine was siezed to where I could not turn it over with a socket on
>>the crank nut. We put it into 5th gear and gave it a little bump and it
>>broke loose, so I figure it was just that one cylinder that was stuck? I
>>had the car towed home on Sunday and it was good to get home though I had
>>hoped to be getting home about a week later. One of these days I'll pull
>>the head and see how bad it is. The only good I can see coming from this
>>blow up is that maybe I'll have a more potent engine when I'm done? The
>>good parts of the trip were great! The day spent driving the two lanes in
>>Nevada was one of the best days I've ever had on the road. I really
>>enjoyed hanging out with the Pantera folks in Vegas. For those non
>>gamblers out there, I'm not a gambler, but the convention is fun anyway.
>>If you have never been, give it a try at least once, you may be
>>pleasantly surprised. I owe a big thanks to Dave Rudderow for helping me
>>get my car home, Dave is really something, thanks man. Others that
>>really came thru for me include; Bill and Diana Wright, Johnny Woods,
>>Brett Santos, Steve Rovarino, Roger Sharp, Mike Drew, Dennis and Mary
>>Antennuci, Rod and Phyllis Kunishege, JC, and I'm sorry if I've
>>forgotten anyone. It was good to get back to the hotel where I knew I was
>>surrounded by people that wanted to help me out, I knew I was in good
>>hands. That really makes Pantera ownership something special. Thank you
>>all.
>>
>>See, I told you it was long!
>>
>>Art
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