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

Paul - Home thedrol at pobox.com
Tue May 1 18:09:34 EDT 2007


It absolutely can be done.

One trip I went from Chicago, to Monterey, to LA, to Ely, came in 3rd in 
my Silver State Class, down to Las Vegas and home to Chicago.  This was 
more than 5000.  I had one bad tank of gas that held the needle valve in 
the secondary float bowl open.  That took a couple of hours to figure 
out and fix.  But otherwise no trouble.

Another trip I went from Chicago to the track event at TWS and ran 2 
full days there on the track before heading home.  This was 2200 miles 
round trip.  No troubles at all on this trip and I had a truly excellent 
time on the track!

Paul
#9270

cengles at cox.net wrote:
> 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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