[DeTomaso] Vegas (or, What I did on my spring vacation) LONG
Asa Jay Laughton
asajay at asajay.com
Wed May 2 10:05:18 EDT 2007
Chris,
It's a piece of cake. Shelley and I drove the Pantera two years in a
row, from WA state, to Las Vegas. Those were the years right after we
drove it home from buying it in San Fran. I even totally dismantled my
steering rack at a tech session in San Jose the first year, replaced a
radiator the second during a tech session. All had fun, including my
wife. No worries.
Just do it.
Asa Jay
Asa Jay Laughton, MSgt, USAFR, Retired
& Shelley Marie
Spokane, WA
1973 Pantera L 5533
[ASASCAT]
******************************
http://www.asajay.com
http://www.351c.info
Christopher Kimball 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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