[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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