Road trip NY -> Texas

[Dakota]

My wife and I are moving to Texas to be closer to our sons and their families which currently includes 4 grandkids with a 5th one on the way.   While I was debating with myself about shipping or driving it, one of my sons said "when else would you have a chance to do something like this?" (I should mention he's a rock climber and sky dives so his tolerance for risk is much different than most).  He was right. I've had the car on the road for a couple of years, but only had out about 2300 miles on it to this point after the restoration... all daylight driving in mostly warm, dry conditions, with the longest previous continuous trip being about 2 hours.  This journey involved about 1400 miles. 

I end up l doing this trip over the course of 2.5 days.   I was able to safely complete the drive primarily because @GoMangoBoys accepted my self-invitation to spend a night at his house in Ohio which nicely shortened the next leg to a family member's house in Tennessee. 

Gomangoboys has previously posted pictures of his "man cave", but it's nothing like seeing it in person. My Challenger spent the night in his barn with Marilyn Monroe and some amazing cars to keep it company.   I got to play on a pinball machine for the first time in a billion years (I was thoroughly humbled), had a cold beer out of a restored Pepsi bottle dispenser (fortunately he keeps a a supply of nickels near by to pay for it), listened to several tunes on a fully restored juke box from the 1950's, had some amazing food (who knew venison Parmesan was delicious?) but more importantly spent some extended time talking with my amazing host and his wife - truly the highlight of the whole trip.

This first stop provided an opportunity to try to fix anything that was broken, or provide a checkpoint to return home if the car or my nerves were acting up.  There were no issues, so I kept going. While going through Kentucky, I passed a bunch of stranded cars (all fairly new) at which point I started to ask myself "what the heck were you thinking taking this trip in a 53 year old car??".   But I kept going.  While most of the trip was dry, I got hit with a downpour in Louisville and then again a little west of Nashville.  This was the first time I've driven the car in rain, ran my wipers more than a few cycles, ran my rebuilt heater blower motor for more than 5 minutes, switched the air flow between vent and defrost in my rebuilt heater box ever and had my headlights on for more than 20 minutes.  Everything worked.  I'm trying not to sound shocked but I really am. So I kept going.

After arriving at my sister-in-law's near Memphis, her husband pulled out his factory correct  '74 Vette for some side-by-side glamour that are shown below.  My sister-in-law parked her car outside so my Challenger could dry out. I was amazed at how much water ran out from under the hood insulation pad once the hood was raised.

The drive into Texas was uneventful except for the mild sunburn I got from hanging my left arm oust the window. 

My Challenger is now safely tucked away in its new home.  Along the way, I got between 17-18 mpg running mostly between 2009-2200 rpm (340 w/3.55 diff on an A833 OD 4 speed).    I had at least one person approach me to ask about the car every single time I stopped for gas.  The car easily held 80 mph for several long stretches - another first.  There were a bunch of horn honks, thumbs ups (even from a couple of BMW drivers!) and waves.  My personal favorites were from a biker dude (beard flapping in the wind over his shoulder, helmet with a spike on top, motorcycle club leathers) riding at the tail end of about 10 riders, and a guy in a modern Challenger who pulled up next to me, gave me a thumbs up, then blipped his tires by hammering down of the nastiest sounding engines I've ever heard while his son was leaning out the window taking pictures. 

It wasn't all perfect. My brakes developed an annoying squeal, I got multiple reminders that I need to get the a/c hooked up and I should maybe do something to reduce the road noise inside the car, but overall this was a great trip and about as epic as it will probably get with me.

Again, my thanks to gomangoboys for a wonderful day along the way.

[Brads70]

Sounds like a great trip! Glad you drove it! 
No reason these car should be able to be driven anywhere. Most of them are in better condition than our daily drivers!
Enjoy Texas!

[blown motor]

Not only a great trip but a testament to you restoration and mechanical abilities. Congratulations.

[Katfish]

 Congrats, I envy you.
Now that my car is squared away mechanically, I want to do a road trip.
What's the point of doing these builds if you don't get out and drive it.

[Jay Bee]

Loved ever bit of that story, (multiple reminders - lol). Thanks for sharing and all the pics too. You know, AC wasn't all that important in Buffalo BUT you're in Texas now - just saying.

[dodj]

Nice story. Glad it was mechanically uneventful! Sounds like it was a great trip. What part of Texas is gonna be home now? I crossed part of it a few weeks ago. I40...that part of Texas is pretty boring.....

[GoMangoBoys]

@Dakota  It was an honor to have you spend the night here.  I loved the ride we took in your car.  As I stated it was the first Challenger that I have actually ridden in or driven.  You are a good guy and it was great to hang out with you for an evening.  After all, I feel like about half of the parts on our car were free from you.  You may not realize it, but you gave me a lot of stuff.  The stuff from you that I did not use will be put up on here for free to the forum members once I am totally done with the car.

[GoMangoBoys]

Here is a little video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-a1MWt5IJc

[Dakota]

Nice story. Glad it was mechanically uneventful! Sounds like it was a great trip. What part of Texas is gonna be home now? I crossed part of it a few weeks ago. I40...that part of Texas is pretty boring.....

Yeah there are big blocks of nothing in several parts including around I-40, then crazy traffic when you get into the cities.

We'll be in Dallas/Ft Worth area, shading towards Ft Worth. 

[Dakota]

Gotta love the bell - no detail missed!

[anlauto]

Great story, thanks for sharing 

[ZippyZoo]

Good for you!!  Sounds like a wonderful experience!
Pictures and video - what a beautiful ride!

[dodj]

Next time going through Ohio I'm gonna look up Gomangoboys......that garage looks killer...

[70_440-6Cuda]

@Dakota loved the story - well written that really gives a feel for the experience - thanks for sharing!

[fc7cuda]

@Dakota welcome to the area, looks like I may be seeing you around. 👍