1800 miles and 44 hours later I have another 68 442
October 13th, 2013, 09:12 PM
#1
car guy
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Dallas TX
Posts: 5,662
1800 miles and 44 hours later I have another 68 442
I've been looking for my next car to keep me busy and make a few bucks. I have not had much money to work with because until last weekend most of my $$ was tied up in the 64 Galaxie project that just sold. A few weeks ago I had already agreed to buy the 68 442 basket case in Denver that was in the classified here.
Had I already sold the Galaxie I would have put the $$ in something else but I had already made the commitment so it was time to go get it. I had placed ads in the Dallas and Denver CL that I had an empty trailer headed up and got a man to answer in Denver. He had bought a 280Z in Waco and needed to his house on the west side of Denver. I deal was struck and I made a quick 4 hour warm up round trip Thursday night to pick it up.
Friday after work I left out with the 280z strapped down. Traffic was really heavy getting out of Dallas. Usually takes about 2 hours to get to my little brothers house and took almost three. He wanted to ride along since he was off and it was on the way so I picked him up.
Stopped for fuel and a quick meal and drove on to Amarillo arriving about midnight. We pulled in a rest stop and parked in the truck area and went to sleep. Has about the time I has out security tapped on my window and woke us up. He said was had to move over to the car section.
After we moved I went right o sleep until my alarm went off a 5:45
I didn't want to wake up but forced myself after hitting snooze once.
We went next door to eat some breakfast and went on the the first stop of the trip. One of the members here asked me to stop at a guys house and look at some parts there in Amarillo. If I was not in a hurry would like to have looked at some more parts but stuff was everywhere and we needed to get on the road. We loaded up a nice 68 flat hood and couple post doors and headed out.
50 miles down the road in Dumas TX I stopped for fuel. While the pump was going I checked all the tires and the RH front was down to 40PSI from the 60 it should be. I checked it again and moved the valve stem and thought I hear air. I wiggled it and sure enough I heard the hiss of air.
crap!!
I didn't want to put on the spare this early in the trip and not have a spare so I asked some locals. They said there is only one tire shop open on Saturday told me where it was. I arrive and there was only 1 guy there and he spoke zero English. I managed to get him to see what I needed by moving the valve stem making it leak. 30 min later we were on the road headed to New Mexico.
Coming in the New Mexico we started noticing these giant hills. We made it on in to Colorado so there were a bunch more hills and so even had some weird white topping on their peaks. Not sure what that was.
We moved through Colorado pretty uneventful. I did stop once for fuel outside of Denver and noticed oil specs all over front of the trailer. Looked under my truck and gear oil was lightly coated everywhere and dripping off the transmission. I was concerned but not paniced. We made to drop off the 280z and found out there was a parts store close by so headed straight there. I had to buy a 3/8 brake caliper socket to remove the plug and a pint of gear oil. Luckily my truck is tall enough I can crawl under it while its on the ground. I got the plug out and used a Mcdonalds straw to check the level. It was a little low so I added 1/2 of the pint to top it off. We hopped back in and headed to the other side of Denver to get the 442.
Traffic flat sucked when we got off the highway inside the town of Denver. 20 blocks took 45 min and hit every single red light. Cars were parked on the curb and lanes were narrow so it was a chore getting the trailer through it all. I finally got to the house hoping to load and go but his engine hoist would not lift the motor more than a few inches off the ground and there was no way the 3 off us could lift a complete 400 Olds motor. After so messing around with it and a piece of paper turned in to a tunnel we got enough trans fluid in it to get the motor in the truck so we loaded the rest and headed back for Texas.
In full on Sanford and Son mode we made it to Pueblo CO for the next fuel stop. This time while checking the tires the LH front was low and sure enough it was the dang valve stem was leaking just like the other side had.
My spare was under a huge pile of parts and it was about 10PM so there was not a tire store anywhere open. I tried airing up there at the gas station but the wimpy compressor would not add anymore than 38 PSI. I went to a truck stop and they had a hose with real pressure. Since the leak was only with the movement of the valve stem I decided to try to put a bandaid on it. I made a damn out of duct tape and keep the stem from being able to move. I work great. 100 miles later I check and had not lost any air at all. 
I was already really tired but I wanted to get as close to home as I could last night so at 11pm I guzzled a 5 hour energy and jumped but on the road. I started getting really tired after midnight but pushed through and got and second wind around 1AM. I managed to get us back to the same rest stop in Amarillo but we parked in the car section right away this time.
I fell asleep almost instantly and woke up from the sunlight about 8AM. We jumped on the road and drove straight through to drop off my brother. From my brothers to home seemed like the longest 2 hours of my life. I managed to get in about 2:00 and passes out instantly was a couple hour nap.
At this point I don't have a plan for the car. I got to get everything unloaded and fully access what I have got myself in to. Stay tuned.....
Had I already sold the Galaxie I would have put the $$ in something else but I had already made the commitment so it was time to go get it. I had placed ads in the Dallas and Denver CL that I had an empty trailer headed up and got a man to answer in Denver. He had bought a 280Z in Waco and needed to his house on the west side of Denver. I deal was struck and I made a quick 4 hour warm up round trip Thursday night to pick it up.
Friday after work I left out with the 280z strapped down. Traffic was really heavy getting out of Dallas. Usually takes about 2 hours to get to my little brothers house and took almost three. He wanted to ride along since he was off and it was on the way so I picked him up.
Stopped for fuel and a quick meal and drove on to Amarillo arriving about midnight. We pulled in a rest stop and parked in the truck area and went to sleep. Has about the time I has out security tapped on my window and woke us up. He said was had to move over to the car section.
After we moved I went right o sleep until my alarm went off a 5:45
I didn't want to wake up but forced myself after hitting snooze once.
We went next door to eat some breakfast and went on the the first stop of the trip. One of the members here asked me to stop at a guys house and look at some parts there in Amarillo. If I was not in a hurry would like to have looked at some more parts but stuff was everywhere and we needed to get on the road. We loaded up a nice 68 flat hood and couple post doors and headed out.
50 miles down the road in Dumas TX I stopped for fuel. While the pump was going I checked all the tires and the RH front was down to 40PSI from the 60 it should be. I checked it again and moved the valve stem and thought I hear air. I wiggled it and sure enough I heard the hiss of air.
crap!!I didn't want to put on the spare this early in the trip and not have a spare so I asked some locals. They said there is only one tire shop open on Saturday told me where it was. I arrive and there was only 1 guy there and he spoke zero English. I managed to get him to see what I needed by moving the valve stem making it leak. 30 min later we were on the road headed to New Mexico.
Coming in the New Mexico we started noticing these giant hills. We made it on in to Colorado so there were a bunch more hills and so even had some weird white topping on their peaks. Not sure what that was.
We moved through Colorado pretty uneventful. I did stop once for fuel outside of Denver and noticed oil specs all over front of the trailer. Looked under my truck and gear oil was lightly coated everywhere and dripping off the transmission. I was concerned but not paniced. We made to drop off the 280z and found out there was a parts store close by so headed straight there. I had to buy a 3/8 brake caliper socket to remove the plug and a pint of gear oil. Luckily my truck is tall enough I can crawl under it while its on the ground. I got the plug out and used a Mcdonalds straw to check the level. It was a little low so I added 1/2 of the pint to top it off. We hopped back in and headed to the other side of Denver to get the 442.
Traffic flat sucked when we got off the highway inside the town of Denver. 20 blocks took 45 min and hit every single red light. Cars were parked on the curb and lanes were narrow so it was a chore getting the trailer through it all. I finally got to the house hoping to load and go but his engine hoist would not lift the motor more than a few inches off the ground and there was no way the 3 off us could lift a complete 400 Olds motor. After so messing around with it and a piece of paper turned in to a tunnel we got enough trans fluid in it to get the motor in the truck so we loaded the rest and headed back for Texas.
In full on Sanford and Son mode we made it to Pueblo CO for the next fuel stop. This time while checking the tires the LH front was low and sure enough it was the dang valve stem was leaking just like the other side had.
My spare was under a huge pile of parts and it was about 10PM so there was not a tire store anywhere open. I tried airing up there at the gas station but the wimpy compressor would not add anymore than 38 PSI. I went to a truck stop and they had a hose with real pressure. Since the leak was only with the movement of the valve stem I decided to try to put a bandaid on it. I made a damn out of duct tape and keep the stem from being able to move. I work great. 100 miles later I check and had not lost any air at all. I was already really tired but I wanted to get as close to home as I could last night so at 11pm I guzzled a 5 hour energy and jumped but on the road. I started getting really tired after midnight but pushed through and got and second wind around 1AM. I managed to get us back to the same rest stop in Amarillo but we parked in the car section right away this time.
I fell asleep almost instantly and woke up from the sunlight about 8AM. We jumped on the road and drove straight through to drop off my brother. From my brothers to home seemed like the longest 2 hours of my life. I managed to get in about 2:00 and passes out instantly was a couple hour nap.
At this point I don't have a plan for the car. I got to get everything unloaded and fully access what I have got myself in to. Stay tuned.....
October 14th, 2013, 04:19 AM
#4
Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Seneca Falls, NY
Posts: 5,288
Sounds like an eventful trip. That's a nice Z project. You don't find anything except rusty POS's around here. The unibodies just rust away.
The 68 looks like a nice project. I looked at the ad for that car more than once myself.
You must have a good sway bar set up. that car looks like it's loaded pretty heavy to the rear:
The 68 looks like a nice project. I looked at the ad for that car more than once myself.
You must have a good sway bar set up. that car looks like it's loaded pretty heavy to the rear:
October 14th, 2013, 04:52 AM
#5
Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Dallas Texas
Posts: 1,565
Richard:
You constantly amaze me! But of course, you are a bit younger than I!!! LOL! By the way, give me a call, might have some "body stuff" for your rebuild of the '68 that Juju thinks is in my/our way. Probably worth looking at.
Aron
You constantly amaze me! But of course, you are a bit younger than I!!! LOL! By the way, give me a call, might have some "body stuff" for your rebuild of the '68 that Juju thinks is in my/our way. Probably worth looking at.
Aron
October 14th, 2013, 06:04 AM
#6
Richard, good luck on the project. I would have figured in the great state of Texas you could find a car lots closer! Still seems like a fun time. I did a 1400 mile trip for my 99 Mustang SVT Cobra conv so I know all about it!
October 14th, 2013, 06:45 AM
#8
car guy
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Dallas TX
Posts: 5,662
Sounds like an eventful trip. That's a nice Z project. You don't find anything except rusty POS's around here. The unibodies just rust away.
The 68 looks like a nice project. I looked at the ad for that car more than once myself.
You must have a good sway bar set up. that car looks like it's loaded pretty heavy to the rear:
The 68 looks like a nice project. I looked at the ad for that car more than once myself.
You must have a good sway bar set up. that car looks like it's loaded pretty heavy to the rear:
We will see on the project. I hope its worth saving but worst case I should be able to break of of it in parts.
The truck is stock. If you look at my trailer the axles are really far back. When I bought it 12 years ago I didn't notice this but it was always hard to back up compared to others I had barrowed. After a couple years I finally noticed my axles are 10-12" farther back than other 18' trailers I see around. A car like this with no motor and front I could have moved forward some but from experience with this trailer thats where it tows the best.
I will come see what you have for sure once I take inventory and make a list so I know what I need.
Thanks I will start laying out the puzzle pieces and go from there.
October 14th, 2013, 07:48 PM
#10
Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Plano, TX
Posts: 11,798
Sounds like it was quite an adventurous trip!
Looks like the 'basket case' descriptor was correct, but it will buff out after you get a hold of it.
Glad the duct tape came in handy. I remember about 5 years ago I got a recall notice in the mail for valve stems installed by Discount tire. I never took my car in, and surprisingly no issues - yet.
My mom took a vacation in Colorado just last month but and got caught in the middle of that big flood - barely made it out of there. Glad your issues were minor compared to that.
Looks like the 'basket case' descriptor was correct, but it will buff out after you get a hold of it.
Glad the duct tape came in handy. I remember about 5 years ago I got a recall notice in the mail for valve stems installed by Discount tire. I never took my car in, and surprisingly no issues - yet.
My mom took a vacation in Colorado just last month but and got caught in the middle of that big flood - barely made it out of there. Glad your issues were minor compared to that.
October 17th, 2013, 07:00 PM
#12
car guy
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Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Dallas TX
Posts: 5,662
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