To The Mountains I Go-September Drive 2020

Post by **funwithmonkeys** » 12 Sep 2020 15:46

I can hardly see across the street here on the sunshine coast.

Post by **butters68** » 12 Sep 2020 18:20

the smoke wasn't that bad past hope. the slime came down with a bad case of busted clutch plate spring and we had to cut drive short , Robyn was able to limp it home for us.

but it was a fun drive until Ashcroft exit when it FUBARED.

gooned · Post by **gooned** » 12 Sep 2020 18:33

At least you made it back!

CP · Post by CP » 13 Sep 2020 12:51

Funny thing happened yesterday..On my excursion to meet up with my brother I ran into a few like minded individuals that all happened to have the same idea. It made for a very enjoyable outing. I think there was some spirited driving out in front, but I had no problems with keeping my own pace. I'll gladly put my hand up to be the clean-up guy when times allow and proper runs like this can be organised again in the future.

Post by **bertvorgon** » 13 Sep 2020 16:53

Story and pics soon, just polishing up and need to re-size pics...some good ones!

Alveen240/610 · Post by **Alveen240/610** » 13 Sep 2020 16:59

Shoot just checking to see what's happening on the realm here and I just missed another drive. Oh damnnn.
Keith for next year yess I think i may need a text from you 778 3227862. It be much appreciated cz i don't want to miss no runs. Thnx in advance.

Post by **bertvorgon** » 13 Sep 2020 19:21

I will put you in my phone Alveen!

Post by **bertvorgon** » 13 Sep 2020 19:26

So much to say…… Wow, what a great day!!!

Crazy how many stopped for fuel in Hope, what a coincidence!

I must apologize for those that either got lost or missed some turns. We seemed to get scattered after the Copper mine lookout. At the pace that gets set sometimes, others may not be either comfortable with that, or, we just get too far ahead.

In future, we will have a map and DEFINED check points where we wait for those behind..

We had the usual gab fest in Hope, as people came in, hitting the road about 8 I think. Robyn was piloting Mike’s car, which turned out a blessing, as a spring in the clutch disc broke.

The smoke started to lessen by Boston Bar and really did not hit us back till we started to leave Princeton.

The canyon traffic was very minimal, letting us set a good pace.

This “pace” really ramped up once onto the Thompson River stretch!

This is where I’m going to say my car is for sale…I’m going to buy a Nissan Murano.

Holy Cow! If you know the stretch of highway where it drops to the Thompson River, this young guy and woman passenger almost stuck to my bumper going through some real tight twisty’s. She looked like she could care less, all the while in air conditioned, stereo comfort…FART! That fellow has either some Solo experience, or something, to drive a vehicle like that, and that 3.5 litre engine gave him some power. We gave each other the thumbs up as I slowed to a more normal pace. I am so afraid of getting a tow away ticket these days. That being said, we still ran a significant pace, as the highway is so clear and open after Lytton. It just showed to me, that if you know how to “toss” a vehicle into a corner and then hold that line, at traction limit, you can be quite fast in ANYTHING!

It’s at these times too, where our so called “stiff” suspension really comes to work, the car gets wonderfully compliant, sucking up the rough bumps and dips, no drama, just flat hard cornering, with prodigious grip when needed with our sticky tires.

Two of our compatriots’, out front in their pointy nosed cars, missed the turn to Ashcroft, prompting a phone call to see where they were.

The Malcinator had some electrical issues, so it turned out he and James had to stop, putting them way behind.

After we had all regrouped, the big climb to the copper mine went by very fast. I pick this direction as it is 2 lanes up-hill, so if any traffic, it is safe to pass.

With the smoke wall off to the South West, the light was blinding at the tailings pond lookout, but, as we were at altitude, the air was quite fresh.

Steve in his pickup truck, called Maggie, picked up the pace for us to Merritt, we having zip for traffic, an almost perfect run to Merritt. Some thought Steve had a V-6 in there, not so, he just drove the wheels off it.

You would never know we are in a Covid pandemic, as it just seemed like a normal, crazy busy day at the Merritt Chevron, same in Princeton.

I had planned my fuel management, to add 2 cans of my octane booster, to a full tank of 94 in Merritt, then make the run to home. At this point, Sunday morning, I have put 218 miles on that tank, making it home with no running out. I will run the car today after cleaning, till it runs out on the main tank that will give me my fuel economy for the run home.

At Merritt is where we seemed to lose people. Mike and Robyn elected to return via the Coke, for all the clutch reasons. Jon’s friend Gargan had to head back to Whistler, in his beautiful Z car. I am not sure what happened to CP ( Cliff ) and his brother in the 911. We saw his brother coming back up 5A after we left the lunch stop. I think they must have gone and missed our stop at Allison Park for lunch. Sorry about that. Not sure what happened to Malcolm either.

Afternoon traffic was kinda heavy on the stretch to the lake, where, I, Byron and Naomi, James and Jon arrived, Jon with a flat rear tire. After a quick lunch we endeavored to pump up the tire with my old compressor and as I had some tire plugs, we pushed one in and held our breath…it worked! It did point out that I did not have the rubber glue that usually goes with a plug. It also points out that a few of us run with NO spare tire, something that does worry me at times. We have all been lucky over the years….but……

Upon stopping at the Chevron in Princeton, Malcolm came in?!

We had a bit of a high speed convoy after leaving Princeton, till we hit the usual bottle neck in that stretch before Manning’s East Gate, the best twisty’s done at 60 KmH..CRUD!

The pace picked up big time once into the dual lanes of Manning, where I must admit my short gearing starts to play hell with me. At these higher speeds I am turning 5,000 RPM for HOURS! While quick spurts are nothing in the scheme of things, by the time I get to # 1, I am done with a motor at 5,000 RPM, my MOBILE stationary engine as I call it.

We stopped quickly at Hope to check the Internet for traffic bottle necks on #1, which showed just that, so we headed back on #7, which worked very well. No traffic and we fed back on at Agassiz, finding no slowdowns for a change on #1 where we fed in.

James finally BLASTED by us, leaving Jon and I to head back on 16th, which was crazy slow after a day of high speed driving, finding also 2 speed traps set up, so maybe a blessing in disguise.

Jon got some new coil pak’s in his car and it sure makes good motor now, as does Gargan’s car.

I arrived home at 6:20, basically 13 hours since the start, some 768 KMs ( 477 miles) on my GPS. That was 17 KM difference from my calculated distance, not bad, as we did a bit of a deviation from route.

I will post up more “numbers” after I look at my GPS.

I am also almost ready to turn over 100,000 miles on my chassis, I am going to pull over and take a picture when it does. My car ran fine in all areas, other than I think I burned the end off of my exposed tip exhaust pyrometer. It started flashing some weird numbers, then, went to “OPEN”, usually a sign that the tip is no longer welded together. Water temp ticked up a tad going up the Similkameen mine hill, where I do better if I go up full throttle, part throttle had me in the A/F of 15’s, putting some heat into the system. I just did not feel like burning up that hill again and with afternoon traffic, you never know what is coming at you near the top.

It is nice to have some new radar sweeps ahead of me, so I am ok with that too! I have been at the pointy end of the drives for over 40 years of Cannonballs, Club drives, and these coincidental drives, so it is nice to see someone else ready for the bullet. Maybe I’m getting older…..

I had a blast, that is a route that takes over some very scenic country, parts of it I have done my whole life.

Hopefully, everyone had a good day, and, if my car is any indication, with the bugs on it, give your rad a good back wash and clean them off before they bake in.

Keith law
Sept. 12, 2020

Some numbers:
Total mileage for trip, home to home was 768 km (477 miles)
My moving average, killed by the trip down 16th, was 93 kmh 57Mph.
I hit a top of 195 kmh ( 121 mp on that test track we stopped at)

I ran out of fuel on the way to Specialty today, so my fuel economy averaged out, for the 3 segments of the trip, to 22.8 mpg. I used a total of 21.323 gallons of fuel. This is exactly what I thought I would use.

I have not checked my methanol tank, that is usually the biggest factor as to how we were driving, if I use a lot of methanol it means I was in boost mode a LOT.

I would for sure clean your radiators, I just did mine and it was amazing the huge bugs in there. Washed the car and tucked it away till….maybe we can do a short drive in October. I am so done with the HWY #1 grind and that we cannot get across the border to Washington, sure makes our choices small. The Sea to Sky is NOT on my radar.

I rolled over 100,000 miles on the chassis on the way back from Specialty, been a long time since I have done that with a vehicle. Sorry the picture is fuzzy, I just did not want to pull off #99 at the great Northern over pass.

As I parked the car, it shows: 00013.8 Miles and my engine hour meter shows 1,163.5 hours, 475.8 hours on this engine, built in 2002. That is basically almost 20 days…all at an average of 4,000 RPM, to me a testament to both Andy’s engine building, and, good oil and fuel.

Be well till next time.

Keith

Post by **bertvorgon** » 13 Sep 2020 19:30

for some reason, the site is not letting me post pics...will reduce again, hold tight.

Nope...for whatever reason the site is not letting me post my great pics, even after reducing them to almost nothing.

Maybe mods or SPENCER can see what is up....stupid computers.

Post by **bertvorgon** » 13 Sep 2020 19:40

It seems to work now, Monday morning in the smoke..

Post by **RMS** » 13 Sep 2020 20:45

what a great day out, even with the clutch issues the slimer had. for the fist time ever I beat Keith. no it wasn't through any twisty sections or on the long strait at the test track were we saw 166km on the gps. mike and I rolled into the chevron @ 7:01 keith dint show up till almost 7:30. I will take that win