Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

 When traveling by vintage car, "Is it practical to carry a load of spare parts and tools with you?" 

Don't take this with you.
photo source: visatcreate

Back in the Day, when many of us drove breakdown prone, old beaters, it might have made sense. 

Nowadays it seems like it's not such a good idea to be working on our cars on the side of the road. Unless it's something simple, like a flat tire, dead battery, fan belt or hose. Anything else is going to take more time. With AAA I can have the car towed to a shop, or a motel parking lot, or even all the way home. 

So at a minimum you need to have a good spare with the jack and lug wrench. Hand tools to replace the battery, fan belts, and radiator or heater hoses. So, carrying spares of these might make sense. Old cars usually leak, so maybe some extra fluids, oil, coolant, and automatic transmission fluid. If your car doesn't use readily available sealed beam head lights or tail light bulbs, then maybe some of those.

These spare oil cans were designed to sit on a car's running board.

On one trip with my XJ6, I had a headlamp bulb burn out, but found a replacement at a nearby Autozone store. This same Jag also developed a progressive problem; the radiator outlet top spigot that was slowly crumbling away, causing the hose to pop off. I carried a screwdriver and a couple of gallons of coolant in the trunk. But I was only driving back and forth to work, and locally. I would stop immediately if it popped off, I wasn't going to chance a blown head gasket. Luckily this didn't become a problem for several years. The problem was only solved by replacing the radiator. 

Another time one the trans lines to the radiator split a seam, and the transmission lost a lot of fluid. Luckily, I was pretty close to home. I had my Wife respond with a couple of quarts of ATF and made it the couple of blocks home, though I could have called triple A.

The primary concern is getting your passengers to a place of safety, then removing your car from a busy freeway or highway, so that you can evaluate the situation.

Not to say that only vintage cars can sustain serious unexpected breakdowns. 

My F150 was just barely out of it's new vehicle warranty when the a/c compressor seized up. We were on our way back from Las Vegas. We were driving along on US101 when I noticed an intermittent chirping sound. I was north of Santa Maria when we stopped at an antique store in Nipomo. When I started up the car to head home, the chirping became a screeching, and I knew that I had a problem. 

This wasn't something that I was going to be able to fix on the road. It required a lengthy tow truck ride back home. I hadn't planned on carrying a new a/c compressor with me! The other option was to have the truck fixed locally, I'd done that once before, with my '90 Dodge Caravan. I left it at a Dodge dealership in San Luis Obispo, only a couple of hundred miles from home. I rented a car to get the family home, but I would rather have had the vehicle towed home. However, this can get really pricey. Now I have a truck, and I can always return and tow the vehicle home on my own. I also  now have the upgraded Triple A Premier membership. This provides for one 200 mile tow per year, along with three 100 mile tows. 

Even back in my Harley riding days, I only carried chain lube, a master link, and a spare quart of 60 weight oil. There were plenty of Harley dealerships all across the country, If I could make it there, I could find the needed parts and fix my bike. I didn't carry a spare drive chain, or spark plugs, bulbs, or spare cables. Obviously I didn't carry any spare engine parts. If my bike ever suffered a serious engine breakdown, I would probably have just stashed the bike somewhere, and returned later with a truck. In those days, it would have been a Greyhound bus, instead of a rental car that would have carried me home.  

Bring a tool roll like this.

I did carry enough tools to tighten up all the nuts, bolts, and parts that Harleys used to produce. This is especially important when you are undergoing the "shake down" process with a vehicle. It's not unusual to find that some fasteners may have been overlooked, or some mechanisms might need to be adjusted.

It's one thing to be prepared, but it's another to carry it to extremes. I don't think that you should have to worry about the engine wearing out completely during the trip. If that's the case, then maybe it might be a better idea to stay close to home!

Leave this at home!

I think that it reaches a point of diminishing returns. 

The first rule should always be; never ever, ever, leave on a long trip with a car that you know has mechanical issues. 

Most of us use our vintage cars solely as hobby cars. If we notice a problem or a potential problem we just leave it parked and take the daily. That makes the most sense, who wants their vacation spoiled by a breakdown? Especially if it is a family event.

If worse comes to worse, we can always  leave the car and rent another car to finish the vacation.

Many of us have trucks that we can hook up a rented car trailer to, and return later and pick up the car and bring it home. 

There are many unexpected things that can happen to ruin your trip in an old car. Actually there are plenty that can happen even with a newer car. 

A flat tire. I have found that tires that still have plenty of tread depth seldom suffer from punctures. A plug kit is small and easy to use. 

Running out of gas. This is one of the most embarrassing situations because it is so easy to prevent. Unless, that is, your vintage vehicle has a non functioning or false reading gas gauge. Then it can happen with annoying frequency! 

Running your battery flat. Remember to turn the headlamps off when you park. Old cars don't have warning buzzers. Carrying a rechargeable "jumper box/tire inflator" is good for peace of mind, and you can help out a fellow traveler in distress.

Being involved in a traffic or other collision. This can be a serious delay. Please drive safely and sober. Driving at dusk increases the chance of a deer encounter. Try to drive during daylight hours on rural highways.

The length of the trip is also an important consideration.

Are you expecting parts of, or your entire car to wear out on this trip?

Would you anticipate that you will have to replace parts that will wear out while you are on your trip? 

I hope you're not planning to rebuild your car enroute. 

Refer back to Rule Number One!

This discussion pertains to hobby cars, using the car for a trip is usually a choice, most hobbyists have other vehicles that they can use to take on the trip. Or they can rent one, a very good alternative back when rentals were plentiful and cheap. 

A co worker of mine was planning a trip along Route 66 and had purchased a '66 Mustang that he was looking forward to driving on this vacation.

The ad had represented a good running, sorted out machine in good driving shape. Since he knew that I was an old car guy, my Buddy discussed preparations for the trip. I told him that he should do a "quick" inspection of critical systems and a series of shake down runs. 

He was not a "hands on" mechanical guy so he had to work through a mechanic. 

He found out that there were problems in the brakes, and some of the electrical systems, especially the headlamps. 

Unfortunately, the car was not as good as it was represented to be. Ultimately he was unable to get the car sorted out before his planned vacation.

Luckily, he had an almost new Ford Edge that he could use. I tried to cheer him up by reminding him that it was the trip itself that really mattered. Besides, even those '57 Chevy's were new cars at one time! You have to start making new memories, someday.

An unknown car has to be sorted out before trusting it, usually a series of shake down runs and inspections can handle that. Driving it on progressively longer trips is the only way to build up confidence in the vehicle.

I wrote a favorite reply to a forum request about a daily driver's reliability. I tried to be funny and put a Jeff Foxworthy "You might be a redneck" spin on it; "if you do this and your car does this, you might have a daily driver. " 

My main contention was that a long trip is just a combination of shorter trips, strung together. Start out by using the car for daily errands; a lot of starting and stopping, and turning off and restarting the motor. Using the reverse gear and clutch in parking lots. It's more likely to overheat or run the battery down while being driven on short trips. Besides using the car for daily around town errands, you lay out a course that has a point 25 miles from your house, as the first turn around point. Then select a point 25 miles in the other direction. Starting out from your house to the first turn around is 25 miles. Driving back to your house is 50 miles. Continuing to the other turnaround point is 75 miles, and by the time you're back at home, you've traveled 100 miles! But you are never more than 25 miles away from home in case there is a problem. 

There are three stops in this route and you check your car at each stop, as well as at the end in your driveway. At each stop you'll be looking for leaks and listening for odd noises, allowing the motor to idle for a bit, checking for smooth running. Then turn it off and let it sit for five minutes then restart. This process will reveal many potential issues and provide a lot of valuable feedback.

Plan ahead, be prepared, but mostly, enjoy the drive!