Better Beaters - Building Cars and Daily Drivers

 I didn't follow this advice.

My Wife likes old trucks as long as they are only decorations.
I don't think that she would enjoy a vintage truck ride to LA.

Instead I took the heavily traveled road. On a quick, down and back, two day drive.

Interstate 5 on the way to Los Angeles.

I was a man on a mission, I found something for sale on CraigsList that I really wanted, and I was determined to buy it. 

I had been looking for it on my local CL for some time, but had been unsuccessful. LA area is a bigger place than the Bay Area, so why not look there? 

This trip called for a big load space, so the truck was the vehicle best suited for the trip. I hadn't been down to the LA area in my truck since I bought the '06 Mustang and towed it back. Most of my truck driving has been local, around the Bay Area.

It's been running fine, though on that last trip south I was a bit concerned over the health of the transmission. Especially since I had just had the transmission rebuilt on the '07 Mustang. However, I haven't had any indications of potential problems so I felt confident using it. I just checked the fluids, and topped them up. Luckily I fixed the rear brakes last Summer. Now it stops like velvet. The tires are nearing replacement time but there was still enough tread to make me feel secure, barring a monsoon! The truck is getting old, it's 17 years old, and I really should change out the belts and hoses. Maybe next year. I just gave them a visual check and they looked fine, no seepage visible on the hose connections. The serpentine belt didn't even have any minute cracks. 

I have done the LA and back, no layover, banzai drives before, but as I get older I don't relish driving all night, if I don't have too. I don't see in the dark as well as I used to.  I knew that the weather was going to be good, with no rain. That was a good sign. I also have to be careful about causing eyestrain by spending a lot of time reading on the computer before driving at night. I use Walmart reading glasses, but I think that next year I'm going to the eye doctor and get a custom set of reading glasses made up. 

My Wife was going to accompany me on the trip, so she booked us a layover in Solvang. 

I had been communicating with the seller since before Thanksgiving, and arranged a meeting for the first week of December. He seemed to be a very nice and helpful guy, but I was hoping that he wouldn't sell the item before I could get down there! 

Although I don't prefer driving on I-5, primarily because it's so boring, it is the fastest route. The meeting with the seller was to take place after 12:00, so I figured on an early start. I would like to hit the road by 6:00 am, and we did mange to make it by 6:30, a pretty good start.

We ran into some fog crossing the Pacheco Pass on 152 and I became concerned that we would be engulfed in Tule fog on the trip down. I've driven in that stuff and it's no fun and can be very dangerous. Luckily it lightened up once we were driving south on I-5. 

I like to say that I seek a Zen like harmony with the road and traffic conditions while on long drives, and I was able to do that on this trip. Most of the way the speed limit was 70 mph. and I didn't go any faster than that. If a trip is going to take six hours, why rush and blast down there at 85 mph? You might be able to save maybe twenty to thirty minutes. I'll admit that I'd done that many times in the past. Now, I'd rather cruise and relax.

Besides, that's how you get the best gas mileage. 

photos source;kidcas

It might not be the "promised land" but I was glad to get there.

The seller lived only a couple of miles off the 405 freeway in West LA. Having worked in LA, and lived in the area for a few years, I have a familiarity and good feeling about the area. We made the meeting right as I anticipated at 12:15. After the deal was made, we headed for US101 for the trip home. This was where my Wife was going to get what she wanted out of this trip. She wanted to check out various stores on the way back. The first stop was the Camarillo Costco where I filled up the truck. We had covered 390 miles and after gassing up I calculated the fuel economy was 19.55 mpg. That's about as good as it gets, and shows that the truck is in fine tune. 

Then we stopped at the Cracker Barrel gift store where my Wife found a couple of things that she wanted. Right across the parking lot was a Pottery Barn outlet store, so that was her next stop.

The weather was beautiful, clear and warm. Typical December weather in the middle Coast. After that we continued on to Solvang where we would spend the night. 

I've spent a LOT of time waiting in these parking lots!

The next day we stopped at an antique store in Orcutt, then on to the Hobby Lobby in Santa Maria. Hobby Lobby would be the destination in San Luis Obispo, and finally in Morgan Hill. I probably spent three or four hours waiting outside of stores that day, but I didn't mind, I was enjoying the drive and I had obtained my prize. Besides, when I volunteer to take my Wife someplace, I never try to hurry her up, I want her to take her time and enjoy herself. She always does her part in planning the lay overs.

The truck ran fine and was comfortable, but I sometimes wish that it had cruise control, The door ajar sensor in the door started acting up again, sounding the chime and lighting the message in the odometer read out screen. It was annoying, but finally it stopped chiming and just lit up the message continually. Oh well, the important thing is that the truck ran fine and that we had an uneventful trip. 

What was I so fired up about buying that I was willing to drive over 750 miles to get it?  I'll share that in a future post.