1700 mile road trip
 

Well, I finally put AC in the '71 truck, put everything back together and then started driving. I drove from Yuma, AZ to Montgomery, AL. The numbers are in: 11.5 mpg at 65-70mph. This is with a TH350, and I wish I had an overdrive while I was driving.

It was a lot of fun and I got a lot of questions and thumbs up. It's amazing how popular these year trucks are getting.

Re: 1700 mile road trip
 

That sounds like an amazing trip. Did you have the route planned out, or did you just drive? Do you have pictures? :)

Re: 1700 mile road trip
 

I recently went on a 6600 mile road trip in my wifes 72 chevelle convertible thru 20 states in 17 days and went thru some of the same areas you did. Very fun drive and saw old trucks everywhere out there .Glad you made it safely home.

Re: 1700 mile road trip
 

Sounds like an awesome trip, glad to hear it went well.

Re: 1700 mile road trip
 

this sounds like the motor that im building so i have a couple of questions if ya dnt mind?
1. what kinda power ya making?
2.how drivable is it for daily use?
3. what kinda rear gear are you running?
Thanks

Re: 1700 mile road trip
 

Here is a pic next to an old gas station:
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/m...gomeryTrip.jpg

I did have two casualties: 1st was my starter, it went out in El Paso. Luckily, it crapped out in the motel parking lot. Thanks to airbags, it made it easier getting under the truck.

Second, I trashed my center axle bearing and U-Joint. They started vibrating the drivetrain about 300 miles from my destination, so that is next on my "fix it" list.

Thanks for the kind words! That is what is great about this forum.

Re: 1700 mile road trip
 

wow thats cool!!!

you just got a crazy hare and took off or what??

Re: 1700 mile road trip
 

Nice truck. Love the wheels on it.

Mileage sucks. But when you got done it felt good didn't it?

Re: 1700 mile road trip
 

Nice! Got the good patina too. They tend to be thirsty -- 11.5 is the same as I got a long time ago in winter driving from the west coast to the midwest & back with the K20.

Re: 1700 mile road trip
 

No crazy hair up to drive that far. I've got to do some Air Force training, and I wanted to put all my hard work to good use, so I drove the truck. It's definitely thirsty, and it being a relatively-new engine, I'm not sure if I can get much better mileage unless I: A) slow down (not going to happen), or B) go with an overdrive tranny.

And yes, it did feel good to drive that far in that truck!