Coast to coast in 4 days in an 83 Scottsdale

[LT7A]

It's cool to follow your progress. Thanks for keeping us posted. And I'm never this guy, but show us some more pics :-) You give good descriptions, makes me want to see it.

[AlexL]

Wow. 14 hours today. Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana. Made it all the way to a craft beer pub in Indianapolis. Twenty taps.

We're 2300 miles from Portland. We've seen hills, mountains, plains, 80 mph speed limits. The truck does about 90 mph with the pedal to the boards. Speedo wrapping past 100.

Got pinched by a smokey in Iowa. 86 in a 70, whoops! He was cool though. I said, "Yes but officer have you ever seen a C10 frame this clean?!"

A few beers, some chow and then the hotel.

Summit store in Ohio for speed parts tomorrow? Probably. 😈

I've got lots of photos but they won't load from my phone? A certificate error telling me to contact the administrator? Help!

[AlexL]

Got one photo working. I'll try some more. I've got some great landscapes and some shots with the truck.

[AlexL]

Here are some shots. Mostly Nebraska here.

[AlexL]

Some more truck shots. And some IPAs!

[AlexL]

Made it home 9 pm last night. Woke up in Indianapolis, stopped at summit racing, then pushed all the way home. I'll post up the route we took and some stats later.

All in all the truck performed great. Never let us down. I've already got a list of maintenance I'm going to take care of now that it's home. The roads here in the northeast are not nearly as kind as where we came from. The "roughest" part of our ride was the last hour I'd say.

[friscobob]

Congrats on a great trip.
Bob

[RDrancher]

Very cool read! Glad you made it home safe and sound.

[AlexL]

So I got up this morning and after my first good night's sleep in almost a week I got to work.

Washed the truck and made a list of what I needed from Auto Zone.

Door pins (what a difference!)
Oil change (had to do the screwdriver trick to the filter, that thing was welded on!)
Valve cover gaskets
Lube throttle cable and choke plate
Top off coolant
May need a front shock (looks like one has been replaced, one not )
There is a squeak in the front left wheel that comes and goes so I'll have to pop the wheel off at some point and take a look.

I also ordered a diff cover and gasket so I can do the rear fluid.

Rust preventinon and frame paint will come shortly.

I have two small kids I had to get back to so my Dad knew that this was going to be a "cannonball run". I think the miles put a couple years on both of us. There are definitely better ways to see the country. I can't complain though. The ride was an experience we'll never forget. It's pretty impressive that we had almost no problems whatsoever. The oil needed some topping off and I flooded the carb once (whoops) but other than that it was smooth sailing and pedal down. That old Chevy loves to run. I could not be more excited to have found this truck, it's got so much character and it's a blank slate for lots of fun in the future.

Here are some stats from the trip:

44 Hours of driving (not including gas and food stops)
3,043 miles
13 states
240 gallons of gas (or so)
2.5 quarts of oil
13 cups of coffee (each)

[Rich84]

Welcome home! I give you a lot of credit..Hell of a first ride.

[Dieselwrencher]

Very cool and congrats on making it home with no issues. Was your smokie incident on I-80 by chance?

[AlexL]

Yep just outside Omaha passing an 18 wheeler maxed out down a hill. Too bad he didn't clock me going up a hill, much slower.

[meatwagon83]

Sweet! Furthest I have driven mine is from dayton ohio to Houston Texas by myself in 18 hours, my dream is to drive it up the alcan highway

[Ken B]

Love your truck! Very cool experience too share with your Dad, you will have that memory forever. What are your plans for the truck? I also live in CT. and as you know the calcium they lay down on the roads in the winter will eat that truck right up. I was fortunate enough to have found my 70 Longhorn right here in CT. It is 100% original that I purchased from the original owner a little over a yr. ago. He kept it inside every night and never drove it in the winter. I store it inside as well off the road in the winter. Honk if you see me...

[friscobob]

Good looking rig, Ken.

[Jeepwm69]

Very cool roadtrip story. Nice looking truck too.

[AlexL]

Originally Posted by Ken B

Love your truck! Very cool experience too share with your Dad, you will have that memory forever. What are your plans for the truck? I also live in CT. and as you know the calcium they lay down on the roads in the winter will eat that truck right up. I was fortunate enough to have found my 70 Longhorn right here in CT. It is 100% original that I purchased from the original owner a little over a yr. ago. He kept it inside every night and never drove it in the winter. I store it inside as well off the road in the winter. Honk if you see me...
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No big plans, I'm just really enjoying how beautiful this truck is underneath. It has a V8, it has a stereo, what more do I need? I've been hauling wood and hitting Home Depot, just the usual stuff.

I would love to put a crate 350 in in the future.

I'm going to undercoat and fluidfilm just for safety (it will be living outside). I do not plan to expose the truck to any winter roads though. I am terrified of any rust happening underneath.

See you out there (in the spring )

[Jeff's bowtie's]

Very nice truck you have there I to just bought a 79 C/20 from Gold Hill Oregon but I had it delivered I figure with the 454 in it it would cost the same driving or having it delivered it to is 100% rust free

[AlexL]

Nice truck! Love the color. Yes a 454 would probably have gotten half the mileage of my 305 (and twice the power).

The pacific northwest has got to be one of the best places to find these. They seem to have had comparably easy lives. The worst roads and most painful suspension killing part of my trip was when we hit New York!

Traffic, salt, and potholes are killers.

[carboncrew]

Great story....thanks for sharing it!

[evan]

Originally Posted by carboncrew

Great story....thanks for sharing it!

x2