Road Trip driving the SPF

[jhwalker]

That is what we assumed. ???

This shop was refreshing. People working, folks picking up their cars and taking for a drive and coming back in with a "WOW!"

Where I was sitting, I could hear the discussions with prospective customers. They were fact-based, realistic, telling them that a serious mod was expensive and usually required more mods. There was no "foot in the door, then jack the price" going on.

A BUSY shop.

So Wednesday morning Triple A reminded me that a rental car for a day was part of the deal, so they booked me a car at an Enterprise which was right next to the big Ford place. Poifect I sez. The problem was that the Enterprise manager was busy, hated the corporate Triple A deal, didn't want to make a car available and so on. Time was awasting... Taxis are brutal and I was not sure how much this was going to cost, or even how it was going to work out. So I tried to walk/jog the 5 miles over to get the car carrying a backpack. Dumb shit. Dallas is NOT a walking town. After an hour of not making much progress I called again and said I was going to register a major complaint with Triple A blah blah and suddenly a car/driver was on the way. With all of the monkey business, I finally had a car at about noon. Went over to the Ford place, they were baffled by what I wanted. One of the parts guys told me about GearHeads, 30 miles away. Said if I had a custom car to take it there. Thank god for GPS -- 11 freeway changes later I was there, and it was closing in on 2pm. Gonna save (post).

[jhwalker]

Some more pics... Cars waiting for stuff... Many, many Terminators.

A car on a rack getting suspension stuff.

[jhwalker]

Travis wants to know a little about the car and what he is getting into, since I am wound a little tight and seeing the week disappear before my eyes.
He says they will fix, minor complication being the 1 wire alternator and the lack of availability on short notice -- but maybe the existing one is cool.
Car needs to be there tomorrow (Thursday) by 9 and he will get me on the road that day.

Triple A says they will try to have a truck to the no-tell motel by 7:45am Thursday morning.
Thursday, truck arrives, not as good as the Tuesday guy, but willing to trust that I take responsibility for the SPF and know how to secure it, so off we go to GearHeads.
Get it into the shop, Travis tells the guys working on it that I need to be on the road, so hop hop...

Existing alternator is not making sufficient voltage, so we go to plan B. They know wiring pretty well, which is good, since a 1 wire is not available on a 1 day notice. Parts place sends over two wrong alternators before a shop guy drives over with mine and gets an exact match. It needs to mate to the custom mount under the SPF hood -- turns out that it is a 96-98 Cobra alt. They study converting the new one from 3 wire to 1 wire, but end up keeping it as is and splicing into everything in place. Car fires up, runs good, Travis starts making the bill.

I am on the road by 6:30pm. Heading towards Oklahoma City. Vroom vroom Life is good.

[SonicVenum]

That's one hell of an ordeal.

[jhwalker]

couple more pics.

The first one is the SPF engine.

I rolled up to OKC, found a Red Roof Inn to bunk for the night in, and prepped to push on into Wellington Colorado Friday. Hit a couple of storms in Kansas but by speeding up a little the air flow over the windshield keeps rain, even heavy rain, out of the cockpit. The Mickey Thompson Street S/Ts (radial) handled the water pretty well. I was a little worried about the 15 inch 295s on rear. The altitude compensation did not function properly, so by the time I was at Denver altitude the SPF was spitting good-sized flames when I backed off. Surprised a couple of cars in the next lane once it got dark.

Made it to Adam's house around 9:30 pm -- about 13 hours after I left OKC. No issues other than the rain and then heat and then rain. Some crazy winds took a couple of hats from me as they came from the side hard enuf to push the SPF a bit. The gas pedal requires some pressure so from time to time on an empty highway, I would put my right foot in the seat and work the throttle with the left foot.

I would NOT repeat the trip for a while. Fun at times, boring as shit at times.

Best line on the trip -- a guy yelling "Nice MG". Most of the fill-ups were fun in a corny way. Kids sat in the car while parents took pictures. Old broads seem to always have had a brother (father, friend, uncle) who had one just like it. Someone always wanted me to "get on it" as I pulled out. I usually obliged. Got challenged 2 times by cars that should not have tried. 3000 in 5th for the T56 was approx. 80, and it would really squirt with the 460rwhp and the 2600 lbs of weight. Never took it past 110 but it would get there very fast.

[jhwalker]

That's one hell of an ordeal.

Forgot to mention that I had to drive the rental car back to Denver and take a taxi back to GearHeads. Got it there with 5 minutes to spare.

God bless GPS and Triple A

[jhwalker]

I did not give proper credit to my friend in Houston who let me store my car in his (large) garage since the San Marcos event back in March. It was going to be there a month, 2 at the max. He know I am still working on getting the car into Mexico legally, so just let it slide.

Guilt finally forced me into action.

Gary is a mucho cubic inch guy and has a Jon Kasse 521ci engine that puts about 600 to the rears. It is very fast, and very traction-limited. They cammed it and carb'd it to make good power where he usually drives it -- under 4000 rpm -- but it still hauls up to about 6000 rpm.

Here are some pics.

[jhwalker]

My car was up on the rack, since it was not being driven. Here are a couple more pics of his car and a sentimental toy that he keeps around.

[jhwalker]

So, what did I learn from this trip?

The SPF is still fun. I am going to continue working on bringing it down. I may buy another SPF that is "mis-registered" as a 65-67 (there are several floating around) and swap the good stuff (IMHO) from my car to the other car and put its stuff in #2117, possibly doing a couple of upgrades at the time. That gives us a Groundhog Day opportunity to do a few things differently during the swap. Then either sell the "new" #2117 which will now be the other car mechanically, or keep it around for USA trips. And bring in the "65-67" which would be treated as a historical car.

1300 miles thru Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado is a bit much as a joy ride when on a schedule. The rainstorms break up the highway monotony.

There is a great shop in Arlington, Texas, Gearheads, and Travis and his guys know how to make fast, (engine) safe Mustangs. Turbo/supercharger hybrid is cool and easy if you know what you are doing (like they do).

Triple A is a life-saver.

Try a local Denny's for a good, cheap breakfast.

I told American Express that I would be smoking up some charges for 3-4 days and they monitored my account like hawk. Some of the rural gas stations have unusual ways to see if your card is good... It all worked out.

Red Roof Inn provides a reasonably-priced place to grab sleep.

(and, keep an eye on that alternator pulley...)

[SonicVenum]

Sounds like a great trip, James. Glad it all worked out in the end, and I'm glad an old dog can still learn some new tricks.