On the way to Thompson !!!

[Nuts]

Friday 11 June 2010 - Bozeman, MT to Rexburg, ID

Well after snow all morning, didn't stick to the roads, the sun broke through and we had a great day in the park. Unloaded Ms Bella from the trailer and drove her 110 miles through the park !!!

Park Enterance

Some of the Buffalo we saw - There is an elk in the backround !!

Right after entering the park we saw our first buffalo and a herd of elk !!! A short drive to Old Faithfull where we ate some lunch and watched the eruption.

At Old Faithful

Continental Divide in the park. Lots of snow still on the ground !!!!

I don't remember seeing so many animals, right out close to the road ? Three of four times and buffalo were crossing the road and causing quite a traffic jamb. The speed limit in the park is 45 mph for the most part and unlike most of the modern cars Ms Bella can handle the speed, even in the corners !!! (damn flat landers) There were a number of road projects in the park and we drove maybe 10 miles total on dirt, so Ms Bella is about as dirty as she has ever been, but it was a great day !!!! Linda did a little shopping at each of the gift stores, so we did our part to stimulate the economy. I'll post a couple of pictures we I get a chance.

Loaded Ms Bella back on the trailer and headed out into Idaho. It turned out to be a late day because, we could not find a motel until we reached Rexburg. It will be an easy drive to the house, 300 miles or so, and then the work starts.

Bill and Linda

 

[Tom Kochtanek]

The return trek

Bill (and Linda):

Glad to hear that the return trip is going well. You just don't get it much better, racing your Bubbletop down the quarter mile at Thompson, then hauling her out and driving her through a National Park on the way home .

Best of both worlds!

Cheers,
TomK

 

[Dick MacKenzie]

Bill,
This has been a great thread! Thanks for sharing the trip with us. I'm looking forward to the rest of your pictures!

 

[Nuts]

12 June 2010 - The epic journey ends !!!!!

Well, we're finally back in the drive way at home.

It was quite a trip, to say the least !!!! From driveway to driveway was 4799.8 miles, but we did take a few side trips to see some parks and friends along the way.

Fifteen nights in a motel room.
4799.8 miles of driving.
Lots of gas.
Tires for the trailer.
Hauling luggage in every night.

Spending the weekend with one of the nicest group of folks you could ever meet and getting to drag race !!!!!! PRICELESS

It's all been said before, but thanks again to everyone who worked so hard to put this year's event together, can't thank you all enough. Linda and I had such a great time, it's hard to put into words. Other than Saturday's weather, everything just went smooth as glass.

On the way back to Boise, we took a day and visited with our good friends Ted and Rose in the Madison, WI area. He is the person who got Ms Bella going after I discovered all the rust. Without him, she would still be sitting in the shop on jack stands.

Oh and Phil - while we were there Ted and I rounded up the straps to strap the car down X-cross like you suggested.

The car is in real need of a bath !!!!

Thanks for keeping us in mind until we were safely home.

Bill and Linda

 

[walkerheaders]

sounds like the "trip of a lifetime" thanks for keeping us posted on your adventures.
I wish i could have made the trip to Ohio and had met you there in Thompson.

 

[jim_ss409]

Epic journey for sure!bang
Thanks for posting pictures.

I think the last we heard from Dave (Petepedlar) he was in Wisconsin. I'm guessing his next message will be from his home computer.

 

[pvs409]

home from trip - I missed it

Bill,
Welcome home, I have been watching your progress on this link, plus all the Thompson photos and video's. With the flu was just not well enough to go. It took almost all week to get better.

Thanks for offering to wait the day after I called about being sick.

It would have been nice to go together. I have 100 miles on the 409 stroker so far. Still need some help on carbs running to rich, at Thompson it would have been easy. Also running warm, just switched to 160 degree thermostat and adding water wetter.
The 409 and the restoration draws people to it everywhere it goes.

I can't complain about what could have been. Two years now I missed Thompson, first the car was not done, this year me, have to have better luck sometime about going to Thompson.

I plan on taking the 62 to Thunder Valley Dragway in Marion, South Dakota sometime this summer to see what it will do in a 1/4 mile. This is my old drag strip from years ago.

Phil I still owe you that 62 stroker motor ride. I wonder if any 409s will be going to the Kansas dragstrip in September, that I saw mentioned on this site. Phil I want to get some signed hats from Hayden since I missed him also.

Thanks again Bill for the link up that we planned to do/that I did not make.

Paul Stensland

 

[dq409]

Well, we're finally back in the drive way at home.


Fifteen nights in a motel room.
4799.8 miles of driving.
Lots of gas.
Tires for the trailer.
Hauling luggage in every night.
Bill and Linda

WOW !! What a trip !!!
And one of the high lights of Thompson was meeting you and Linda!!
Now ,, when I go to vist my daughter in Boise I can also visit a fellow gearhead!!!!

Glad the trip was safe and fun for ya!!!

 

[Nuts]

With the flu was just not well enough to go. It took almost all week to get better.

Paul,

Glad to hear you are feeling better, we thought about you alot on the trip. It would have made the trip extra special to have you along for the trip. We'll have to see about next year, don't know that I can afford to take two weeks off again next year ??

If we do, I'll sure get ahold of you, to make the journey. Well even if we fly in, I'll be talking with you about it, for sure.

Now ,, when I go to vist my daughter in Boise I can also visit a fellow gearhead!!!!

Jim,

You are welcome here any time. It was great meeting you also and I sure was surprised to see you, some one kept the secret for quite awhile.

Hope to see you soon,

Bill and Linda

 

[petepedlar]

Hi Guy & Girls........... Jim was right...... I'm on my home computer. East through the U.S. and West through Canada........... We stopped & spent a day in Winnipeg with some friends & had a great tour of his 409 parts & cars.....changed oil on the car at his shop............ a great dinner........... then spent a couple of days in Calgary with my Daughter & Family....... played with the grand kids a bunch.

I will post more about the trip in a few days but the whole trip was fantastic. As said already thanks to everyone who made Thompson possible !!!

................ the car cruises nicely at 3000 RPM.......... 90 MPH....... (150 KPH)
bang

Dave

 

[Nuts]

Dave,

Glad to hear you are home and safe !!!! Sounds like you had a good leasurely trip home like we did.

I'd be interested to hear about your cooling issues and if the electric fan helped things out ?

Keep in touch
Bill

 

[petepedlar]

Heating issue.......... these prehistoric rats are all different.......... mine is on the edge......... 9.7 to one compression, .032 squish, cam installed at 102.5.......

She will accelerate like a scared rabbit.......... (hot doggers look out next year) but being on the edge everything has to be right...........

The electric fan worked out great........... it's the "Super Duty Bee Cool" ... sucks about 3400 CFM and now the car will sit and idle all day. I have a 160* high flow thermostat and the fan comes on at 185* and stays on until the temp drops to 160*. The car was still going down the interstate at 180* - 190* and the fan would keep it below 190* in traffic. It was OK but I still wasn't happy...........

I did have a bit of an issue with the engine pinging at above 180*...... only slightly but I could hear it......... I went through the "blame the gas" for a while....... tried some octane booster........ still 180* - 190* at cruise and it would ping a little if it was around the 190*.

I called Jim Richmond and told him the story and he had the solution.........

The way I had the MSD the timing was all in at 2500 RPM.......... 34* total............... plus I have the vacuum advance hooked up that gives another 10* at cruise........ If I was going to race the car it was perfect for a 160* temp........... at a constant 2300 RPM on the highway and 190* it wasn't happy. On the way home I changed the springs on the MSD....... same timing advance but slower coming in. Now it's 34* at about 3500 RPM.......... If I remember it's about 8* less at 2500.......... huge difference........... that with the fan made looking at the temp gauge something you did ocasionally instead of constantly........ it will now run down the highway at 2000 - 2400 RPM and the temp stays steady at about 165* - 170*. It still goes up in traffic but the fan will keep it below 185*.

The 409 is happy....... and I am happy !!!

I'm sure it made a difference to the fuel mileage going to 3500 RPM all in...... but it was the only heavier springs I had with me. Didn't seem to make any difference as far as power but at highway speeds you'd never notice..........I'll do a little playing with it in the next while. I think somewhere in the middle will work if I get the right spring combo in there.

Dave

 

[Nuts]

The way I had the MSD the timing was all in at 2500 RPM.......... 34* total............... plus I have the vacuum advance hooked up that gives another 10* at cruise........ If I was going to race the car it was perfect for a 160* temp........... at a constant 2300 RPM on the highway and 190* it wasn't happy. On the way home I changed the springs on the MSD....... same timing advance but slower coming in. Now it's 34* at about 3500 RPM.......... If I remember it's about 8* less at 2500.......... huge difference........... that with the fan made looking at the temp gauge something you did ocasionally instead of constantly........ it will now run down the highway at 2000 - 2400 RPM and the temp stays steady at about 165* - 170*. It still goes up in traffic but the fan will keep it below 185*.

The 409 is happy....... and I am happy !!!


Dave

Dave,

I also have the MSD distributor. I'd be interested in what color springs you used and what your timing is. Maybe the solution to my heating issues is the same as yours. I also had some pinging, so I dialed back the initial timing which got rid of that issue, but I know that is not the correct fix. I also had to get rid of the vacuum advance, which I'd like to have back.
Bill

 

[petepedlar]

Bill......... I had an extra MSD in the trunk. It was a used one that I picked up some time ago. I packed it just in case something happened to the "new one" in the car. The only springs it had were the heavy silver ones that come on the distributer from MSD. Those were the ones I used. If you look on MSD's website, under instructions, they have graphs of all the spring combinations. They tell you what springs do what.

Dave