[Mister Pontiac]

Thanks for the kudos everyone. She sure is a sweetie to me, and I had a blast bringing her home. Now I have to tend to the regular tune up items, and get her registered, then the fun can (legally) continue!

Originally Posted by Pepper Judge

Did you have tools for the repairs or did you stop along the way?

I did both. I always carry a tool bag and a few spare parts with me in the car(s), and this was no exception. I brought my tool bag from home, and the seller was extremely helpful. He threw in the spare fuel pump, and a spare (Chinese) HEI. Fortunately, the coil died at the first fuel stop (that one surprised me a little), so the seller brought me out a spare he had in his stash. I swapped it there at the pump, and she roared back to life. Off I went.

Somewhere in the middle of nowhere TX the next day, she started vapor locking a bit, so I took the first exit and (forutnately) there was a local auto parts store, convenience store (with restaurant), and shade tree all right there. After a couple hours of maintenance and two walks over to the auto parts store, I was back on the road late afternoon.

I've done enough road trips now that I have a pretty good handle on the weak points of these cars during long hauls. There are only a few things that will really stop you, so I tend to either start off with those spares in the trunk, or stop at a local Napa or the like and pick up what I need as I go. If a big failure occurs (trans, windowed block, etc...), there's precious little you can do to prepare, so those you just deal with if they ever occur. But my experience tells me they are very rare occurrences (only ever lost one trans in 30 years, and never destroyed an engine on a road trip).

So for me, the list looks something like this: Aside from my tool bag (hand tools and a timing light/dwell meter/vacuum gauge), I try to have a spare (big can) fuel pump, section of fuel hose, starter solenoid, set of points, and a couple plugs and wires. Q-jet fuel filter is a good idea too, but not a requirement. Carrying a spare inline filter, a section of fuel hose and a couple clamps is an easy (temp) fix as well.

I'm reminded of something my friend Keith Collier (mechanickeith) said years ago... "People work on their cars too much." He didn't mean that in a negative way, rather that our old cars will run and drive fine even when things aren't mechanically perfect. I've found that to be pretty accurate myself, and I remind myself regularly that we daily drove these things for years, back in the day. Nothing substantial has really changed, so why not keep doing it?

Of course the biggest (unspoken) reason these trips go so well is that I see the hand of the Lord in every one. I've seen it so many times now over the years, it's almost fun to see what the Lord will do on each journey.

I mean as I think about it, the coil dies just a few miles from where I bought the car and the seller can rush me a spare in less than an hour? And then vapor lock occurs at just the perfect exit for me to do the repairs, cool off, and eat lunch? I just don't see these as coincidences. They're divine appointments.