I posted this before and it seems to have dropped in the bit bucket. I
checked with another member and he didn't remember seeing it either, so
here it is again with apologies if it did post.
Jack
C is for Comfort
Well, I just figured my mileage to and from the annual C
event in Gettysburg. It was an interesting trip, and far
more fun getting there than I thought it would be. The
weather was ideal for travel, and things were OK in
Gettysburg for the meeting. I thought some folks would be
interested in how nice a C is on the road. I had always
heard that they were good cars in which to travel, but I
didn't suspect how nice the trip would be until it was over.
Preparation
I tried to anticipate problems on the road, and naturally
didn't anticipate the one problem that happened. The car was
prepared by having the front end inspected, and checking
whatever the experienced mechanic thought might go wrong.
C's tend to overheat and this one was no exception. On the
road it ran close to 200 degrees, and was concerned about
the radiator boiling over. I did check to find out that the
antifreeze was good to 223, and wasn't too worried. I did
take a heavy leather glove, some rags, and two gallons of
water with me. I had ordered an upper radiator hose, but
that didn't arrive in time for the trip so I took a roll of
friction tape as a substitute.
The trip had been planned for some time. I knew I had over
600 miles to go so I figured that I would add cruise control
and for safety sake, a third brake light that didn't go on
with the parking lights. I had some other mods, such as
making sure I had a modern radio/tape player for company. My
plan was to stop somewhere around Breezewood, Pennsylvania,
and then get to Gettysburg for a day and a half of
sightseeing before the others came. I had called Matt and
Karen Re, the hosts, to see what activities were planned for
touring the battlefield.
The night before I loaded my suitcase into the boot, and put
up the hood. I planned to run with the rear window unzipped,
but the temperature was to be in the 50's to start so I left
it up. Up at 3:00AM, got a soft sided cooler packed with
fruit and goodies, a large thermos of ice water, and a
sports bottle with ice water to be put into a cup holder on
the right hand door. Activated the GPS receiver, and went
off into the night at 3:30 Central time.
The Trip
The first stop was a Dunkin Donuts at Ogden and the toll way
for a cup of bad coffee. Sometimes when I leave that early I
am sleepy. No problems into Indiana. I did notice that the
construction was on the eastbound lane at the
Illinois/Indiana border, but that was a worry for later.
My son, who was an experienced Pennsylvania/Illinois driver
gave me two pieces of advice. The last chance for cheap gas
was the last Indiana rest stop, and DO NOT SPEED in Ohio.
Neither was a problem. I followed Interstate 80 onto the
Indiana toll way, set my cruise control at 70MPH, and let
the car do the work. I decided that I would look for gas
when the needle hit 1/4. The coffee caused two stops in
Indiana The second on was at the next to the last rest stop
in Indiana, so I got my gas there before going into Ohio.
The sun was coming up, and since I was going east it was a
bit of a problem for a while. Along about 10:30 Central, it
began to get warm, and the temperature gauge went to just
below the H.
I expected that, and knew I still had some leeway before
boiling over.
I had breakfast at the second Indiana stop, about 11:00 AM
Central. I was enjoying myself so much I hadn't been hungry,
and could have gone further. Traffic was heavy around
Toledo, but cleared soon after that. Ohio was a breeze. I
traveled at a steady 70 MPH, or 3000 RPM in overdrive. When
it got warm I rolled down the windows, but didn't unzip the
rear window because I wanted to listen to the radio. I could
barely hear it, and couldn't find any stations that I liked,
so I had wisely gotten a handful of old radio broadcasts. I
found that they made the time pass quickly.
I got into Pennsylvania a little after 2:00 PM Central, and
stopped at the first oasis. I was doing so well that I
decided to have lunch, and read the newspaper I had bought
at the donut shop. I wonder what the finder of a Chicago
paper thought.
So far so good. I really didn't mark the passage of time or
how close I was, but the car was performing magnificently, I
hadn't had a moments drowsiness, and a phenomenon noted in
Indiana, I wasn't at all stiff from driving. I felt great!
Onward to Gettysburg.
The first heavy traffic encountered was on the Pennsylvania
Turnpike. The overheating problem showed up in the mountain
(hills) when the temp went into the white zone at the "H".
Fifteen minutes at 60MPH cured that. I decided to stop in
Breezewood and have a large cool drink. The water in the
sports bottle was a good idea, but it was warm by that time.
I got off the Pike at Breezewood, and turned onto US30 East.
Breezewood is a major intersection of a number or roads and
has lots of hotels, unfortunately the town was west of the
intersection, and I didn't get my drink until much later in
Chambersberg. By that time I had covered most of the
approximately 60 miles between Breezewood and Gettysburg and
only had about fifteen miles to go. While resting I called
the hotel in Gettysburg and got a room for the night. I got
to Gettysburg late afternoon and settled into the hotel. I
felt so good I got into the car and did some sightseeing
.
Gettysburg
The event was fun, I got the award for furthest traveled,
beating out the Deagan's be only a few miles. I bought a
taped tour of the battlefield, used it on Thursday, wandered
around, and had a great time meeting people (that's what its
all about), and saw some cars that were so perfect that it
hurt to look at them. On Thursday the car ran poorly as a
result of the heat and the stop and start nature of the tape
tour that is a problem with Cs. The originals had blower
motors added to blow a stream of air over the carburetors
when things got too hot. Some of the members helped with the
adjustments until the car stopped running, but we did get it
sorted out for the trip home.
Tom Boscarino, old number one, the founder of the registry
took pictures of all the cars at the show on Saturday and
presented a plaque to each member with his car and the
commemorative plate on it. A class act! After the banquet I
went right to bed, missing the ghost walk tour.
The Trip Home
Got up at 3:00 AM Eastern time, prepared my water and
cooler, and was off by 3:30. I tried a different way back to
the Turnpike. It added about 15 miles to the trip, but
avoided the mountains on US 30. The time probably was a
wash. I was surprised to people out at that time on a Sunday
morning, but there was some traffic on the road. Once I got
to the Turnpike the driving wasn't all that easy. The
Pennsylvania Turnpike was built before planners drew a line
from here to there and blasted their way through. My speed
was held down by the fact that there wasn't a straight
stretch of road longer than several hundred feet. There was
enough traffic for me to have to keep my low beams on for
most of the time. Next time I will have my old Lucas driving
light mounted before the trip.
I stopped at the first oasis, and was the only car there.
There were several trucks. /-Fortunately they are open 24
hours, and I got my cup of coffee for the car. Then back on
the road. I remember less about the trip back than the trip
out. I don't remember breakfast.
Traffic was heave between Cleveland and Toledo. It rained a
few times, and I ended up with a wet left knee, and the box
holding the spare cylinder head got wet, but nothing major
until I got to the Indiana/Illinois boarder. I did have a
moment when I ignored my rule to look for gas when the tank
was 1/4 full. There is construction at the boarder, so I
crawled the five miles of the jam. At one point I smelled
Anti freeze, and saw some steam. I started to pull over,
then saw that the temperature gauge wasn't showing
overheating, so I ignored it. When I got home I found that
the heater water valve had burst.
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