Am I nuts??

[beerbelly]

My 50 year class reunion is next August, in Minnesota; I live in Portland OR. I want to drive my Ranchero there & back. Manual everything, no A/C. Am I nuts??

I actually did this trip in 2014 in my previous rig, a 1979 Chevy LUV (photo). 3500 miles round trip, with no issues, but that truck was 14 years newer. I drove my Ranchero to the Falcon Nats in Sacramento this year, also with no issues. How cool would it be to show up at my reunion in the Ranchero? Pretty effin' cool I'm thinking, but actually making it is the big concern.

Has anyone else taken a long distance drive, and if so, I'd like to hear your stories and advice.

[Jeff W]

In 1993 I drove my worn out '63 convertible (6 cylinder w/2 speed auto with 3.5 rear) from Madison Wisconsin to Seattle. 2,000 miles. Took about 5 days as we were sight seeing as well. Took I90 and I94 all the way. Only problem is the water pump started leaking badly in Spokane. Swapped it out in the motel parking lot in the morning and continued on.

Lots of great things to see on that route and August is a great time to go.

[beerbelly]

It's good to hear that old cars can go the distance Jeff. I've been through this car front to back, so I can't think of what could go wrong (Ha!!).

Engine cooling is certainly a concern. I saw a few parking lot radiator swaps at the Nats this year.

[Luva65wagon]

When the guy came looking at Freddie he asked if it would drive to Spokane without issue. I basically told him I'd only driven it 25 miles since I had it so I couldn't tell his with full confidence it would make it. Didn't know any reason why it wouldn't make it, but "if I'd driven it for 1000 miles I would feel better saying it would do another 1000 miles without issue." And that's what I would say here. If you've driven your car around town the distance you intend to drive it to the show, then you have a certain confidence it will make the trip.

But also make sure your AAA is active.

:BEER:

[BadBird]

Go for it. We trailered my Falcon to Tucson but we had to have some place to live for the time down there. Motorhome is necessary for us. But, we did use the Falcon as our daily driver for 6 weeks down there and it did great. Put over 350 miles on it, including drag racing. No issues, but Roger has the best advice. AAA membership.
That said, we had several days in the 100's, almost everyday was in the mid to upper 90's and with no air conditioning, it isn't really comfortable, but we survived. Have fun. Larry

[SmithKid]

I've driven mine on a couple round trips to the Portland area (around 200 mi. each time). Also a couple times to Central Washington (round trips 450+ mi each time), both into 100+ degree weather (again, same as Larry says, not comfortable but survivable). But I DO have AAA, and also recommend it highly! Wind wings and the vent "help". So..... go for it! :shift:

[beerbelly]

Oh yeah, AAA is my friend; we've had it for many years, and it's paid for itself many times over.

I believe this simple old car should make the trip just fine after talking to several sources; I got lots of encouragement. Thanks.