Saturday, March 15, 2008

2001 Hot Rod Power Tour: Road trippin' in a classic car

It was the longest, and perhaps the only true road trip my Camaro ever went on. The date was back in May of 2001, the final season my Camaro would be on the road prior to gutting it in preparation of a 12 point roll cage. Hot Rod magazine's Power Tour was kicking off in Pontiac, Michigan. After much discussion, I managed to convince a friend to join me on just the first leg of a trip. The full road trip would go all the way to San Bernardino, California, much to far and costly for me. The first leg however, that was manageable.

The night before they departed Pontiac, the city held an all day car show that covered every street and parking lot in the downtown area. Approximately a few thousand cars were in attendance, some of which would be joining us the next day on our adventure. As the day turned to evening, many started to depart the downtown area, opening up parking spots in much more desirable areas along the main drags. I had a few friends with cars at the show, and decided to relocate mine closer to theirs. At the time, I had a 513 hp 454 big block equipped with a .629/.605 solid flat tappet cam and about 11-1 cr. Needless to say, an engine like that makes plenty of noise and draws much attention. Now, fire that baby up in a downtown area where the thump bounces off all the buildings, and the effect is magnified 10 fold.

As I navigated through the downtown side streets, all eyes were upon me as I turned onto the main strip, everybody wanted to see what was making all the commotion. I backed into an angled parking spot, got out and popped my hood, and spectators swarmed around the car to see what the beast possessed.

My friend joining me on the trip was also from CMU's automotive program, and we were meeting up with yet another guy from the program and his father. His dad would be taking his all original, including the 302, 1969 Z28 on the first leg with us. My agreement with my friend was that we would split the gas and hotel cost 50/50. At the time, it proved quite costly since my car would get around 10 mpg on the highway, but with today's prices, it would likely seem like a bargain.

The trip was just shy of 300 miles, and with traffic, took longer than the anticipated 5 hours. I know we got a later than planned start, but by the time we lost an hour with the time change, it was late afternoon by the time we arrived. On the way, somewhere south of Chicago, we got stuck in bumper to bumper traffic, often sitting at a stand still. Just then, my friend following behind us in the Z28 calls me on my cell with a suggestion "Hey man, why don't you do a smokey burnout and I'll record it with out camcorder?" It didn't take much convincing at all, and while in a lane between two semi trucks I gave the brakes a couple of pumps, powered up my line lock, then pressed the shifter mounted button to lock the front brakes, and the smoke show was under way. Probably not a whole lot of people who can say they've done a smokey burnout while sitting in traffic on highway 80. :) Never have seen that video, as I honestly had forgot all about it until sitting down to write this.

Hot Rod had planned fuel/rest stops about every 150 miles or so, and they were exactly when I would need fuel, as I was often on fumes coming into the station. The stops were truly a sight to be seen, as dozens of hot rods pulled in to refuel, many of which had passed me on the freeway. For me, I could only cruise along at about 70 mph due to my 4.10 gears out back. Even at 70 mph my big block was wound up pretty good at 3,700 rpm's. This may sound pretty extreme for a big block, but consider this, I built this engine with a power band from about 3,500-7,200 and had a 4,200 stall converter, so it really lived more of a high rpm small block's life.

Most everyone who passed me on the freeway from the caravan gave me the thumbs up side, and spoke with me at the gas stops. Top two comments were "Man, that car sounds good, but you really got that thing wound out don't ya?" and "That thing has to be scraping bottom doesn't it?" Between the oil pan and the road I had a whole 1 3/4 inches of clearance, so yeah, the pan would bottom out now and then. I didn't plan this, as I didn't anticipate the oil pan hanging below the crossmember when I bought it. Still, the 8 or 9 quarts of 20W/50 are probably what allowed the engine to live without cooking the oil on such a trip.

We were to meet up with yet another friend at the Joliet stop, one who had also been in the auto program with us and took a job in Illinois after school. He sat and waited on a grassy knoll outside the dragstrip/NASCAR track where the car show was being held. Off in the distance he heard a recognizable big block thumping....ok, screaming would be a better description. I made a turn onto a service drive leading to the NASCAR track, not realizing that it was the next road that led to the dragstrip where the show was. As I turned around, I dropped the hammer, and my friend thought to himself "That has got to be Ed!" Sure enough, a few minutes later I came pulling into the show, and the sound attached to the vehicle at hand.

After the show, we'd all go out and get dinner together, then head to the motel for a good night's sleep. The next morning we'd bullshit with other gearheads who were continuing on the trip, some all the way out to Cali. After most departed, we headed for home. I won't lie, road trippin' in my Camaro is...less than comfortable. Cruising along at 70 mph, even with the radio volume at MAX you sometimes have to struggle to figure out what song is playing. With dual 3 inch exhaust with turndowns in front of the axles, the noise really resonates. Combine that with the oil and other fumes from the engine bay, and we both developed pretty good headaches along the way. Yet all said, both of us had one of the best road trips of our lives. Some day, I hope to repeat such an adventure, pershaps with a little more comfort though.

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