Classic Car Travel Preparation

Old cars are a delight to see in Museums, but for me the real fun involves taking one on a trip. It's always an adventure. You never know what's going to happen, and it can be a test of your perseverance and resourcefulness. A case in point involved my trip from Hamilton, Virginia, to York, Pennsylvania, in early June, in my 1934 Ford coupe. My goal was the National Street Rod Association's East Coast Nationals, which attracts me every year, along with about 5,000 other entrants and a huge crowd of spectators.

My '34 Ford Coupe
I had bought this car last fall, from a friend in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, who wasn't using it much, and I had only driven it around town, never over 55 mph, and probably not over 20 miles on a single trip. It's just an old hot rod, with a supercharged Mercury flathead engine and a '39 Ford floor shift transmission. The top has been chopped three inches; it sits low thanks to a dropped front axle and modified springs. There's no paint, just gray primer with flattener, no windshield wipers, no seatbelts (yet), no radio, heater, nor defroster...and no jack or spare tire. It's pretty basic. Kind of like a car a high school kid would have built in the Fifties.


I always carry a few tools, spare oil, and usually a battery box, but I had just charged the battery so I took the tools and left the jump starter at home (bad idea).


Even though I'd never driven this car more than 25 miles before, that didn't deter me. From my home in Virginia, through part of Maryland, past Gettysburg then east to York is only about 120 miles each way. Piece of cake, right? Wrong...

Things Heat Up
Heading up Route 15 over the mountains, one side of the engine began overheating. I should mention that there are two temperature gauges, one in each cylinder head. Being an old flathead hand, I thought there might be a head gasket problem or an internal crack. But the coolant was topped up and the temperature, which had hovered at the 210-220-mark, came down as I descended toward Gettysburg. The engine was too hot to put any sealer in the radiator, so I slowed to 50 mph (which seemed to help), added a quart of oil, and soldiered on.