Post #405042 by dogbytes on Sat, Aug 30, 2008 12:28 PM

55 T Bird: 292 cid, original 6V system, convertible top & hardtop with opera windows, 3 speed with overdrive.. just drove it back from San Francisco on Thursday with my 83 yr old uncle richard, who served as my mechanic and co-pilot.

so between, oh i'd say Pinole (45 mins outside SF) and Redding, i couldnt put my feet down. it was SO HOT ~ over 100 degrees.. the engine heat plus the radiant heat = misery. i made a "hillbilly air conditioner".. bought a cat litter pan and a bag of ice to rest my feet in and towels to cool off. ahhh...so by Medford, all the ice had melted, and we stopped for dinner ~ then i finally got to drive my own car. lets just say "luckily no one was killed". drum brakes. geez. gotta stand on the pedal to get the car to stop.

we made it home at 4:00 am friday morning. we stopped LOTS for gas (not sure the gages were working ~ they did "in town" .. but on the freeway, stuff started to friz out).. we're buring oil at 1 qt / fill up (uncle richard believes its the dual chamber fuel pump burning the oil, not the engine itself). the car fits in the garage. we have 2 single car garages.. one was 90" wide, the other 107". thankfully the 107" garage is also just deep enough to fit. i think we'll remove the workbench for a little bit more room.