Well, I was shitting my pants over the thought of picking up my new cat in Phoenix - and then driving it 500-odd miles to San Diego in the middle of 95-degree mid-day desert heat (pavement temp was 105F) ... but we pulled off the trip this past Tuesday (March 25th) without incident. Stage 1 - Complete!
A little background: I agreed to terms on #3528 a few weeks ago and was offered free transport (by my cousin and his partner in the car biz) to the Alberta-Montana border ... but I had to get the car from Phoenix to San Diego to take advantage of their generous offer. The car has been completely restored (exclusively by Les Gray) but had only been driven a total of 2,000 miles - and never more than 100 miles in one day - over the five years it was owned previously. So, although my inspection and test drive indicated a totally solid car, I was still - you know - a little nervous ...
There was a certain level of stress expected on this day, which began with a late arrival to the San Diego airport, a 90-minute flight delay and then grew upon arrival to Phoenix as an accident on the southbound lane of the I17 north of the 101 occurred on our way to get the car (which was stored in Anthem). We would have to take that very southbound route if we were to hit the I8 (via I10) to get back to SD via Yuma. Well, with the temp still soaring as we made our departure, we decided to take AZ Highway 74 to Highway 60 west for 120 miles where it meets up with the I10.
I tell ya: although it took us a few hours longer to get to SD, that was a great move. Highway 60 was barren of traffic and we kept the cat moving briskly at 70-80 MPH the entire ride, which translated into avoiding any possibility of over-heating stuck in 5 MPH traffic crawling on the I17. It also gave us plenty of time to keep an eye on the gauges, which seemed to settle in as follows: oil pressure (dead centered between 35-70), temp (just a hair below 200F) and Tach (2500 RPM's at 80 MPH).
Rather than detail the otherwise uneventful remainder of the trip (again, she was running so smooooth), I do have a few observations to share and would appreciate your commentary ...
1. regarding the temp I was running ... it appears that - once warm - my cat like to run just a sliver under 200F. I did punch it from 80 MPH to around 110 MPH on a few occasions (I couldn't help myself!) in which case the temp would rise just a sliver OVER 200F. But, all in all, I would say the car likes to run at 200F. I am wondering if this is a normal temp to expect?
2. RPM's ... my cousin and I both seemed to think the car was running at higher RPM's than indicated: 2000 at 65 MPH, 2200 at 75 MPH and 2500 (dead on) at 80 MPH. Without down-shifting, I was able to go from 80 to 100 MPH in 5th without much pressure on the accelerator - immediate responsiveness. I am thinking of getting the Tach tested and possibly re-calibrated. Would you agree?
3. speed ... at 90 MPH on the speedo, my hand-held GPS showed a speed of 81 MPH. I realize that the tires I am running (245/45 front and 335/35 rear on 17" wheels) are one reason for the discrepancy; however, should the speed be off by that much?
Well, that's my trip recap in a nutshell. I am hoping to have the car home in two weeks - so you can appreciate why I have so much time on my hands today! Thanks, in advance, for any feedback you have re: my questions above ...
Erik
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