The Long Drive North

Well that was certainly an interesting two days in Daytona. In the end, the "Long Hauler" found a new home as a home for someone that needs to get their life back together and my hope is that it will become part of something positive for someone. This is the parting shot of the RV before I headed out of town and back north today.

 No scrapping -- no scrap yard will take RV's anymore with all the regulations. All the wood and insulation needs to be removed before anyone would even consider scrapping it. So, the old RV will become a new residence for someone.

After doing a first day of clean out and packing of the truck I recharged the battery and restarted the engine. I couple quarts of Lucas oil treatment and the engine kept pressure for the trip to it's new home! Hot and sticky outside and it was a reminder of the 5 days in the RV hoping that the shop would help out and fix the engine.


The 440 engine was sold for the reserve price to an owner of a Plymouth Fury yesterday evening and so that part of the project will be picked up next week.

So, that's the end of the "Long Hauler" being stored in purgatory for over a year. Not the way I anticipated but it's the way life is!

A Day in Paradise.

I managed to survive the first day after the "going to the airport" fiasco this morning. Got on the plane, made it to Florida, took a taxi to A-1 Rentals to pick up the rental truck that would bring home all our personal belongings from inside the RV. Great folks at A-1 Rentals! Got me on my way in under 10 minutes!

After that it was off to Bill's Carb shop to let him know I was in town and formulate a plan to get the RV either scrapped or sold off.....

Pulling into the storage yard, I was waiting for that key fob card to not work at all and having to deal with all that instead of just going in and checking out "The Long Hauler". Gotta say it weathered a year in Florida pretty well but despite that the faded lettering on the back of the RV really said it all.

I spent most of the afternoon clearing her out and sorting the garbage from the stuff going back home. That first step into the RV brought back some memories. Not only the bad ones but the kids and the camping on Cape Hatteras.

There she is in Florida. Maybe someone can take her on, swap out the crank and main bearings and have a really cool vintage RV..... We'll see how that works out this week. More later!

On my way, with a few diversions.....

Left the house at 3:30am to catch my flight out of Rochester only to have the Subaru freak out on me just as I got off the Thruway!! Got her off onto Route 96 at a Mobil station. Popped the hood, suspect that transmission so I went in at 4:15 in the am to buy automatic transmission fluid. Nope, they're out of it.... Joy. Called 2 tow truck companies only to find that they aren't 24 hour service. Got Ricci Towing to come by but only after I had to leave in an airport taxi to rush at 80 mph to the terminal to get my flight on time.

Crazy on top of all of it. Called Van Bortel Subaru to let them know my car should be sitting out in front of their service area. At least it was really close to where the car stopped working!

Hoping that is the only big glitch this trip. You'd think this whole mission to FL was cursed or something.....

I'll provide an update once I'm on the ground and have the rental truck. Oh, Penske called. They are still trying to find me the truck I reserved.....

I can't believe it's gone....

Tim has come by today and the engine is now on it's way to Florida! Thanks Tim! Here are some pictures of the transport.

As many things as I could get onto that pallet and zip tied each one!!

Tim's short bed just fit everything. We even tossed in a spare tire just in case.

Definitely needed the bigger engine hoist with all the extra weight and height of the truck!

Now I'm getting nervous! Mission Jitters!

Now that I've committed to flying down and Tim is stopping by next week to pick up the engine and all the other bits I can think of for the swap project, it's finally hitting me. I wake up at night and start thinking about all the potential issues that may come up to stop me from doing a successful swap. Simple things like missing bolts, hoses or parts that I just cannot get because they are likely NLA (no longer available).

The BIG coil springs came today for the front end. You know, the one that bounced all over the place before on our trip and so I figured while I'm swapping out an entire engine I could do the front shocks and springs. Well, it turns out the manufacturer is not sure if they will fit now. What?? They are springs for crying out loud! How hard can this be?

In the middle of September I'm flying down to Daytona, renting a car and hoping that between the parts that were put into the first repair job and the ones I have delivered to Bill's shop that I'll be close to what's needed to make this work. I've already surrendered to not having the A/C installed but we'll see about that.

I will be posting videos during the trip (that's why I'm back on Facebook but really didn't want to be. Surprise!! FB kept all my info...) and doing so via YouTube and FB.

440 V8 on the pallet awaiting delivery!

One of the exhaust headers in the garage. Many parts to add to the delivery.

Intake manifold and cooling fan....

Don't forget the starter!!! Can't do a swap without having that.

The bright yellow power steering pump. May just use the 360's pump but good to have the spare....

The new, REALLY BIG front coil springs! Hope that these fit despite the recent note that they may not. I can't drive back with the front of the "Long Hauler" bouncing like it did and with the larger engine that will really be an issue.

 

Good News ~ Transmission Update (Shared Video)

Wow! I guess Florida eats RV's!! As a bonus you get stuck for nearly two weeks while it gets fixed....

Seems like a pattern here. Check out Eric's videos on his "Nomatic Fanatic" YouTube Channel.  Stay tuned for the "Long Hauler" rescue mission in September!

Herding the Cats: Putting the Rescue Mission together....

I just booked my flight to Daytona and car rental for the middle of September. It's now or never at this point and the adrenaline is starting to build (could be the 3 cups of coffee, I guess). Tim, my contractor friend, is delivering the 440 V8 and other bits to Florida for the engine swap. Bill's Carburetor Shop will host the swap and let me plug in the RV to live in while I work on it.

We did have a slight detour into a "Plan B": just junk the RV and get another one up here. Lather, rinse, repeat.... We saw it and test drove her. A 1983 Chevy Mallard. Couldn't get the thing past 55 mph and she needed work as well. Back to plan A: the devil you know sort of thing.

Right now I'm searching and ordering those hard-to-find parts for the project and also to fix the soft front end that may have been the cause of the problem when the oil pan hit the pavement and likely caused the oil to be lost out of the original engine.

Small prep projects happening before the delivery: palletizing the engine, collecting the other bits, bolts and hoses. Rebuilding the instrument panel (not happy about the loss of gauges on the trip!) and other stuff prior to the flight.

A month will go by quickly! Fly down, get the RV out of storage (should be a fun post in of itself, trying to restart her after a year and to see if there is any wildlife that has moved in since then) drive to the shop and get the repairs done. Hoping it will be 2-3 days of focused work to do it. Then drive carefully home over the next 2-3 days if all goes well.

It will be just over a year since this started. Will be very glad to be crossing the NY line with the "Long Hauler".

 

 

 

A picture sent in July of the RV in storage. 

The replacement engine awaiting pick up and delivery...