Lanny, great stories.   I'm like Paul .... I would read the book cover to cover.   Some folks are crazy about their P15's .... I'm crazy about my P18's.   That's an amazing number of miles at 55 mph.   

I feel kinda like a little kid asking you to "tell me another story .... tell me another story!"..... but could ya?.      And, I agree with Pat that some tips on preparing for and equiping yourself for long distance travel in an almost 60 years old car would be a great topic to cover.

Lanny,

Thanks for the response. I knew you would have some interesting tales from behind the wheel. The farm found axle it great! Maybe the one wired under the seat is a lucky charm? Good tip about Flathead sixes needing a ring and valve job every 70,000 miles. Another good tip about rear axle breaks. Any inventive solutions you may have found for on the road repairs?

Any more stories?

QuoteI could possibly write a book on this question.

I'd read it for sure! This is good stuff! I can't really imagine a more fun experience than a long distance road trip in an old car.

Lanny-

That was a great story, and an inspiring one. Maybe you'd like to share some tips for long distance driving in an old Plymouth.

For example, on a long trip, I would always feel the hubcaps when I was gassing up, etc., to make sure that the wheel bearings weren't getting too hot, or that a brake wasn't heating up because of a weak return spring, etc.

Regards,

Pat O'Connor

Yes, it took me a while to log in.  Publishing the Bulletin takes so much of my time that often I get to the General Discussion no more than once a month or so for a quick look at what's up in this part of the Plymouth world.  Obviously a posting with my name on it drew my attention and, to reply, I discovered I had to go to Mark for a new username and password.  Now that once again I'm legit, here it is:

I could possibly write a book on this question.  Since doing an amateur frame-off restoration in 1983, I've put nearly 140,000 miles on the car.  During that time, I've had two engine rebuilds done.  Flathead sixes seem to need a ring and valve job every 70,000 miles.  The first engine I installed was an used industrial unit (it had been in a Cockshutt combine) and lasted about 50,000.  It had already been overbored and was deemed unsuitable for another.  The second engine, a 251 block from a '56 Canadian Dodge Mayfair, is now on its second rebuild.  The original P18 engine was long gone from the car when I acquired it in 1975.  I steadfastly support the club's stand on originality but this car hasn't had its original engine since some time before it came into my hands and I've used what was available at an affordable price.  I picked up the 251 for $60, having found it a back alley near some garbage cans. (Being a Canadian Plymouth, my ?49 came from the factory with the long 25" block found only in DeSotos and six-cylinder Chryslers in the US.  The the 251 bolts right in.)

Since I took the first long trip in the car to the 1984 National Spring Meet in Grand Island, Nebraska, I've driven the Plymouth to both coasts: Victoria, British Columbia in the west; Plymouth, Mass., in the east.  It's been as far south as Arkansas and north to Edmonton, Alberta.  It's been in such major cities as Boston, Montreal, Toronto (3 times), Detroit (4 times), Denver (twice), Kansas City (3 times), Vancouver, Calgary (I lived there 15 years), Winnipeg (I live there now), Indianapolis (including two laps around the track) and Minneapolis-St. Paul (far more times than I can recall; Minnesota being my home state).  It's also taken me safely on four harrowing drives through Chicago and it's been over the 10,000-foot-plus high Beartooth Highway Pass out of Yellowstone into Montana.

Breakdowns have been remarkably few and far between.  The most serious was a broken axle that occurred  in 1986, fortuitously on the flat plains of northern South Dakota.  It was my fault; I hadn't tightened the nut enough when installing the rear brake drum and couldn't figure out where the "groaning" was coming from.  I eventually found out!  When a rear axle goes, nothing can stop the car, not the wheel brakes nor the emergency brake nor gearing down.  I don't want to think what might have happened if this occurred while I was driving in mountains.  As it was, I was back on the road within six hours, thanks to a small town mechanic whose family had an abandoned farm trailer that happened to have been built from a '49 Plymouth chassis.  I still have the other axle shaft, wired under the rear seat, just in case.

Most troubles have been minor maintenance issues, such as voltage regulators going out of adjustment, etc.--things that you have to stop and fix but won't leave you stranded in some far-off location.  I had a generator quit on me once.  I happened to be driving to Denny Cutshall's Honey Creek, Iowa, home at the time.  He loaned me a generator from one of his stored cars and I returned it to him at the next year's meet.  I've received similar help from others: Jack Schultz, Carl Wegner, Roger Ramberg, Vern Meyer, Rod Richards, Spanky Cox, to name a few, and I know I'm leaving some others off the list who have gone out of their way to keep me on the road.  Yes, I carry a full tool box and another full of electrical wires and connectors but one of the most significant "tools" is a Plymouth Owners Club roster/directory.  Almost anywhere you go, you can find a Plymouth owner willing to help.

I just returned from a 2741-mile round trip to the Grand National in Detroit.  This was the longest trip I've taken in the '49 since I drove to the 2000 Spring Meet in Rapid City (Oh, yes, I blew a head gasket there and Jack Schultz help me install a new one).  This year?s trip was long but made bearable by the good company of the Tall Pines Region people I travelled with all but the first and last days.  The last was from Minneapolis to Winnipeg.  Normally, an eight-hour drive by modern car on the Interstates, it took me 15 hours (minus three hours when I stopped at my parents' gravesites and then visited some cousins living nearby), driving two-lanes (which I much prefer) at 55 mph.  It was one of my longer days in the car.  Wisdom says I probably should have broken it up and maybe spent the night with the cousins but I wanted to get home and I made it, thanks to my trusty, if not always worry-free, old Plymouth.

Thanks for your interest.  LANNY

Lanny was having trouble signing into the board but he will be answering shortly.  He just drove that same '49 to Detroit last month for the Plymouth meet.

Going through the POC Bulletins I couldn't help but notice the same 49 Plymouth popping up in photos, often winning the furthest distance traveled award at POC get-togethers. I was re-reading some of "Plymouth 1946-1959" today, and on page 7, there it is again. When I finish with my 49 I intend to drive it, a lot. So I was wondering if Lanny has gathered any statistics for his car. Things like total miles traveled or furthest distance traveled in shortest amount of time. Number of times certain parts have been replaced. Tips for long distance travelers would be good too.