heading deep south to get to carlisle

Quite a day. Left home at 6am and got to Fredericksburg, Va by 7pm. About 650 miles. Checked in to hotel and when parking the car I went too far forward and hit a concrete parking log with the front of my rad scoop which bent a mount back about 3/8" which dislodged the front horizontal mount. Flagged down a cop and he identified two possible shops but not open till the morning.
Dejected, walking back to the hotel I spotted a local dude with a jacked up pickup and asked for a local mechanic. One phone call and 10 minutes later I was at his buddys house. We bent the brackets back in place and I dropped him a $50 for his help. Everyone happy.
Now the good part. My cooling system has never been tested and I was nervous. It went thru with flying colours today with temps in the low 80's. Tomorrow in SC it might be in the 90's so well see. Bonus today, I checked the fuel consumption and I'm getting 39 freekin MPG while cruising 63-65 mph. Happy with that.

Very nice! 39 mpg with a carbed 2.2! You must have done something right.

Well met, David! Congrats on your luck, too!

Fantastic! Glad you got it fixed. We'll be anxiously following your trip.

Sweet! Wave when you near Charleston ;-)

The early part of the story got me scared. Carry on safely. Great mileage! Do you think a local dude with a Prius would have garnered the same results?

David,
I wish I had known you were in Fredericksburg - I live 20 minutes away - I could have helped you as well and taken you out for dinner. I am glad one of the southern boys was able to lend a hand. Nice town and mostly nice people
Dale

David---from crestfallen to a very happy ending---good to hear that!
Your temps mean a long life for that Suby engine.

39 MPG is just sensational especially with the high-dollar gas prices especially along the highways.

Enjoy your trip and do NOT miss sunset at the Key West pier each evening. Think the bar scene in the first Star Wars movie. Wierd but fun to watch.

See you and Francine in Carlisle!

Had a good day today 535 miles. Had to stop as I ran out of beer. (just kidding) Cooling system works well. Hit temps of low 90's and according to my observations has a bit of room to spare. Dodged a huge traffic delay at I95 and 40. Big pileup but I was able to take the exit right there. A helpful rest area lad steered me down a side road parallel to the the carnage and I only lost about 20 minutes. These people are very helpful down here. Saw a sad sight with a full size car carrier with a early 60's MGB upront on top facing forward. The convertible roof latches departed from the windsheild top and the whole thing was flogging badly in the air. Wait till they see the mess. Had some Tex Mex etc and will call it a night. I should be in St.Augustine before happy hour tomorrow. I pick up Francine in Daytona Saturday then off to a friend;s house in Satellite Beach for three nights then down to Key West for three days then North. It'll be good to see y'all soon. Thanks for the feedback.

So, David, is this top up or down weather?

Top was down today at 11 am. Met some serious golfers at the hotel tonight and there's more topless in town than on the road. :) Francine always got me to stop here for shopping at the outlets when on the way South. I'd just nap in the trailer and give her a reasonalbe time limit. I've always felt guily of never giving her as mcuh time as needed and I'll try to be more reasonable about that. I hate shopping but maybe we can adjust our prioities more sensitively next time.....

Road hazards...

Had a nice, easy day yesterday and got into St.Augustine around 2:30. Everything running well, top down most of the day. Beautiful weather, sunny, a little breeze and about 90 deg. Off to the airport now to pick up the bride and off to Satellite Beach.

Glad to hear you made it -- in a relatively uneventful manner, too!

I think this trip is way too short for you and you should make a detour on your way back. Head a few thousand miles west or so before doing a u-turn and heading back to Carlisle. Turn left at Jacksonville and see where the road takes you. Have fun!

Got settled into Key West yesterday, car running fine with about 2,200 on the trip. Not much to report..will do some snorkeling and see the sights. Later.

David, Jack, Hoss and a few other 'dead butt drivers' seem to have a common thread to their road reports:

"Not much to report......"

That says a lot about these little cars.

David and Francine,
We live on the coast of North Carolina. If you find your travels bring you this
way and you need to stop for the night, please let me know!
Would be more then happy to put and Francine up! Looking forward to seeing you and Francine again at Carlisle!

SG

Thanks for that kind invitation, Darcie (Darcy ?) We'll be heading NW before getting up to NC so no can do on our schedule. If you can bring along some of those chocolate chip cookies though, I'll still love you forever.... :-) The one's you gave us last year were the best !!!

Chocolate Chip Cookies? Darcy, bring a batch for the raffle!

You had the spelling correct the first time :). Yes of course I will bring you and Francine more of my homemade chocolate chip cookies for your drive home! Already have it on the list of things to do before we leave. Nolan I will bring you some because you turned our not so fun soggy trip into a fantastic one by letting us drive your killer Speedster!! Can't wait to see everyone again!

Darcie

Semper Fi, Darcie---see you soon!

Hi Jack! Hope you will be bringIng your American Graffiti shirt!! That thing was the best one out of the entire crowd!! Semper Fi to you as well!! going to be missing your fantastic presentation you gave last year! The gun part was my favorite!! lol

Darcie

Whooo Hooo Cookie monster loves Darcie!

Had a real good time in the Keys...did the no name bar, Hog's Breath Saloon etc. We're back up in Flagler Beach with just over 3,000 miles on the clock. Rich...they said they'd be working on Sam's car next week. The Soob continues to run well but I could use better gearing for highway cruising.

Sounds good. Keep 'er rolling, David. Three more days to Carlisle.

Thanks for checking, David. Those guys are really dragging!

David,

I am speechless -- well not entirely. You are an inspiration for being one w/ the road and your Speedster. How do you do it?? Can't wait to see you and your gal-pal Thursday, and I hope you make it all the rest of the way in good order. the Subbie sounds as if it is purring like a kitten -- would you agree it is quieter than air-cooled? When you are racking up the miles by the thousands at a stretch, quieter is a good thing, eh? What's that you say -- can't quite hear you . . .

We didn't name him Iron Ass just for fun!

Good to hear from you, Aaron....we missed you. Got home around 7pm...total mileage this time was around 4,800 with no rad burping on the last day either. Had a great time...thanks to everyone who contributed to the event and special thanks to Lane and Jack for the quick fix with the throttle cable when we should have been sitting around drinking beer after dinner in Christiansburg. The Soob was a good move for me.

Dood! Yer a legend. And I mean that in a good way. Your wife too.