My new philosophy on loading trip parts & tools

I dunno Jack; the align-bore bar is a necessity. You'll be screwed if you have to do a roadside rebuild....

 

Seriously- great list, and smart way of looking at it! How about weighing the pile of what you used to take, and then the new, condensed pile? And yes, you will have to report the difference...

 

Can anybody add to the repair list for things to bring? For a long trip I would be inclined to pack new outer and inner front wheel bearing assemblies. Can't think of anything else at the moment. Have you looked at Gordon's list in the knowledge base?

Al---Good thoughts--and thanks.  Gordon's list is like my old list--just some variations but both Gordon's approach and my old approach was to load everything I own without regard to what might be a needed fix and what exactly is necessary to accomplish the particular fix?

 

In my case, besides the list of fixes, and  the tools to do the job, I have detailed directions with pictures on how do make the repair. Gordon doesn't need any directions but I sure do!

 

I thought about wheel bearings and saw that job done in the parking lot at Carlisle two years ago. Last year I drove from Richmond to Hot Springs, AR with a rumbling front wheel bearing and when I inspected it it didn't look all that bad.  If a bad bearing can be a sudden occurance I'd add that job---I might anyway.

 

Yes--it would be surprising to weigh the old and the new trip loading. I'd probably be embarassed to do that though!

 

Thanks for your thoughts--helpful to me and I know to others too.

How about a pre-researched list of air-cooled mechanics along the route?

Yeah, Jack, I looked at Gordon's list, and you're right, he does pack a lot of stuff, but the sad part is, I can see the point of just about everything! Things like latex gloves, handcleaner, something to lie on, baby wipes and tylenol or ibuprofen (and a ton of other things) you may not automatically think of, but make things so much easier. It helps if you caravan with people, as you can delegate certain supplies and spares so not everyone has to carry everything. When we go dune buggying in the mountains it's much the same.

 

I still thing you should be finding room for that align bore bar though. Just sayin'. You're the only one that prepared... Yoda out (going to finish painting my daughter's bedroom, I am).

 

PS- Tom, that is a heck of an idea! and shops too.

He packs a lot of stuff because he drives a Ford F-350 pickup with loooooots of room

His stuff has helped a number of other folks out over the years.

Personally, I'd say your list is too extensive and you're still trying to pack for every contigency. A cell phone and credit card are going to help more often than most of this stuff.

 

The only spares I'd probably have are the tire repair/fix-a-flat, fan belt, fuses, and maybe a set of points (far cheaper than keeping a spare electronic module).

 

small tool kit:

10mm, 13mm, 15mm, 17mm sockets & wrenches + spark plug socket

Phillips and flat screwdriver

1x Crescent wrench

1x Vicegrips

1x needle nose pliers

Feeler gauge (unnecessary, but it's small enough not to matter)

duct tape

Jack+lug wrench

Flashlight

garbage bag to kneel/lie on is a good idea

 

optional:

2 qts oil

couple bottles drinking water

clutch cable (but only because getting a correct one from a random mechanic can be problematic)

 

Most of the repairs/adjustments on your list should be part of your pre-trip maintenance, not roadside work. For example, do you really believe you'll be needing an oil change in the middle nowhere?

Replace Justin's needle nose pliers and screw drivers with a small "Leatherman" tool to get 8-tools-in-one, including a wire cutter and wicked-sharp knife (ask me how I know!).  Vice Grips work great for crimping wire ends, too.  Go for tools with multiple uses, if possible - Like using Al's align-bore bar for reaming venturii throats or something.

 

I went through a thinning process on my spares late last year.  Found a bunch of stuff I never used and/or do not apply to MY car (but are sometimes useful on other people's rides) and culled them out.  Kept one each of each light bulb type.  Several spare fuses are held in my fuse/relay box - OK there.  Kept my 009 distributor, but added another electronic module to it, along with a cap, rotor, #1 plug wire (the longest) and coil wire (mine is unique).  All that was tested and timing set on the car, and the spare disti has a base clamp installed so I can swap out the entire disti and the timing will be dead on.  Made a list of all of the unique or "VW-hard-to-get" parts and stock those.

 

This thread gives me the "oomph" needed to get out there and totally re-think what I take and how I organize and store it.  I currently carry two tool bags and a spares bin but they are all a hodge-podge and not well thought out.  Some things (like a carb snail or walkie-talkies) are best left at home unless you're going to Carlisle or something........

 

Time to get Organized!

Things I know I've used from my spares kit on other people's cars:

 

A couple of VW cartridge fuses (mine are different - mini tab-style)

throttle cable

Speedster-length clutch cable (Cory installed it for someone) 

several pieces of wire

several crimp-on wire ends

2 dash gauge lamps (those little-bitty ones)

one tail lamp bulb (brake light)

one shine up light bulb

some shrink tubing (shrunk with a cigarette lighter)

a couple of 2-sided Velcro cable strips

a small hose clamp

a fan belt (the other guys spare didn't fit)

1 valve cover gasket

 

There might be more, but that's all I can remember.  Pretty normal stuff.  I got home once after a throttle linkage malfunction by using a small bungee cord to hold the hex bar sort-of in place, but had to borrow the bungee from the house I stopped in front of!

 

 

Hard to say. What's "too extensive" for one person may not be adequate for another person. I supplied a new accelerator cable to David Stroud--his wore through in Christiansburg.  Corey needed a couple of Type IV valve cover gaskets which I supplied to him.

A parking lot wheel bearing job was done at Carlisle 2 years ago--I believe Gordon supplied the bearings, two years ago Corey needed a new clutch cable (or maybe to just reattach the one in the car) when we stopped for lunch in MD, carb jets have been changed at Carlisle, and Danny has generously synched quite a few carbs for others in the field too. (Needed a snail to do them too.)  A new windshield was installed at Carlisle last year.  Repairs are sometimes needed as shown by these fixes and the ones Gordon listed and I certainly wouldn't blame poor pre trip maintenance for these break downs and repairs.  (Jake Raby calls this "unscheduled maintenance".)

 

At the West Coast event a few years ago, one fellow's pulley disientergrated and we were way off in wine country miles away from a replacement part.  That probably was a real hassle for him and that's the reason I carry a spare pulley and tools to install it.  I could have helped him on the spot if I had a spare like I do now.

 

Tangerine Racing's site states that the electronic distributor modules can fail without warning so I carry a spare.  

 

Justin may be right about the Oil change---I'll have to think about that a little more.  The rest are things that have failed in the past and can be expected to be the weak links in the reliability chain based on experience. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The proof of a true optimist is thinking that you will actually HAVE the spare part you need when you need it.  I carry a credit card and a cell phone and HOPE that the cell phone is in range of a tower and has a charged battery when needed. You may laugh but I tell you several times when I REALLY needed a cell phone it didn't work (for one of those two reasons).   I've also had on at least one occasion the credit card company decide not allow a charge when I desperately needed the money (unusual activity on the card) .

 

  I try to travel in a group because I can promise you no one is going to stop to help an old fat man stranded along the road with a Porsche car.  No one unless you would count the "bad guys". In groups we can help ourselves or if not misery loves company.    

 

So???  My spare parts are a cell phone, credit card and best of all a caravan of friends, mechanics and true optimists who DO frequently have the parts needed when I never do.

 

I've learned this traveling for years in a vintage motor home which has a lot in common with traveling in a vintage car. With the motor home you can at least take a nap while waiting for help.   

How far is this drive?  I will do a 1,000 mile weekend and here is what I pack.....

 

     1.  A Suitcase with clothes and bathroom items.

 

I know it is a big list, but these are actually really reliable cars, if you have done your pre work. 

 

As always, safe travels for those that road trip, speedster or not.

 

Stephen

Doesn't this thread belong under the "Talk About Anal" thread?  Just kidding!!! ;-)

Jack's got a good system and he's known for his long distance trips. A cell phone and credit card won't do you any good in downtown Tucumcari, NM on a Sunday morning even if it's just a broken throttle cable. Good preparation for the type of trip you are taking is mandatory. A common sense stash of tools and spares make good sense to me.

 

Also...and I've experienced this...if you do need help and you've shown some aptitude for self preservation ( tools and spares and the right attitude ) you'll impress the local mechanics when you need serious help and they'll try hard to help you. I've been there and witnessed that on several occasions.

I've actually had the experience of a break down in tucumcari nm.  I needed two wheels and two tires.  Odd size for a trailer turned into a all day deal.  No one was hurt and the state police were so nice .   I love the western parts of the USA

Just to be clear, I agree and I do carry some tools with me at all times.  One thing that I don't carry is a spare and a jack.  I just don't feel that flat tires occur often enough to justify the decreased space.  Sally needs to bring a lot of shoes!
I do carry a small flat repair kit however.

There's a huge difference between driving a couple hundred miles, and driving across several time-zones. I don't go nuts with what I carry, but I can guarantee you my bacon's been saved driving to CA and back twice by having stuff I needed to make roadside repairs along the way. There's no air-cooled specific shops on Labor Day in Laramie, WY. Tools are worth their weight in gold on the highway.

 

Just sayin'.

Tools are good the knowing how to use them even better !   I don't so the credit card and cell phone has to work for me.  And probably 9 out of 10 of us.  But the point of have the  "odd parts" for our cars is well made.   I probably wouldn't take my car far from home any ways .  If I did I'd more then likely trailer it behind the motor home.

I learned the hard way about not carrying a tool kit about 25 years ago. I had recently finished a '31 5window hi-boy street rod and the wife and I decided to head to Reno for Hot August Nights. Now there is about as much room in a Model A coupe as there is in a Speedster so after mulling it over I decided wrongly to not take a tool kit..."why" I reasoned the car is running great and I haven't had a problem.

We left Denver headed west, the car is running fantastic, all is good with the world. We overnighted in St. George, Utah, left early the the next morning, planning on being in Reno by early evening. It is very desolate in that part of the country, and nothing to speak of in the way of service stations or even towns until crossing into AZ. About 30 miles west of Mesquite, AZ

the engine temp started climbing, pulled over and my lower radiator hose is leaking coolant...no wrench, not even a pair of pliers to tighten the hose clamp down, it was the type of hose clamp that has a socket head and no screwdriver access...I did have some duct tape and managed to stem the leak some but no water to refill the radiator. 

We barely limped into a service station in Mesquite with the radiator steaming like a steamboat, engine and front end of the car covered in a film of coolant, temp gauge in the red zone. Finally about 3 hours later we were on the road again...Bless those guys at the service station! 

When we hit Vegas I found a Sears store and bought a 100+ piece tool set in a handy plastic case about the size of a small overnight bag. We never had another problem on that trip, spent 4 great days in Reno but I learned my lesson.

Still carry that tool case and have added a few tools to it plus it has a storage area in the top for things like spare rotor and cap, fuses, a set of wheel bearings and a tube of lithium grease, light bulbs, sets of points in case the electronic modules every fail, gasket material and hi-temp sealant, etc. And I carry a gal of water in an old anti-freeze jug and a couple cans of fix-a-flat. 

Amazingly I have never had another major problem on road trips in any of the old cars and I have helped others who have had break downs.

I'll have to add some things for the Speedster, yet if I can't fix or repair it I always have my cell phone to call for help...

 

 

One thing I like yo make up for customers is a spare oil line to bypass the oil cooler or filter if a leak occurs. The other item is spare swivel feet or valve adjusters. If you every To adjust the valves and break one on the road your screwed!

The only time I was stranded by my Spyder was my first Carlisle(2006). Drove through a hail and rain deluge and my interior filled with water. My MSD box was mounted on the firewall behind the passenger seat, but basically on the floor. 2" of water didn't agree with the unit so it sputtered and died. But on the side of the road, the car was slightly angled so the water drained and then the ignition wasn't grounded out any more! I ended up unbolting it from the firewall after unbolting the seat from the floor. Opened the unit up and set it on a plastic bag to keep it dry. Made it the rest of the way without incident. Remounted the ignition higher and drilled holes in the floor, problem solved.

 

Dried all my clothes at the truckstop in Carlisle, as my bag was on the passenger seat floor.

 

Tools saved the day! Never travel without some.

I'm all about a few spare parts (cables mostly) and some tools.  Each of us knows what he can do, and what he needs to do it.  Plan accordingly.  And travel in packs, if you can.  There would be a lot to learn from Jack and Dave Stroud -- our LD champs, I'd say.  Meanwhile, G.R.'s story reminds me of a trip I took in my old 356A back in the 60's.  Running west out of Denver.  Was barreling down the west slope heading towards Utah, I guess, when I rounded a curve and saw a large pull out area just ahead, with another 356 Cabriolet parked there.  There was a fine young gal standing next to the car toward the back of the convertible top, and it looked like she was pulling of the lower aft corner with all of her might.  I hauled down quickly, and pulled up to the car.  Apparently, she had been running too long the night before, and decided to pull over and rest a bit.  So she locked up, slid over the passenger side, and took a nap.  In the AM, she stepped out to stretch, and shut the door, which was set in the locked position.  Both doors locked, keys in the ignition.  So she is all about ruining her top to open it up enough to reach in and open the door.  "Whoa there, little lady".  I popped my hood, and secured the exact right tool for the job:  a coat hanger.  Bent that to just the right position, fished it inside and tugged the door handle.  The fair damsel in distress was properly rescued.  I wish I could say that the knight in shining armor was properly repaid, but alas she was off on her way in another moment, and that was that.

 

You just need to have the right tool, is all . . .

Your story is better than mine, but it reminds me of the time I was driving my old MGA near Death Valley and came upon a station wagon with the engine on fire.  Wife and kids still in the car and dad throwing dirt on the fire trying to put it out.  I had a fire extinguisher with me so I stopped and put it out.
The guy never said thanks, but he was probably just too flustered by it all.

You have to watch out, Kelly. The right tool can produce three kids before you know it...

Hey, I stumbled on Jim's video on what he packs to goto Carlisle, great fun. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbG6CpkbFpY