Road Trip

[pfarah]

There have been several threads in the past regarding the ability of our 944's over a long drive. It's been a bucket list for a while but I've planned a trip that will cover almost 5,000 miles. The journey will begin this coming Friday (the 13th no less) from SE Massachusetts with stops to include: Chesapeake Bay, VA, Charlotte, NC, Acworth & Savannah, GA, Ocala/Mt. Dora/West Palm Beach/Ft. Lauderdale/and Brandon, FL, and (if time & money allow) New Orleans. With full support from my wife, I'll be spending almost 3 weeks on the road with basically an open plan book. There are some friends/family to visit but the goal is to meander through the eastern seaboard, taking in the sights normally not seen from the I-95 Corridor. Void of a smart phone, I'll be heading out with a road atlas, a Garmin GPS and a DSLR camera (old school in a way).

I'll also be travelling with a full set of tools along with some spare parts, however; I have confidence... The old girl has been serving me very well once the original bugs were vanquished. My one challenge is that I"ll need to retension the belts at about 800 miles into the trip; she's got @250 miles on a fresh major service (as of this afternoon).

More to come...

[Arizona_928]

Buy a go pro. Russian dash cam style.

Spares are a good idea. However, if you have done a recent TB/h20 pump and hoses I really don't see anything major like that going. I would be concerned with blowing a cv joint, DME relay since you have an early car, alternator/starter. maybe hydraulics, but nothing you can't really find where ever you go.

[jcommin]

Sounds like a nice trip. Take a credit card and cell phone - pretty much all you need. I did a small trip last year but before I went on the road, I went thru the entire car. Aside from what I normally have, I took a gallon of coolant.

safe travel!

[dgcantrell]

I used to drive back and forth to New Orleans from here in Southwest Virginia all the time (from 2005-2007) in my 87 944N/A. 760 miles one way. Always packed my small toolbox (24"x12"x12") along with a crapload of other items (clothes and whatnot) in the back with the rear seat folded down. Amazing how much stuff you can get into these cars. Anyway, never had an issue with the car at all. Cruising at 75mph with little effort and got about 31-32mpg the whole way. I had just gotten a cell phone the year before so that was always with me.

[pfarah]

Bringing spare axle, dme relay, tie wraps, and misc hardware. As for the car's condition, the following have been replaced since ownership (4 yrs): All belts, rollers & tensioners (2X), water pump, complete ac system, speed/reference sensors, brake system including master/slave cylinders, blue hose, cv axles, fuel filter & check valve, alternator, ps pump, fuse block with all new fuses and DME/fuel pump relay and list goes on...

[sausagehacker]

Bring a spare fan switch if you can... that screwed me on a 2000 mile drive from NH to TX when I first bought the car. After I was screwed by the DME relay a few days prior.

[OPRN]

My first 2000km road trip after buying my 83 944 was a bit eventful. I got caught in a freak snow storm at about 4 hours in and at midnight hit a ridge left by the snow plow which plugged the rad. Lost 1/2 the coolant but we filled her up and headed out anyway. At about the 1000km mark and on a steep tight winding hill at 30 degrees C the next day she started to show too much temperature again. Stopped and found that the rad fan motor was seized and the fuse blown. Let her cool down and did the rest of the trip with an eye on the temp and a much lighter throttle foot. All good till I got home and had a chance to get a new fan motor.
Go for it! How does the saying go? "The Lord hates a coward!"

[bumflick]

I'm in Acworth, GA. Will PM you my contact info. Happy to assist if you run into problems, and happy to crack a beer and listen to the stories.

Malcolm

[pfarah]

All packed up and plan on leaving either Thursday evening (see the old man in NJ) or head out O-dark thirty Friday and stop by on the way back. While I'm not a spiritual man, it feels like my car is also getting excited because she's running incredibly well this week. I guess a fresh major service with oil, plugs, cap and rotor probably helps...

Malcolm; I'll reach out to you when I get close.

[v2rocket_aka944]

Some people would make suggestions amounting to towing a 944 parts car around behind you before venturing to the post office.

If you've been kind to your 944 and know its most recent maintenance history...all you need is a AAA card, credit card, quart of oil, and some water.

Have fun.

[JonA]

That car is in great shape, you will be fine. Enjoy and keep us posted.

Jon

[fiily]

Bring it up by NH, and have some cold cider ale in the fridge.

I see your from Plymouth. I was at the John Carver Inn 2 weeks ago in Plymouth with the wife and kids. The Inn reminded me of The Shining, long corridor's that were somewhat dark with old wallpaper. I was waiting for the twin girls from the movie to pop out somewhere in the hallways as we came back from dinner & drinks every night.

All I could do while running down the hallway was scream REDRUM, REDRUM!!! The wife didn't appreciate my humor.

[Raceboy]

I did a 3week road trip from December to January on 944S, started from Atlanta, headed to jacksonville and proceeded mostly on A1A all the way down to Key West. Visited places, enjoyed weather, it was fun.
Stayed in the Keys for a week and on the return trip stayed 5 days in Miami (including new years eve). Original toolkit was enough, but a spare is a must (I had a flat once and that was at 6pm on the road to Orlando in the middle of nowhere.

[jhowell371]

Take a good tire plugging kit and hand pump. Should you find yourself on I 70 in the western Maryland area and need help or parts give a shout. I have PMed you my phone number. Good luck with your trip

[pfarah]

Yo Gang!

So I decided to leave a day early and drive to North Jersey to see my old man; I arrived last night which gave me a jump on the road trip. It started to rain today in South Jersey so I took my time driving to Chesapeake Bay, Virginia. Stopped at a mom & pop clam shack and had Blue Crab Cakes with hush puppies (yum...). I then took a hike in the Kiptopeke State Park before driving on the Bay Bridge/Tunnel. Hung a left in Virginia Beach and meandered through that whole area before realizing the left bank of running lights were out. Since the sun was going down, I figured that I should secure a hotel room before investigating the problem just in case. The culprit was a blown 8 amp fuse; all operational 30 seconds later!

Tomorrow I head to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina where a buddy of mine has a fairly new house he uses about once a year. He gave me the keys so that's where I'll re-tension the TB/BB. I may stay there for a couple days since the house is only 4-5 miles from the beach. Although the house has power/water, there's no internet so it may be a few days until my next report. Having fun!!

So far:

Miles travelled: 713
Fuel purchased: 22 gallons
MPG: 32.4
Issues: Only one 8 Amp fuse replaced





Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel



Virginia Beach

[djnolan]

Stop and pick up a fishing rod, lots of cool places to wet a line along the coast. Did a similar trip with my brother when he graduated from high school. We hit every fishing pier along the coast. Long before the 944 even existed.

[jeffrsmith]

When you get back give us a shout, it is about time to do another NE fun run.

[bumflick]

Not sure how long your trip will be, but if you are still down this way june 2, check out 944fest at Road Atlanta.

[pfarah]

Out of radio silence! Arrived in Myrtle Beach, SC Saturday Afternoon and chilled. Decided to re-tension the belts Sunday Morning; the belts had just about 1,500 miles on them. A friend of mine gave me the keys to his vacant house (with a garage) so I planned the service there. When I opened her up, I found the timing belt idler pulley bearing was beginning to act up. One of the seals had come off and there was some black powder being formed from the bearing seal rubbing on the plastic roller ID surface. Since it was Sunday, I had to wait until Monday AM to overnight a new roller. What stunk was that I was without transportation/food/water so I had to bum a ride to the Myrtle Beach Airport and rent a car for two days ($160.00!!!!).

Anyway, the timing belt tension was perfect and I only had to tweak the balance belt (tighten) and she was back in action. Some sever thunderstorms arrived Tuesday afternoon so I decided to hang ten until Wednesday.

I then drove NW to Charlotte, NC to see an old riding buddy and crashed the night. He did show me around the Hendrick Racing (NASCAR) compound which was quite impressive (sorry, no pics, left the camera in my car while he drove me around).

Thursday AM: Left Charlotte and headed for Braselton, GA (just outside Atlanta) and stayed at another friend's house (Allen). He wraps racing cars for a living as well as all graphics for the PANOZ Automobile Company. I was given a tour around the facility and even sat in a few of their cars! Again, no pics but my buddy has a few that he'll send along soon..,

Friday: Left Braselton and drove to Sun City Center (south of Tampa, FL) to visit my mom. I'll be staying here until Monday where I'll continue on to Ft. Lauderdale and the Palm Beach area to catch up with more friends/family. BTW: Anyone driving through Vienna, GA MUST stop by Ellis Brothers Pecans, Inc. I've been going there for over 20 years, whenever in the area, and they are great!!

More to come in a couple few days...

Only in the South:




Waiting on the part:




Ellis Bros. Pecans:

[pfarah]

Bumflick,

I've got to be back in Mass by this coming weekend so I won't be able to make the fest... Maybe next year.

BTW:
Trip mileage thus far: 2056.
Drove through 11 states.
AC is still working great; it's pretty hot down here...