Gumball
06-07-2015, 12:32 PM
After doing a few final punch-list items yesterday morning, I decided to take 7074 for a fairly long drive in the country. So far, all my rides have been in expanding concentric circles around the general vicinity of home - never venturing more than 20 miles or so from home-base and the safety of my shop and trailer. The odo was showing around 350 miles - which is a little light, given that I drove the go-kart around for quite a few miles before ever hooking up the gauges - so I decided that now was the time for a real run. So, once wrapping up a few finishing touches, including a nut-and-bolt check of the suspension, steering, and drive train, I headed out (not until putting a friend on stand-bay for rescue duty as insurance).
Living in northern Illinois, a little over an hour west of Chicago, the surrounding countryside is flat with long, straight country roads. I headed west until I was in Dixon on the Rock River. There are great roads on either side of the river in the valley, rolling through a state park, past the town of Oregon, and then right in front of Byron Drag Strip. After the first hour, which is longer than I'd been in the car for any stretch, I stopped at a gas station in a small farm town for a short stretch and something to drink. The car was an instant rock star and I really enjoyed talking to a few guys and their kids - suggested it'd make a great father/son project to one guy who really seemed interested. The same thing happened at every stop and by the time I hit the half-way point, I decided that I really like this car. All told, it was a 150 mile ride and a milestone that I will forever replay in my mind.
Oh, sure, it's as raw as the rumors, lore, and first-hand accounts of other owners have lead us to believe, but the FFR package is very well engineered and soaks up the miles with ease. My carb'd 347 and T5Z allowed me to cruise effortlessly at 60 mph all day, chugging along at 1600 rpm and getting around 16 mpg. All the gauges stayed on the right numbers and the post-trip inspection today showed nothing more than a bunch of new bug splats and a few new rock chips around the rear of the wheel wells.
Building the car was fun, but it's even more fun building memories and gaining patina. So, thanks to Dave and the crew at FFR for making this part of the dream come alive.
Living in northern Illinois, a little over an hour west of Chicago, the surrounding countryside is flat with long, straight country roads. I headed west until I was in Dixon on the Rock River. There are great roads on either side of the river in the valley, rolling through a state park, past the town of Oregon, and then right in front of Byron Drag Strip. After the first hour, which is longer than I'd been in the car for any stretch, I stopped at a gas station in a small farm town for a short stretch and something to drink. The car was an instant rock star and I really enjoyed talking to a few guys and their kids - suggested it'd make a great father/son project to one guy who really seemed interested. The same thing happened at every stop and by the time I hit the half-way point, I decided that I really like this car. All told, it was a 150 mile ride and a milestone that I will forever replay in my mind.
Oh, sure, it's as raw as the rumors, lore, and first-hand accounts of other owners have lead us to believe, but the FFR package is very well engineered and soaks up the miles with ease. My carb'd 347 and T5Z allowed me to cruise effortlessly at 60 mph all day, chugging along at 1600 rpm and getting around 16 mpg. All the gauges stayed on the right numbers and the post-trip inspection today showed nothing more than a bunch of new bug splats and a few new rock chips around the rear of the wheel wells.
Building the car was fun, but it's even more fun building memories and gaining patina. So, thanks to Dave and the crew at FFR for making this part of the dream come alive.