Mustang Travels


Hey Ralphie, while you are out there wandering around on Route 66, I wondered if you'd do a favor for a friend? You see, my girlfriend took off with one of my cars, and was last seen out there somewhere. Attached a photo so you would be able to pick her out in a crowd. Reward! :wink
 

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Last Saturday, Dr. Frank had invited me to attend the 6th Annual Shelby Car Show in Plano, Texas - He was going to be there with Silverbullitt, ByeEnzo and Chris McGregor. As it was only 15 miles from my hotel in Addison, I decided to join them. Lots of later model Mustangs, and some older ones too, a couple of Panteras, and 2 tungsten GTs. Temperature that day was around 95°.

https://www.legacytexas.com/campaig...medium=homepagehero&utm_campaign=shelbycrshoe

I chatted with Carroll Shelby's grandson a bit, as he was interested in my involvement with his grandfather. He had brought a few of the cars of the Shelby collection, including the 1949 MG-TC that Carroll had driven to his 1st race victory!

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Here are a couple of pictures from the car show (my Mustang hidden a bit in the 1st one)-

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At Noon, everyone fired up their engines for the "Rev Salute" to Carroll. As the show entered the afternoon, we all decided to go to lunch and wound up at Bone Daddy's restaurant. I swear, I have never seen shorter skirts on waitresses - guaranteed to get a Bone on any Daddy -

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Lunch was good too! Here's the group -

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Upon our return, I noticed a lot of coolant on the mat in front of the passenger seat. Apparently, when we "revved" the engines, my car had sprung a leak in either the heater core, or at the hose connections to it. As they are very difficult to get to (one has to drop out the heater to see), I drove to an O'Reilly's Auto Parts store and bought some heater hose and coolant. Then, when I got back to the hotel, I disconnected the heater lines from the intake manifold and the water pump, and connected the two together with a short loop of hose, bypassing the heater, as I didn't want it any problems on the long, hot drive back across the southwestern states.
 
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Then, on Sunday morning, I left my hotel at 6:10 am (CDT) and drove 1,271.9 miles in 17 hours and 47 minutes to El Centro, California, including 8 pit stops for fuel (Average of 71.52 mph). Leaving Dallas, it stayed cool for about 2½ hours (around 70-72°) before it started to heat up. Then, it just kept getting hotter & hotter! As the speed limit in Texas, New Mexico & Arizona is either 75 or 80 mph, it was easy to roll along at high speeds, as I was being passed by many cars traveling at 90 to 100 mph.

When I installed the new engine a year ago, I changed the thermostat from a 160° to a 180°, as I need more heat up here in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada. Here's a shot of the Temp gauge as I rolled along in 100°+ scorching weather -

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The temp stayed right at the normal position with no overheating. A couple of times, it moved up just below half-scale as I climbed some 6% grades at 90 mph.

As I reached Yuma, AZ, I saw an outside temperature gauge - 102° at ~9 pm. I arrived at El Centro and checked into my motel at 9:57 pm (PDT) and immediately jumped into the shower. It was a hot ride across the southwest for me with no AC, but the old Mustang just took it in stride!

I kept a lookout for Rex's old girlfriend, but alas, to no avail - Damn!
 
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That sounds like a fantastic trip, kind of a latter day Route 66 adventure. Surprised at your cooling efficiency given the mods, esp. when you remove the heater core from the cooling circuit. In my '95R, you need to turn the heater ON in a track day session just to keep the car within the mid part of heat range.

And Ralphie, not to worry. That wasn't my girlfriend, it is my sister. She's back at home now, safe and sound - and she will look you up at the Rally. ;-))
 
I forgot to mention that during my stay in Wichita Falls, Texas, I spent the late afternoon and evening with Ercie & Eddie Hill, our "FourFather." They have a beautiful ranch outside of Wichita Falls, and we spent lots of time chatting about cars & boats. We then went to a great Italian restaurant for dinner, and virtually closed the place as our conversation continued on.

Thanks, Ercie & Eddie, for a wonderful and memorable evening.
 
Good to hear you got some good Texas friendly hospitality while here in Texas. Making the Legacy Bank Shelby show had to be interesting. Carroll's Grandson, Aaron who I met for the first time at the Auction in Ft. worth last month is a great representative of the Shelby Family. Too bad you were so far from Texas City to see you but Texas is really Big. Looking forward seeing you in Detroit.
 
THamonGT said:
...but Texas is really Big.
Click to expand...

...but nowhere near as "BIG" as Alaska, Tomy! :rofl

'Wuv you, guy! :wink :lol
 
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Ralphie,

From Eddie FourFather Hill: Thanks so much for making time to visit. We both enjoyed your company and stories, and the tour of your original owner Mustang. The conversation and meal were great! The "doggie bag" fed both of us the next day.

From Ercie Baby Cakes Hill: Eddie made me put Baby Cakes in there ... Ralphie, we enjoyed our time together, seeing the Mustang, and enjoyed seeing pictures of your beautiful home in the mountains. How beautiful! You are blessed! Hope you had a good trip when you left Wichita Falls. Wish we could have provided a little cooler weather for you. Next time you're through our fair city, I'll give you a tour of the bucking bull herd. I know you'll be thrilled ... take care.
 
Amazing the friendship this Forum has offered. To share stories between Eddie Hill and Ralphie, Wow, thank You Dave Banister for making this Happen. Owning a Ford GT and being a member of this Forum is Wonderful, and you never know who will call you or show up on your back steps to visit. Ralphie you need to make a U.S. Tour someday and make it down to S E Texas, Sue was disappointed you didn't make it to our house. Eddie come on to Rally 10 in Detroit too. Ralphie we'll see you in Detroit for sure.
 
This was an awesome read Ralphie. Thanks for sharing it.

Vince H
 
Ralphie

You should drive down to Houston for our upcoming lunch later this month
 
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