I took Erma Eagle out on a road trip last weekend. Destination: Leander TX. Reason: Attending a small gathering of Eagles and their owners. I loaded the ild girl up the night before with tools, a full size spare, and other assorted implements of destruction. I got up last Friday morning to hit the road, and found 3-4 inches of snow on the ground, and it was still coming down pretty good. This didn't worry me though, as the Eagle is totally awesome in the white stuff. The first noteworthy event on the trip occured about 1/2 mile from home. A suicidal bunny took the leap right in front of me. I'm not totally sure, but I think his name was "Thump-Thump" Ignoring this omen, I soldiered on to the gas station, and filled the tank before hitting the highway. Within 10 miles, I had shifted the car into 4WD and just poked along at 40 mph. I was one of the faster moving cars out there at that speed. A few jokers sped by at high speeds, but they were seen further down the road in either the ditch or the median. Some people see to think that 4WD=the ability to defy the laws of physics. Duh! I wound up staying in 4WD for a bit over 70 miles. The roads cleared up after leaving the interstate. My feet grew cold, and it became painful. I cursed AMC engineers for not ducting hot air to the floorboards. I was thinking of turning around as I didn't hink I could make it all the way to Leander with frostbittten feet. It was about then that I noticed that the vent lever was opened all the way. Duh! My feet didn't thaw until Lubbock, and when I had to stop for gas, I walked like a drunk because there was no feeling in my feet. Ultimately, the snow lasted for almost 300 miles before changing over to rain. I made the entire trip in one shot, 680 miles altogether. My worst tank of gas came to 13.3 mpg. That was the tank spent in 4WD. The rest of the way down, it was 15.5 mpg. I was running at 65-70 pretty consistently. I kept waiting for something to go wrong, but nothing ever did. I began to wonder how many consecutive hours my 23 year old wipers could go before giving up and becoming merely decorative? I got to Lubbock, and got on the loop in search o f my exit. I noticed a broken down red Chevy Blazer. About 30 minutes later, I saw another red Blazer broken down. I thought "Wow, sure is a bad day to own a red Chevy" and continued on. A while later, I saw yet another red Blazer on the side of the road. The light bulb finally went on. It was then that I snapped to the term "Loop" as it pertains to a highway. A big 30 mile circle. And I was driving around it. So I'd run past my exit twice, and added about an hour to my trip as well as about 60 miles. Duh! Finally got to Leander at about 8:30. 13 hours of driving time. The weather was crappy, and only 5 of us showed up instead of the expected 12 or so. We had a lot of fun anyways. I got a prize for Longest Distance Driven. I got a T-5 five speed transmission out of an '82 Eagle. I hate automatics, and have been wanting to put a stick shift into my car sice I got it, now I can. It's pretty straightforward, just need to get the rest of the pieces. We also tinkered with the carburetor, and found that the flapper valve in the air cleaner snorkel was jammed completely shut. This would explain why it's been running so freakin' rich all the time. I left on Sunday afternoon, and drove til about 8:00pm and stooped in Post Texas for the night. There were many small towns that I passed through. It was kind of like going through Radiator Springs in the movie "Cars" over and over. All these really cool little towns that were faded and past their prime. Even found an old Sinclair gas station in Snyder, Texas that was in very good condition, right down to the Tokheim gas pumps showing 29 cents a gallon on them. Lots of old cars, tractors, trucks and even trains everywhere I looked. When I got home on Monday, I had racked up 1450 miles, burned 90 gallons of dead dinosaurs, used 1 quart of oil, and sent 1 bunny to meet his maker On the way home, my mpg went up to 18 mpg. Again I ran at a very steady 65-70 mph, as well as the added weight of the extra transmission as well as the transfer case in the back. I imagine that without the weight of those, plus the tools, cooler, full size spare, etc combined with the slower speeds I do on my morning commute, I should be close to the 24 mpg I used to get. Once the 5 speed goes in the overdrive should knock that up a bit higher as well. Not to mention being more fun to drive. I've posted some pictures here from the trip. Enjoy!! CaptCarl
I drove through Texas on the way to LA (forEVERRR). I, too, noticed and enjoyed many old towns. It was like going back in time.
That's a great little gas station.They don't make "them" like they used to,either...Have considered getting one of those Eagles,every now and again,but the wife really doesn't like them.I'm sure they're good cars and great fun to cruise around in,but you're not going to see me doing that...The wife DOES like our 86 Colony Park,though.And mid-50's Chevy wagons.She wants one like Jill's,on Tool Time.
