It wasn’t supposed to go this way. All the planning and effort had almost paid off. Yet, after 1,000 miles in three days and only about 95 miles from home, trouble struck.
This was throwing a wet blanket on the fires of fun. If pressed into identifying a silver lining in this cloud, it would be having time to take forlorn looking pictures before the wrecker arrived.
In Part 1, I opined that anyone who drives their old car on such a journey is either adventuresome or masochistic. In an effort to swing the pendulum toward the adventuresome end of the spectrum, I had planned this trip to the umpteenth degree. In the trunk was a spare distributor, fuel filter, and coil along with oodles of tools. Obviously I hadn’t planned everything; I didn’t have a spare water pump.
Haven’t I had water pump troubles before?
Taking a road trip in a car unencumbered with a radio and air-conditioning – items sometimes seemingly viewed as being of equal importance to oxygen – has become an esoteric experience these days. One can easily drive while listening to the wonderful mechanical symphony that is your engine, partaking of the abundant sounds of nature, and removing yourself from all demands beyond the chore of driving.
Being free of the clutter was truly addictive.
Don’t think this rose of travel is free of thorns. While the air vents and wing windows on the Galaxie provide ample cool air, it only does so to about 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Beyond that, rolling down the window is recommended; doing so introduces you to the loudness of passing cars and trucks.
Suntan lotion is recommended for those of fairer complexion. Despite this Galaxie having been equipped with the $21.80 option of tinted glass so long ago, the trip down resulted in a moderate crimson hue upon my face and arms. The return trip, with my lotion soaked left arm resting over the window channel, yielded an arm that is now several shades darker than my right.
The desirability of the tinted glass will never eliminate the glare from the various chrome plated surfaces of the interior and wiper blades. Like ones interaction with an aging loved one, you accept their shortcomings and appreciate their talents all the more.
Talents come in many forms. Early on in my preparations, I knew the drivers seat could be an issue. Time and deterioration had set in such that the seat foam had disintegrated and I was ripping the vinyl getting in and out. The seat simply wasn’t inviting for longer duration voyages.
Half a sack of poly-fill and a tasteful seat cover remedied the discomfort so well I had to significantly adjust the seat. My low rent upholstery work was a smart move. After ten hours of driving in one day, I was full of energy upon arriving in Tupelo. Even the seat back, at a height deemed woefully unacceptable by current safety standards, was able to provide a euphoric feeling when resting my arm upon its top. Grasping a large diameter steering wheel is enjoyable, but ones arm does need a break. These seats are fantastic.
Sometimes talents can be well cloaked. Many uninformed persons might think this old Galaxie has fuel economy measured in gallons per mile. This perception could not be further from reality. Up until the time the lead picture was taken, I had purchased fuel four times with quantities of up to about twelve gallons for the Galaxie’s twenty gallon tank. My fuel economy ranged from a low of 15.5 mpg for my stressful blast through Arkansas to a high of 20.9 mpg for the entirely two-lane first leg of my trip. Several other FE Series engine owners I talked to in Tupelo weren’t surprised with this economy. I had adjusted the timing prior to my departure and the carburetor was overhauled about 18 months ago. Keep your foot out of it and it’ll pay you dividends.
A calculated engine speed of 2,100 rpm at 70 mph is certainly a help. As a cohort said, overdrive rocks.
Overdrive isn’t the only thing that rocks. Going to see the country always rocks, as does finding those interesting little slices of life such as the population center of the United States.
A road that was under six feet of water two years ago.
Stonehenge….in Missouri. With engineering students having been the craftsmen, it’s a surprise it wasn’t made from concrete.
Homes in the beautiful and historic town of Corinth, Mississippi.
Even the famous Bloody Pond from the Battle of Shiloh.
Traveling alone and without electronic detritus allows opportunity for introspection and review of ones choices in life. With great hesitation I present to you Cairo (pronounced Care-Oh), Illinois, the county seat for the county where I grew up. It’s far from what it used to be. I haven’t been here in at least fifteen years.
Cairo has a distinct literary connection. Charles Dickens visited Cairo in 1842, calling it a disease infested backwater and would be the basis for Eden in his novel Martin Chuzzlewit; Cairo was also the intended destination for Jim and Huckleberry Finn in Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn. Perhaps Dickens’ words were overly harsh, but Cairo is a study of opportunity lost. Sitting at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, Cairo has river, rail, and interstate access yet nobody is looking at this area for any type of commercial endeavor despite its prime location.
Maybe Cairo is opportunity squandered. There is the decades old rumor either Ford or GM wanted to build a factory here just after World War II but the locals would have nothing of it. There have been repercussions of sorts as Cairo had a population of over 15,000 in 1920; when I graduated high school in 1990 it had a population of 4,800 that dwindled to 2,600 by 2013.
The reasons for its decline are many and sordid. This building once housed the third busiest post office in the United States. Times certainly change.
Yet here Cairo is in all it’s unsavory decay, with this glum looking theatre….
Sitting next door to the Chamber of Commerce. Traveling broadens ones mind and adjusts perspectives. Growing up twenty miles away I never frequented Cairo, yet it is indicative of much of Alexander County – how many other counties have had their patrol cars repossessed? I moved away in 1992 and the Galaxie left here in 1994; this was its first time back. Neither of us was happy to see what’s happened.
Life often reflects what you make of it.
Grandpa “Albert”, age 91
All this meandering leads me back to what I made of the situation with my exceedingly annoying water pump. Having left my grandparent’s house south of Scott City, Missouri, bright and early, I opted to forego the scenic route for the interstate. Calling Mrs. Jason upon my impending departure, I told her my little internal voice was telling me to stay where there was phone reception.
Making it to St. Louis, I marveled at how well the old Ford was running. I jinxed myself; a mere half-hour later, on I-64 west of the Missouri River, the unmistakeable smell of engine coolant suddenly emerged. It was quickly accompanied by an engine with an elevated temperature and a high pitched whine. Hitting a thankfully close exit ramp, I engaged the clutch and shut off the engine. Upon stopping, steam wafted from the wheel well and from under the hood. It wasn’t much, but enough to know it was time to re-evaluate my game plan.
My collector car insurance had offered me roadside service with fifty miles of free towing and prorated it for the remainder of my term. It was $8. My first call was to Mrs. Jason’s parents, who were twenty-six miles away. They were home and had a car I could borrow. If this mechanical foible was going to happen, it couldn’t have been at a more opportune place.
When loading the Galaxie onto the rollback, coolant was dripping heavily from the bottom of the water pump. I had a good time talking to the operator, but as I told him, I had not intended to meet him.
I did learn his truck has 420,000 miles and is motivated by an untouched General Motors built 8.1 liter gasoline fueled V8.
Upon unloading the Galaxie at my in-laws house, I moved it to a better spot. It ran just fine doing so, indicating to me any engine damage is doubtful.
I had not intended for my return trip to be in my father-in-law’s 1992 Chrysler LeBaron. I showered it with attention in it’s own CC (here) sometime ago. It is powered by a 3.0 liter Mitsubishi V6 mated to one of Chrysler’s Ultradrive automatics. Other than having some rather narrow tires, the car is a blast to cruise in.
Call me lucky. And call this saga unfinished.
Enhancement by TK
I just completed a one day, +1300 mile trip (albeit in a 2006 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited). Oddly the vehicle runs better after – engine, transmission and all the (considerable) driveline components spinning much smoother, with less vibration.
Fix up that water pump and replace the belts for good measure and that Galaxie will be all the better for the mileage. And Gorilla Tape is great for temporary vinyl repairs.
And, ironically enough, I had the misfortune of filling up in Cairo, IL – getting off of I55 and heading into the city, it gives the impression of a slice of South Chicago ghetto deposited into the middle of an expanse of farmland.
Gas is also nearly $0.20/gallon more expensive in IL than MO.
I was also needing fuel in Cairo and did not stop.
Drop a 427 in her and she will be fine 🙂 That said, FE’s are wonderful, reliable engines. Do not beat yourself up, water pump failures happen on all engines at some point. I just did one on my 302 in my ’83 Ranger last summer.
It’s interesting to see how much bigger the trunks were on those old cars compared to modern cars. Did anyone actually use all that space?
On this car,it’s not the amount of space but how it is allocated. The trunk is very, very shallow. Case in point – I had my little Igloo cooler that hold about 2.5 gallons so it’s not very tall. With it located near the front of the trunk, in the deeper part toward the axle, the trunk would not close with the handle up. It’s not that tall but it is for how the trunk is proportioned.
EXactly. My ’73 Galaxe had that huge trunk, but I couldn’t store my ex wife’s folding wheelchair in it unless I put the spare on the floor and put the chair up high where the tire went. Groceries and whatever were usually packed around where they would fit.
My Cougar is the same way, shallow and long with a large opening. Tall items have to go in the back seat or I have to use bungee cords at last resort. Newer cars have super deep trunks but at the severe expense of rear visibility(and aesthetics) and the openings are often miniscule, literally putting a square into a circle for some things.
Does it at least have a good spot for the spare? Chrysler put that up in the space above the axle & below the package shelf. However on the convertibles that space is the top well and motor, so the tire just sits flat on the floor in one corner, taking up about a third of the floorspace.
That is exactly where the spare sits. It’s even sloping toward the rear seat, making extraction the spare somewhat easier.
I love this! You meet all sorts of interesting people when driving an older car.
Driving my 79 Malibu from Fairfax VA to Nashville TN was an adventure. This was in 1996 so it was the same age as the Buick I got rid of recently. The Malibu felt so much older.
The Buick and I went to Wytheville, VA a few years ago. The lack of AC and cupholders made it lightly challenging. It also hated climbing hills and 81 is damn hilly down there. I had to use the climbing lanes with the big rigs.
Thanks for the 2nd part. Stupid question maybe (no critique, I am genuinely interested) but is finding a water pump in one of the usual auto stores where your inlaws live is impossible? Maybe I’m showing my age but to me FEs are not that old or obscure (like, say a Studebaker engine), I#d have thought people still had those on the shelf?
It’s a great question and one that crossed my mind two years ago when the (now failed) pump was purchased. It’s also the basis for when/if I do Part 3 of this ridiculous ordeal.
The shop that had the engine overhauled went round and round finding a water pump with the correct length shaft as they kept getting pumps in which the shaft was too short. Okay, so I ordered a new pump from a guy in Florida that specializes in parts for ’63 and ’64 Galaxies. My thought was he is known as a walking encyclopedia on these cars so my odds were better. So the pump comes in and I make the trip to install it. I replace the old pump with the new one, I’m twenty minutes away from being done, I go to put the pulley on the car, and the pulley hits the engine block before reaching the shaft.
Come to find out the just failed pump was an incorrect pump as was the pulley, and fan blades. The vendor told me the pump and pulley are for a ’65 and up 352 and my six blade fan is from a 406 or 427. So while I am sitting here, I am seeking a correct pulley. To make it juicier, my shop manual on CD is missing in action so I need to make an educated guess on what I purchase.
The AutoZone near my in-laws house could get the pump next day. The shop that revitalized the car, I have since determined, was looking more to replace parts in kind rather than determine if it was the right part for the car.
I’ve decided to put it back as it should be with the pulley being the hold-out. In another two years I don’t care to repeat this ordeal! 🙂
Stuff like this is a downside to the easy-to-wrench, Shade Tree Mechanic nature of these vintage cars – the make-it-fit quality of many of the (decades old) repairs.
That’s a real danger to vintage (CJ and earlier) Jeeps.
Even though it wouldn’t be accurate, why not just put another of the same incorrect pump back in if it works just as well and is easier to source? If you get stranded again somewhere less convenient, you’ll have a much easier time repairing it and be on your way again.
From what I can tell, both pumps are about equally easy to source.
The correct pump with the shorter shaft should ultimately make it easier to replace in the future. Taking the just failed pump off was pilly as the fan was nearly touching the radiator and removal of the fan blades was tricky as I was reluctant to also remove the radiator. The correct pump should make it easier since the shaft is about 1.5″ shorter, allowing more room to work. All other components and connections will be the same.
I see. I concur with your decision to find the correct pump then.
Having the fan further forward is also bad if you have a fan shroud on your rad. Presumably the stock fan location was properly centered in the shroud, where it works best. If the fan is too close to the rad, you may also be asking for trouble if a motor mount breaks too.
Jason,
Thanks for the explanation. It makes sense in light of not wanting to use the wrong pump. From your account of the trip, I can actually not see any reason why someone could not use such a car as an everyday vehicle (in the US, that is. Here in Europe 20 MPG would still kill the budget… It only makes sense at 30, which maybe a Falcon or a Valiant with the six may attain if you don’t mind travelling at the pace of a speeding snail). One may want to fit disc brakes and seat belts/collapsible steering column but that’s it.
How ironic the columns on the house in Corinth aren’t Corinthian columns…
Love these road trip articles! Very interesting to see/read about Cairo!
I know that feeling of “wow it’s running great, I knew it could handle this 1200 mile trip…oh…OH damnit” all too well.
There have been a number of towtruck rides and motel stays in unexpected destinations, or afternoons wasted in a diner across from a service station, waiting for ignition modules and such.
But for all that, I will keep on risking it.
Bummer. I presume that you have now purchased 2 water pumps? One for the engine now, and another in the trunk for later. I have been left stranded in an old car only once, and it was also due to a cooling system. But that one was mostly me not understanding how overtaxed the system was on the 29 Model A I had just bought. I tried to drive it 100 miles home. I made about 40 under its own power.
My 59 Fury lacked a radio, and truthfully, I never missed it. There is something soothing about listening to the mechanical symphony that an older car performs. You really get to know your car that way.
Correct. A new, now failed pump nearly two years ago and the one currently on the car. I’ll be purchasing another to accompany the distributor, fuel filter, and coil that is in my insurance collection.
Before the pump crapped out, I could tell you my speed simply by listening to the car. The trip from my cousin’s to my grandparent’s house was in the dark and my dashboard lights don’t work. I could tell I was cruising along at 60 on two-lane roads and 65 to 70 on the interstate simply by listening to the engine and knowing when some rattles started to make themselves known.
You might want to source a correct carburetor and rebuild it at your leisure and store it. They’re getting scarce.
adding that – from my experience – pumps (and other things) tend to fail after long periods of not being used (I can’t remember how long the car was parked since your last trip). That’s why I used to make sure to take my cars on a good run once every two weeks at least. But you probably are aware of that.
It’s only parked during the winter. Otherwise, it’s about one every week to ten days it goes somewhere. However, right now it’s been sitting since May 4 – for obvious reasons!
Ah family. They can be annoying sometimes but they come through when it counts. Nice account of the trip, looking forward to the triumphant final chapter.
Rather depressing shots of Cairo, I always look at buildings like that and think “At some point someone was optimistic enough about the future to construct that, now nobody is optimistic enough to occupy it.”
Cairo is depressing to the point of making me mad. So much opportunity lost for various reasons.
I suspect you have likely heard some small amount about it from your time in Sikeston. They are only about 25 miles apart along I-57.
Oh, it’s there. I’ve driven over that bridge but not been to Cairo. Don’t recall hearing anything about it.
Those trips impressed on me how big a state Illinois is, and how far some of the plant guys commuted to get to a decent job.
Well, once upon a time there was reason to be optimistic about building thousands of small towns all over the midwest, what with the average farm being 40 acres, and cars not yet invented. The average rural population density peaked in 1890, and has been dropping ever since, given the invention of mechanized farm equipment and cars.
There were a lots of ghost towns in Iowa when I lived there in the 70s; although most of them were very small with just a few wood buildings left. But they all got bulldozed over eventually, as the farmland they were sitting under was too valuable.
Of course, Cairo may had had other economic activities other than supporting the local farms. But we know how all of that changed too…..
Not sure what’s more depressing: a big town in seemingly-terminal decline, or a once-little town that’s turned into a commuter suburb full of McMansions. Either way, the atmosphere is gone, and all you have left are memories of how it used to be.
Good story. I enjoyed the trip to Cairo, as it made me think of places I’ve known that I’d like to see again…and others that I’m determined to leave undisturbed.
We had a water pump failure in a ’71 Catalina in 1995, in Rawlins, WY. Wasn’t hard to replace at all. Funny how being just a few years newer can make parts hunting that much easier.
GM parts are orders of magnitude easier to find than any other makes. It was the one big Ace in the Hole they always had going as far as long term ownership.
This is actually one reason why I buy old GM. I love the big Chrysler and Ford cars but am always afraid to pull the trigger because parts might be hard to come by. I’ve been stranded literally in the middle of nowhere and the local parts place nearly always has whatever I need.
Note: availability of parts, however, does not necessarily mean those parts will be good, particularly some of the remanufactured stuff.
This kind of story is one of the main reasons I like CC. Automotive pursuits are often lonely affairs, and sharing the feeling bonds us all. Great job, Jason.
I really enjoy this series. We must be in a parallel universe. I have the 67 Chevelle wagon I took my drivers license test in 30 years ago. It was my dad’s work car until the early 90s and I adopted it when he retired it. In the mid 80s line he added an OD (American Eagle brand) to the TH350. OD does rock!
It’s my favorite car to drive even without AC.
I’m pale. Despite growing up in the CA desert and living in TX now, my genetics only allow 2 colors on my skin – blinding white and scorched red with nothing in between.
All road trips include pants not shorts and long sleeve shirts regardless of weather or AC status in the car.
Looks like you had a fun drive. Except for the water pump trouble it shows that road trips in a vintage car is possible. It’s a good thing you had collector car insurance, one that provided a truck to carry it back to where you wanted to go. I hope this isn’t the end of the story for the Galaxie.
I remember those days when trouble-free roadtrips were not a sure thing. Well, at least not in the cars I was driving through high school and college.
Great story, although if I were anywhere near that car I don’t know if I could resist the urge to take some rubbing compound and a buffing wheel to it!
Aw, bummer! It’s not all roses owning and driving a classic but its always educational, character building, and in the long run rewarding. Looking forward to part 3.
Funny also about Americanized pronunciations. Growing up in the mid-west, I can think of many last names and towns that were literally French words but were pronounced phonetically. I suppose on the east coast Doucet might have been pronounced Doo-say but not where I grew up.
Yep… Versailles down near Dayton is indeed pronounced Ver-Sales 😀 . Italian names get butchered too 🙂 ! There is a Milan in Huron County, OH, but it’s pronounced “MY-lin”, not “mee-LAHN”.
And around here both Calais, Maine and Calais, Vermont are pronounced “callous”. It’s all the more surprising given both town’s relative proximity to Quebec and the sizable French-Canadian populations in both states.
So were the Caddy and Olds models sold there pronounced “callous” too?
HA! No, Pete.
Nevada pronounced Nuh-vay-duh. Vienna pronounced Vi-Anna. Dekalb pronounced Dee-cab.
It’s always entertaining to see.
How about Iowa (Io-WAY), Louisiana, or one a bit up the road from here, Gillespie, Illinois – pronounced “Glisspie”. If you pronounce it like the Rod Steiger/Carroll O’Connor character from In the Heat of the Night they know you’re not from Macoupin County!
SoCal is not immune to odd pronunciations. The most common is San Peedro rather than San Pay-dro (San Pedro). Mayor Yorty was famous for pronouncing his city, Los Angle-Ess.
I’m glad I’m not alone in this kind of endeavor, earlier this year I drove my Studebaker through the deep South in a 4,000 (mostly trouble free) mile round trip to Texas. The only problem turned out to be a failed exhaust pipe clamp, which was fixed in less than 15 minutes by a very helpful roadside garage.
Like the Galaxie featured above, overdrive really does make a difference, nearly every fuel tank recorded over 20 miles per gallon– and there’s plenty of passing power to be had too. The Studebaker V8 is a good engine.
I find it frustrating that water pumps for older American cars fail so quickly. I had to replace mine on my truck quite some years ago, and on the Chinook too. Modern pumps last 150-300k miles easily. Why doesn’t someone make pumps for older cars with the same bearings/seals that are used in newer pumps.
I have become very suspicious of cheap rebuilt pumps, as sold by the chains. If I ever need a new one, I’m going to make a point to research to find who makes the best pumps. It’s certainly worth a bit more money.
Could it be that by the time it’s installed it’s been sitting on a shelf for 10 years with the seals hardening?
I suspect it could be. When I pulled it off the shaft was tight but the inner seal appeared to have been wet.
No. They use to fail that often even back in the day. The manufacturing tolerances on domestic parts back then were horrible. It was a miracle if you even made it to 100K miles on the original water pump.
One of my first “Dad, let me fix the car, I know I can do it” repairs was on our 1971 LTD, when its water pump failed at around 80K miles or so. We were stuck at the grandparents’ house on a Saturday night, so we drove over to the Sunbirds (one of those local soup-to-nuts awesome shopping centers that had a staffed auto parts counter inside the store – imagine that today), picked up a rebuilt pump, gasket, coolant, and tube of Permatex #2. Three hours later, we had a running car again and could then drive home.
That was the first time I experienced the pleasure of using a long-handle, flex-head, fine-tooth 3/8″ ratchet (my grandfather’s) which was invaluable in getting the fan bolts off, and I bought myself one shortly thereafter. My $88 basic Craftsman tool set came with the standard fixed-head short-handled ratchet that to this day I don’t even use (it’s either the long-handled flex head or a stubby flex head).
I’ll have to write up my cross-country trip in my 1969 Cadillac ambulance, with my dad driving the 1971 LTD chase car. Lots of breakdown stories to tell!
Flex-heads definitely do rock.
In our taxi fleet of B bodies, a water pump was good for about 100k km. It didn’t matter if you bought OEM or the cheapest one at Crappy Tire.
I’m not sure it’s simply a matter of better materials or closer tolerances-
The failure rate of the older pumps could also reflect the architecture of the engine. RWD engines did not call for a compact accessory drive system, so pump shaft length tended to be longer. This would promote shaft “whip” and other stresses which could take out the bearings. Manufacturers also used fairly high belt temsion, to prevent v-belt squeal.
Nowadays, water pumps are driven using serpentine belts or a cogged camshaft drive belt, which leads to shorter pump shafts. This better lines up the drive force with the bearing centerline, which should impove bearing life. In addition, both serpentine belts and cam drive belts use spring loaded tensioners, which helps prevent over tensioning.
No it is exactly the opposite, the older pumps for RWD vehicles allowed for greater distance between the bearings reducing the stress on them vs closely spaced bearings in the shorter water pump. Also that long water pump usually was accompanied by a dished pulley that effectively placed the load between the bearings. While the short FEADs used today typically have flat pulleys that put a cantilevered load on the bearings and shaft.
Also the more common failure is the seal and not the bearings. I’ve replaced tons of water pumps that had perfectly serviceable bearings but were leaking. On the other hand I have seen a couple of cases where the bearings were beyond shot but the pump did not leak.
Now that I know exactly what is on it, I’m giving serious thought to purchasing a spare. One of the aftermarket companies has new, higher flow pumps that tempt me. The one that failed had all of 2000 miles of use on it, so it wasn’t on my radar for failure. A generator from 1959? Yes. The original distributor? Yes. Original u-joints? Yes, and checked prior to departure. But a nearly new water pump? The odds seemed to be against it.
Definitely get a 100% new water pump, do not instal a reman water pump under any circumstances. The reman pump will fail in two years or less, even with only 2000 miles on it.
Looks like you need an AW723, http://www.showmetheparts.com/airtexwp/ my preference for Airtex comes from installing them and only them for 20 ish years. Of course you never know when a company will start outsourcing or cutting costs in this day and age so it is with the caveat that they box does not say made in China. Even still I cant say I’m 100% confident in them as I used to be.
The last time I installed a reman pump was more that 2 decades ago and that one failed on the customer in less than 3 months. Ever since I have never even discussed a reman pump with a customer, I just quote them the price for a new one.
I would strongly suspect you were sold a pump that sat on the shelf for a decade or 2. The seal will dry out and harden over time on the shelf. I have one in the garage for a VW but I’ll never use it, it’s close to 20 years old now. On my old ’70 C10 307 V8 the original water pump was changed in 1986 at about 90k miles, but only because the timing chain and gears needed replacement so it made no sense to put the old pump back on. I remember paying about 3 times as much for a new (life time guarantee) water pump, but 20 years and 75k miles later it never failed when I sold it in 2006. I did go through 3 (life time guarantee) alternator replacements in a year, luckily one bolt and in ten minutes it was simple to change out. Finally after complaining they gave me a new one around 1987 that lasted until I sold the truck 19 years later. 3 starters including original, only paid for second, it was lifetime also. Went through 3 replacement clutches, also lifetime warranty, Every time they failed the disc lining flew off in chunks. Pulling 29 to 32 ft trailers loaded with a lot of stuff was hard on them, but lucky for me I always got to my destination. Overdrive is a beautiful thing, probably good for 4-5 MPG hwy on your Ford. At 65 MPH the tach reads 1650 RPM on the Titan, I like 20 MPG hwy a lot better than the 12 MPG HWY the old Chevy gave me. (More like 7-8 MPG hwy when the Chevy was towing those heavy trailers!)
Its that you are buying reman water pumps and they are crap whether they are for an old American car or what ever they are very low quality. I purchased one of my Scouts from the original owner and it contained a file for everything ever done to the vehicle including taking it to the local service station to have it undercoated 2 or 3 days after he took delivery. The original water pump made it to over 100K before the first reman water pump was installed. After that it got another reman water pump every 1 or 2 years after that. Not all that long after I purchased it the pump that was on it failed. I purchased a new not reman Airtex pump for only about $10 more than a reman. It has been on the truck for 16 years now. No I don’t put that many miles on it but neither did the original owner for the last decade or more that he owned it.
So get an Airtex new water pump when it need one. Just say no to reman water pumps. I also do not recommend GMB pumps even though they are new. I’ve seen many of those fail in a year or two. In fact I had a friend who had purchased a new GMB because the chain gave a lifetime warranty on it. He replaced it every year or so. I finally convienced him to throw away the warranty and put an Airtex unit on it. It lasted until he sold the car 10 or so years later and it was his daily driver and it racked up 150k.
Note many modern water pumps only last 60-90K because the norm has become to replace them with the timing belt whether they need it or not or as part of a 100K service. Now in some cases it does make sense since the water pump is driven off of the timing belt but in other cases it is done to make the customers wallet thinner and to keep the reputation of the vehicle up. Honda dealers were some of the first to insist that the water pump replacement at 60K with the belt was “normal maintenance” even though the pumps on that era Honda could be replaced in 30 minutes w/o touching the timing belt.
Wow Great trip. Too bad about the water pump. We went to Cairo a few years ago. Very sad indeed. Its on the point bypassed by the new road and the grain silos were abandonded when new ones were built 20 miles away. ( why do we do that to ourselves?) The park at the point is impressive. You can stand on the gravel beach with your feet inches from the water. The Ohio is ten feet to your left and the Mississippi is ten feet to your right. Feels awesome. The rest is just depressing.
Thanx for the update ~ it’s fascinating , I too like long road trips in old vehicles .
Cairo looks sad , with the shipping confluence you’d think some sort of plant could be operated there…
IIRC , that Ford’s water pump is the one that the Dealer Mechanics always swapped out in 5 minutes not bothering to change the bypass hose so it’d blow in Summer leading us Independent / Gas Station Mechanics a nasty job on a hot day…
Always one or two of those every month it seemed .
-Nate
From the strange, but true, file. When I was a kid, my sister had a 1963 Galaxie 500 convertible. Her boyfriend owned a 1962 Galaxie. Her ignition key would start both vehicles. Her boyfriend’s key would not. As a 10 year old, I was amazed.
“In Part 1, I opined that anyone who drives their old car on such a journey is either adventuresome or masochistic.”
I’d say more of a gambler than anything else. OTOH, taking a 440 mile road trip in an original equipment, 352 V8, manual transmission, 1963 Ford Galaxie doesn’t sound like such a bad bet. Really, for a long trip in an old car, cars from the sixties are probably about as safe as it’s going to get (at least from a maintenance perspective). It was before all of the emission and electronic controls made any kind of repair dicey and complicated, so all the mechanical systems are pretty straight forward and, by now, all of the common maladies of cars from the era are well-known and most can be prepared for.
I’ve really enjoyed your trip. Water pumps seem to be the bane of old cars pressed into modern service.
When I used a ’72 Pontiac as a daily driver during its 15th through 21st years on this earth, I made several long road trips. A ski trip from Omaha to Colorado went flawlessly, and the water pump was peeing in my driveway the next morning after I got home.
My daughter has been giving our 13 year old Durango a work out, and it just blew its water pump – on an expressway overpass during rush hour. Of ordinary travels, old water pumps can make adventure.
I love the Galaxie and all Jason and was bummed to hear it broke down but WOW a 1992 Chrysler LeBaron! Talk about light at the end of the tunnel, that’s a fine looking car.
You’ll be seeing the LeBaron again. Stay tuned.
Jason, this has been a great series of articles. It’s long been a dream (or maybe a delusion) of mine to take a long road trip in a vintage car, so it’s been great reading about your journey.
I visited Cairo for the first time just last year, and the squalor shocked me, even though I consider myself somewhat accustomed to places that are down on their luck. I’m sure it’s tougher for you to witness Cairo’s decay, having known the city in somewhat better times. It’s not hard to imagine Cairo being revitalized someday – the architecture and river-town ambiance are still alluring, but with every passing year, that goal probably gets harder and harder.
Thanks again for the excellent travelogue. Travelling 99% of the way without a mechanical problems certainly counts as a victory.
A great series of articles, Jason. I look forward to part three.
The longest voyage I’ve done in my first series 1949 Dodge is a 200 mile round trip back and forth to a car show in a single day. It was a trouble free drive through western New England mountain country, the kicker being the return trip which was done in 90°+F afternoon temperatures. The old bus performed flawlessly with the exception of one very long, steep grade, where the coolant temp approached the boiling point, but never quite reached it. As a precaution, I resorted to the old trick cranking the heater up to dissipate some of the heat. Even so, by the time we reached the top of the hill, both the old bus and myself were ready to take a break. A conveniently located creemee stand was just the ticket for both of us. I parked in the shade and opened the hood to let it cool off while I enjoyed some ice cold lemonade.
BTW, my water pump has a grease fitting on it that I attend to every 1,000 miles and I’ve heard the asymmetrical pigmentation of your upper extremities referred to as a “trucker’s tan.” 😉
+1 thank you Jason
The joys of classic motoring,Ive done just under 1000 miles in my Minx recently as it became first line transport due to Citroen issues since solved but I like driving the old car.
I’m sorry the trip ended like that, but I’m sure the Galaxy really wanted to make it home for you. Loved the series, thanks for compiling it.
And yes, you do meet interesting characters when the classic says “enough!”…the last cry for help was met by a super nice Afghan guy who was actually a radiologist but was now saving to buy the truck. He sure had some stories which he shared on the hour long trip to the mechanic’s forecourt
And the one before:
This is “Towing Dave” who’s programmed into my phone. Dead air suspension? No problem. No pickup point with and IRS? Again, no problem.
And the time before…even though the car was to be restrained by tie down straps around the tyres this truck driver decided to pull the body down on the winch when it had reached to top. And as the towing eye was pulled from the body with a chunk of the LH well I came to question the workmanship of a previous repair.
My wife says she’s sensed a pattern with these events and has offered some wild suggestions to change it for good. I say it’s only coincidence, don’t be superstitious. By any reasoning, Mrs Jason, you’ve got off lightly. Long live the Galaxie!
I’ll stop now, but that’s not the total by any stretch…
You need a Renntransporter in your collection.
Hah! That’s not what Lady Benz says. “Less is more” is the essence of the remarks but this fails to accurately convey the nuance.
And did you know that one has actually been built locally? Unfortunately the builder, an elderly Dutchman, died last year. I never saw it finished.
Maybe you should just DRIVE a Renntransporter instead…:-)
There’s lots of things I must do but I’d give that a go! I could set forth hunting classics, dragging them back to my lair…but I’d need to get a lair first. And I’d never be able to park it behind the office.
Thank you. The old girl just keeps rebounding and that certainly has a lot of appeal.
I am truly sorry you have experienced so many rollbacks.
Don’t worry, it comes with the territory… I’ve just gone and checked some numbers – the 280 S has travelled 29,010 miles since 25 Oct 2011. And I’d driven it home from Adelaide before that. The 450 has given us approximately 64,000 km needing just one tow – when the only flexible line in the suspension circuit failed and I found out that yes, that particular warning light does work. The 300 SE, meanwhile…augggh, that’s a saga for another time.
We have the most beautiful day today – I think I need to get out and drive something old!
I’m the same age as your Galaxie, and I’ve quite enjoyed reading about your travels with it. 1963 was a good year for cars, and there’s more good stories in that car waiting to be told. Keep it up.
Your prose puts me right into the story. Living in Adelaide and Sydney meant the annual 800+ km trip to Melbourne each Christmas, and all my cars being more than twenty years old at the time meant that apprehensive tight sphincter for the first hour of the journey, after which I’d relax. Only got caught out twice along these lines luckily. That low angle on the hood-up shot of the Galaxie just emphasises its fine lines.
Darn, your story REALLY makes me want to take a trip somewhere. Hopefully without a breakdown but the bright side is the next time you go somewhere that’s one less part to fail (probably). Great series of stories, sounds like lots of fun!
It’s been a lot of fun. It’s also been a huge pain the butt, but it’s still fun. And, I’m taking the water pump thing as being a blessing in disguise. Things do happen for a reason, however weird, obscure, and senseless at the time.
Weirdly, I’m thinking of another trip – after I finally get it back home. I just found a likely pulley a few hours ago and ordered it. Hopefully Part 3 will be less of a downer.
Sorry to hear about your water pump problems. Things happen but you kept a good attitude and made the best of it. Back when I was in the Riviera Owners Association there was an article that warned that many owners would experience overheating after replacement with a rebuilt water pump. This was common problem and one member dis- assembled a unit and found the the impeller had been turned down to a smaller diameter due to corrosion.This resulted in a loss of pressure and was causing cavitation, air pockets in the water jackets. The quality of the bearings and seals could also be suspect. The belt tension is very important and must be set properly, Another great chapter in your saga. I think that the O/D really lowers the rpms which helps the mileage very impressive! Back when the 55 speed limit was enacted the plan to have the current and older cars operating at speed that would maximize their mileage. Once cars started coming out with multi speed and built in o/d transmissions then they could achieve better mileage at 65 mph or more. I have a copy of a 1962 Science and Mechanics Car Repair Handbook. It has a roadtest of a 1962 Ford Fairlane two door with a 170 cid six and 3 speed manual trans. Rear axle ratio of 3.50:1. The fuel economy ranges that were recorded at steady speeds:
40 mph -25.2 mpg.
50 mph -22.3 mpg
60 mpg -19.4 mpg
70 mph -16.6 mpg
Whats interesting is that there is almost a 6 mpg difference between 50 and 70 mph. Using overdrive is like driving your car slower as the rpms are lowered. I’m thinking if I could drive Mustang at 55 mph. I could simulate what effect an AOD trans might have on economy. But where could I drive at 55 mph. without getting run over?
It was annoying but not surprising that something went south. The convenience of the location greatly offset the aggregation. Now, had it happened at my furthest point from home it would be different.
That ’62 Fairlane had a low-ish rear gear, but was likely quite common. Incidentally, it’s the same ratio I have in mine.
The drop from 50 to 70 seen above likely has as much to do with aerodynamics as it does engine speed.
I had anticipated a steady 15 mpg for this trip and exceeded it. My hope was to have a trip average but that obviously was a bust. The two tanks I didn’t mention were both between 17.0 and 17. 5 mpg.
When the 1984 Corvette was put into production a lot of interest was shown by the press. I ran across a paperback book at that time with details about the car including graphs of fuel consumption (automatic trans) in all of the gears at various speeds. Also a graph of power needed to cruise at various speeds. A number of curious things are evident:
1. minimum fuel consumption in 3rd gear is at 40 MPH (about 1700 RPM) – fuel consumption increases at lower speeds as well as at higher speeds.
2. minimum fuel consumption in 2nd is at about 35 MPH, which is around 2200 RPMs, while first is near 20 MPH @ 2500 RPMs.
3. Overdrive (4th gear) has the minimum at under 40 MPH where the engine is running at or just over 1000 RPMs.
4. At high speeds fuel consumption in 3rd gear is closer to 4th than at low speeds.
Details:
@50 MPH 2nd gear gets 14 MPG; 3rd is 22.5 MPG and 4th is 30 MPG
@70 3rd is 19 MPG and 4th is 25.5
@90 3rd is 16 MPG and 4th is 20.5
@112 4th is about 15 MPG
At 55 MPH about 16.5 horsepower is required for cruise, equally divided between chassis power and drag. At 120 MPH 26 hp is chassis and 112 total hp is needed.
Been enjoying this series a lot, I’ve been craving a road trip like this for longer than I can remember so I’m living vicariously through your journey.
Sad sight Cairo is, being on the other end of the state I wasn’t at all aware of the town’s existence, let alone the blight. I did some additional googling on it’s history and it’s very sad and depressing. Always liked river towns and I see so much lost potential in these pics, the Galaxie has held up much better, too bad something as simple as a water pump couldn’t fix the mess that town is.
Enjoyed part two very much as it gave me once again a glimpse of the U.S. We don’t often see cruising through on ether Interstate. My father didn’t own many cars when he was alive. The only water pump failure was with the 62 Comet on a trip back from Saskatchewan into Alberta near Medicine Hat. He always believed in keeping extra fan belts in the trunk for long trips along with a gallon jug of water.
When the pump failed, he filled the rad with water and high tailed it for Medicine Hat where he stopped at the first service station at the edge of the city. We checked into a motel, Dad had the station order a pump and the repair was done the next morning. A simple repair, oh it was the 170 cubic inch six.
Great read but too bad about the waterpump. Your story is giving me the itch to do a big road trip with my old car. Over the past week, my brother has been going through a same sort of trip with his old Malibu. He has a lot of travelling to do and he figured he’d save the miles off his DD and have fun in his old car. He’ll be something like 1300 miles when he’s done. So far the old 350 has been running great. When he stopped by here, I gave the 350 a tune-up for him too and he reports it’s running better than ever.
We’re about to take our ’69 Skylark on its first semi long trip, 100 miles each way.
Hopefully we won’t have any dramas like this. That’s what breakdown cover is for,since
parts for the ‘lark aren’t common in Aus.
The water pump is one item I haven’t replaced though. Watch this space…………..
A friend of mine bought a really clean unrestored ’71 Roadrunner (383 4 barrel auto) from a guy out in the Seattle areaa couple of years ago. It was 99% rust free, with only a small spot on the left front quarter that would need attention before starting the painting process. He and his then 22 year old son were going to drive it back to the Toledo area and hope for the best. He made sure their cellphones were charged up and he had belts and hoses and several other parts, like a spare electronic ignition box (The previous owner had installed it), and some other stuff. He didn’t have an alternator or a water pump, and that would come back to haunt him. They went the “Southern Route” so they could visit his brother who lived in TX, and the car made it to Houston where the bearing in the alternator decided to weld itself to the shaft, so his son actually walked to the parts store with the old one, and bought a replacement. They put it on, and drove to his brother’s house, where the replacement seized up as they pulled into the driveway. After a couple of calls, he was able to go to a local branch of the same chain he had bought the first one at to make an exchange. This one looked better, and is still in the car. After leaving TX, the car made it without incident to Columbus, Oh, where the water pump let loose at 2am. They were able to make to to a motel and the next morning, they found a pump and got home about 4PM. That pump only lasted a year or so. After they finally got it home, they put a restored dash into it, new door panels and some other parts that cost an amazing amount of money, and then his cousin painted it in the original red, and it looks and drives great. I would love to have that car.
So…not to name name’s, are we talking Dearborn Classics? Out of Florida? They used to be here in Oregon
It wasn’t Dearborn Classics I ordered from, it’s a person under their name in Florida. He only sells parts for 1963 and 1964 Galaxies.
Well done again, Jason.
I looked forward to this installment but not its untimely end. But, no story about conquering the miles in a vintage machine would be authentic without it. After all, it’s not the end destination, but the journey…
Also appreciated your write up on Cairo. It’s current desiccated state – which has been the case for a number of years – baffles me given its proximity to natural and physical assets.
I haven’t been there, but became familiar with it through Ron Powers book, Far From Home: Life and Loss in Two American Towns, which depicts the circumstances contributing to Cairo’s decline.
I guess I’m kind of a nut to be so concerned with fuel economy on my old car. I hope I’m not boring the hell out of everybody you can just scroll past my entries if so. I just completed my 55 mph. mileage test. I covered 103 miles on US 101 from San Jose to Gilroy back up to Palo Alto and back to San Jose. The road is pretty flat and straight, no real headwind. Returned 15.9 mpg. almost a mile and a half increase from my trip to Santa Maria. I did get caught up in some stop and go traffic due to a couple of collisions. Driving at 55 is a real chore, but much easier to do in an urban environment. I thoroughly enjoyed the drive, as I had a great selections of CDs and since I was alone I could sing along whenever the mood struck. I’ve got a copy of the May 1970 Popular Mechanics with an owner’s report on the 70 Mustang. There were no figures given for either six but 38% percent of the owners reported the 302 returned local mpg. of 14.9 and trip mileage of 17.7 for the 351 it was local mpg. of 12.8 and trip mileage of 16.1. Yes I know my car is not new but the motor is in fairly good shape so i’m a bit surprised. I have seen contemporary road tests of the 250 cube powered Granada which put mileage around 17 mpg. It’s just everyone thinks that these sixes get much better mileage than the small V8s. I’ve done a lot of research and amassed a small library of info on souping up the six, if it makes mileage worse, I wouldn’t bother. I think a 289 or 302 running a two barrel carb and an AOD tranny might provide even better mileage and a lot more performance. Maybe put an AOD behind the six? Still it’s not like I can’t afford the gas and I do certainly enjoy driving the car and working on it. Which is really the most important thing.
You may be interested in knowing my 85 Grand Marquis with a 351 2bbl and AOD has been able to achieve 18 mpg (Imperial) at a steady 62 mph. The Imperial gallon slightly larger than a U.S. gallon. During my regular daily commute the worst I can get is 12 mpg., but usually I average 13 to 14 mpg.
A big improvement came after I replaced the front wheel bearings. My new tires on this car are set at 37psi and I stick to the speed limit as much as possible. I would be overjoyed if this land yacht was ever to get 20 mpg on the open road. Good thing gas prices are down.
Jose :
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Decidedly _NOT_ ‘ boring to those who actually like old cars ! =8-) .
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I’m not sure you’re aware how big a fuel economy penalty you get at higher speeds ~ those crazy Mobilgas fuel mileage contests that were so popular decades ago , were usually won going under 50 MPH in top gear.
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I too run radial tires and I do the test varying pressures thing to find the sweet spot between traction and tire wear , it’s _always_ higher than you think but too much tire pressure can cause poor traction so do test and experiment .
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-Nate
Glad to hear I’m not as boring as my kid’s think I am! I know that at even 65 the aero drag is a bigger factor than 55 and increases with speed exponentially, My car has been lowered about an inch and a half all around and I’m running 215/60 15 in. radials. I didn’t want to go too wide on the tire since it wasn’t really necessary to harness all that horsepower flowing out of that six. I had removed the hot air snorkle on the air cleaner because it had been my experience that these can get stuck in the hot air position. I blocked it open and I’m going to mount it on the opposite side. This is the cool side of the motor above the distributor and fuel pump and will probably run an intake duct to the radiator support. I’m running a stock exhaust system with a turbo muffler that’s quiet and sounds pretty good. Headers for these motors are very expensive and I’m keeping a lookout for a used item. I will also probably add a new Pertronix ignition that can adjust dwell automatically. I’m also going to very carefully retune my carb, check the float level, and air screw settings, fuel pressure etc.The easiest aero aid will be to install a Mach One front spoiler. These are readily available for around 75 bucks. Hot Rod magazine has published several articles on aerodynamics and mileage over the years, The most recent was “Air Camp”, In this article they wind tunneled the Camaro top speed car they had been developing and provided plenty of good, useable info. While the 300 cid truck six went into oblivion in it’s final fuel injected form, the poor Falcon light six. never even got multiple carbs. I’m thinking maybe a dual throttle body adaptation instead of dual or triple carbs. I’m researching the AOD conversion compared to the add on overdrive units. Well it’s all something to dream about and mull over while I’m bored at work! I’ll keep my updates on this post unless management shuts me down. I currently use my car as a daily driver so I would like to see some improvement. Keep having fun.