Trip to Chicago, part 3
posted @ Monday, August 8, 2005
Continued from page 2...
After the show was over, it was time to head back to Union, MO. The
trophy barely fit in the cab of the truck. After everything was packed up
and put away, I pointed the truck south and headed out. The truck was low
on fuel, but the cost of fuel was much higher around Aurora than it was a bit
further away. After about an hour, the overheating problem was back.
The engine boiled over again and off came the hose line, again (just repeat the
events from the trip up here). So for the rest of the trip, now that fans
were out of balance and badly vibrating, I was able to drive the truck back as
long as I kept the speed around 56 with the windows down and the heater
on. Thankfully, it had cooled off enough that it was not unbearable.
But it was not fun and once again, instead of just sitting back and enjoying the
drive, it was a trip, constantly on the edge, ever vigilant of the instruments,
keeping the rpms, speed and heat in check. This made for a very, very long
and tedious drive back to St. Louis and finally, at one am, the road trip from
hell had ended. One thing is for sure, that piece of junk electric fan
unit is coming off and we're going back to a fan clutch and steel bladed
fan. I've learned my lesson with the electric units and it's a lesson was
unpleasant to learn.
All's well that ends well. Even with the harrowing adventure to and from Chicago, the ends justify the means and having brought home not just one, but two trophies was the biggest thrill. I want to thank Dave Weaver again for his hard work and for putting on such a great show. I'd like to thank everyone that voted for Project Responder and lastly, I'd like to thank everyone I met with whom I became friends. I'm looking forward to seeing you again next year.
Link: Trip to Chicago, part 3