220+ hot South Carolina miles

[NAM VET]

Made it! Loaded up truck, put 30 Cal Air-cooled on pedestal in bed, then put original canvas cover over it. Still obviously a MG. Put two bikes in bed, assorted other beach and trip items, plus "stuff" for several weeks down on the SC coast, and with my 17 year old grandson from KS, pulled out and headed SE on the rural, very rural, very very rural roads. Mostly flat, thru forests and fields, tiny near abandoned hamlets, and in about 3 1/2 hours, arrived at my son's place near Columbia, Lexington to be precise. Caleb and Son Chris and I went for Take-out Chinese, and we had a great eve with his wife and two young boys. Brought down a 12volt kids's Ride On Jeep, and the near 4 year old loved driving it, turning the steering wheel, and "drifting" and spinning down the driveway. I am sure the younger of the two will be an Off Road enthusiast in his teen yeas. Ollie and Ellis are Motor Heads already.

Up yesterday, and after a home cooked breakfast, Caleb and I fired up our 1952 truck, and headed towards the beach. Lots of hill now, and rare to meet any other traffic. I am glad I have the original gears, making it possible with some down-hill acceleration to make it up the next hill with good speed. Lots of power. We both wore ear plugs, and those cut out the bed stake rattles, and lots of other "noise" and I was surprised how serene my truck is with just some distant transfer case gear wine. My engine is balanced, and very smooth. On the flat straight roads, I could take my hands off the wheel, and my '37 would just continue straight. We passed road crews, and in the small towns, and Caleb loved waving back to the admiring folks and workers.

We continue on, and south of Columbia, it became much more flat, and almost desolate, just driving thru woods and forests, past fields, and sadly so many abandoned homes, being swallowed up by the Kudzu vines. It was tricky to find our route, often intersections had no State Road signs, or we would miss them because they were knocked down, or vine covered. Had to back-track a few times, or pull over and pull out our our road maps once again.

Stopped for lunch, fried chicken of course, after all, it is the South. But near six hot hours later, pulled into our drive at our beach cottage on Seabrook Island, just south of Charleston. My wife and KS daughter and granddaughter had already arrived from our UpState home, near Charlotte. Unloaded, and went for a beach walk, and Caleb took his surf fishing rig, and right away had several big hooks bent by fish. We will catch them later today.

Some observations. In near 100 degree temps, running 5-50 Redline oil, my Autometer oil pressure was steady at 40 mph at 34 pounds, engine temp 190 degrees. My NP 200 newly rebuilt TC by Charles Talbert, no leaks, would eventually get to 220 F, but both oil pressure and TC temps and engine temps would take over an hour to reach their final numbers, even on a hot day at 40 mph. I have previously checked my TC case temps with an infra-red gun, and it is apparent that case temps are lower than the hotter oil spraying around inside, now with CT's recommenced 50 wt synthetic Amsoil heavy truck gearbox oil. I have added an engine full-flow oil switched filter/pump system, thru a Canton-Meca 8 Micron racing oil filter. When I just changed my oil I examined the filter media after about 1500 mies, there were NO bits of metal in it. There is no by-pass oil filtering with less than about 42 # of pressure, but I am filtering my sump about every 45 seconds. A careful exam of my motor and underneath shows no leaks or drips, now that my TC is redone.

I will be down at the beach for about a month, and there is a C&C this Sat, and my truck with the gun is always a big hit, even among exotics and classic cars.

I'll post some pics later of the C&C.

I run of course non-ethanol, and did not do a precise MPG check but I think I was getting maybe 10 miles per gallon. Per C'T's recommendation, having had a stuck exhaust valve not long ago, a RedLine fuel cleaner/lube in my fuel. He had suggested a heavy truck additive, but only available per expensive gallon, so using the RedLine product at one oz per 3 gallons of gas.

It was along and hot trip, but Caleb said he just loved it.

Now, to gather up my surf fishing gear, and get to the beach. Hal, aka NAM VET

[John Mc]

Sounds like a great trip!

Is this the oil you used in your transfer case: SAE 50 Long-Life Synthetic Transmission Oil ? Tim Holloway has just finished rebuilding my transmission and transfer case. That's what we are putting in them.

I had not heard of the Redline fuel cleaner. I think I found it. Is it their SI-1 product? Was this a one-time thing, every so often, or something you use with every tank? I've been wondering about something like that, but also wondering about how much crud I'll loosen up in the ancient fuel system. I run premium non-ethanol fuel (not that I need the octane of premium fuel, but that is the only kind of non-ethanol fuel you can get in my area). I'm told higher octane runs a bit hotter EGT, but can't really tell the difference in this truck.

[NAM VET]

yes, that 50 wt Amsoil is what CT recommended, ordered a gallon. The RedLine is their fuel cleaner for intakes and valves, having had one stuck, I use the suggested mix one oz per 3 gallons, I think I ordered from Summit or maybe Amazon. Sure beats dealing with a stuck valve, which CT says is common with modern fuels, incl non-ethanol gas.

I use a Facet 24v marine fuel pump, has a screen in the fuel pump, easy to remove and clean, and a Wix fuel filer just before the carb, I like the plastic sone, so I can see how it looks, and can see if my fuel is boiling. I have an adjustable fuel pressure regulator with a pressure gage, set at about 3.5 psi. But not really necessary with the correct fuel pump, but several times my pump before I put in the regular would over power the needle, and make my truck flood. I have well insulated fuel lines in my engine compartment. I am no expert on these, but at least can relate my own experience, and sometimes my mistakes.

By the way, on the trip, my engine has used NO oil, now with about 300+ miles on my oil change.

On the way down, I thought about adding an oil cooler, easy to add some AN starless lines now that I already have the heavy duty pump and lines, just run some from my filter forward then back to the engine. But I really drive along enough to get my drive train really up to temps. CT put Viton oil seals with new shaft wearing parts, so the TC temps shouldn't make for real trouble. If a driver didn't have the additional gages I have, there wouldn't be anything to worry about.

Good luck with your own truck. Hal

[NAM VET]

OH, be sure to use a transmission oil suitable for brass, I use RedLine MTL, "manual transmission oil" synthetic trans oil, my trans shifts like a dream, even in the winter. They make also a more viscous, MTL 90, which I will use next time. I use RedLine 75-90 gear lube in my axles. Hal

[John Mc]

Thanks, Hal.

I've been debating adding gauges at some point. Haven't figured out what I might add and where I would locate them. I'm not a purist, but also don't want to fill up my panel with too much extra stuff. Do you have pictures of what yo did somewhere on here?

[John Mc]

OH, be sure to use a transmission oil suitable for brass, I use RedLine MTL, "manual transmission oil" synthetic trans oil, my trans shifts like a dream, even in the winter. They make also a more viscous, MTL 90, which I will use next time. I use RedLine 75-90 gear lube in my axles. Hal

I'm using that same Amsoil synthetic I linked above in my transmission as in my transfer case, as recommended by CT.