Travels with BillyBob Log

WHAT'S NEW is a chronological listing of updates to the BillyBob site.

TRUCK LINKS including vendor sites for old parts, custom parts, and tools as well as sites for classic car and truck organizations

STORE Operating in association with Amazon.com, books, recordings and tools can be purchased.

PLANNING for the restoration including project schedule and cost estimates.

TRAVELS WITH BILLYBOB With apologies to Steinbeck, this area of BillyBob's Garage will be used to log the trips BillyBob and I make together.

WORK-IN-PROGRESS is the restoration of parts of BillyBob that I can accomplish without a garage.

PRE-RESTORATION includes log entries of minor repairs and and adventures between time of purchase and the time when I started restoration, a piece at a time.

JR'S KORNER JR's Korner is the history of BillyBob before I got him authored by my brother, Wm. C. Kephart.

BILLYBOB MAINTENANCE Ever changing detailing, oil change, lube, etc. maintenance routines specifically developed for BillyBob, including required tools, materials and procedures.

PARTS SHOP The Parts Shop is a repository of How-To articles. Things that I have done over and over enough times to have developed a procedure. This gives me a checklist and saves brain cells.

STEALTH SHOP Urban residence design with large integrated shop and separate living quarters for a relative or renter.

7. Macungie Run

Summary

this is the story of a 23 day, 4,783 mile roadtrip in a 52 year old stock truck. Immediately below is the planned trip and waypoints to the left with the actual stops and mileage to the right. The links are to the log entries for that day or days. Following below that are calculations and stats and finally at the bottom are reflections on what I learned. As my friend, Rob English wrote "I suppose there are two things that can happen on a trip like you did; you can say 'never again' or you can say 'I can’t wait for the next one'". Me? I can't wait for the next one.

Macungie Run POST Check

1.	Date and Time	July 1, 2007M
2.	Odometer	25,011
3.	Odo Mileage	4,783
4.	Elapsed Time	23 Days
5.	Navigator Stats	4,662.1 mi Overall Avg 37.8 mph Moving Avg 41.3 mph Max Speed 63.9 mph
6.	Mileage Calcs	17.12 mpg overall

The difference between the odo mileage and navigator mileage above is because the navigator was not turned on all the time (when we were just "running around town" and not on a roadtrip leg).

What worked and what didn't

Logging on the road worked fairly well as long as I got a hotel with internet connections. Next time I'll bring a mouse and keyboard to plug into the laptop. The "chicklet" keyboard and touchpad were insufferable irritants. I also need to take along a spare pair of reading glasses of the proper magnification. When my glasses broke, it effectively ceased my logging activities. It is important to write the logs when the day's activities are fresh in mind. The details tend to bleed out the longer you wait to write the tale. The final logs are not as good as the early ones as a result of posting them late.

Hotel living worked reasonably well but I'm leaning towards the campground option at some future point, either a teardrop trailer or a minimal camper top. It seems more in keeping with the spirit of an old truck on backroads. Using Bellhop.com for reservations worked at first and I used Orbitz once but after the first few days I started booking all my reservations from the Holiday Inn website.

Mechanical problems with BillyBob were fewer than anticipated. I only had problems with starter motor not being able to catch a tooth on the worn flywheel ring gear once at the beginning of the trip. The clutch slipped a few times but not bad enough that I couldn't work around it by moderating my driving technique. I used lead substitute to guard against burned valves and high octane gas to guard against detonation in the mountains where the engine was running hard. I don't know if either of these precautions helped anything but my peace of mind. When the passenger door broke, I made it worse by forcing it shut. It looks to be something as simple as a broken "hold-open" spring. "v4Bill" of the OldGMCtrucks group told me what to look for. The problem of the tranny popping out of third gear on long hills has disappeared now that we're home in the flatlands again.

I had a lot of fun writing about, and BillyBob's fans had a lot of fun reading about, my issues with "Mother", the Garmin c340 navigator. Despite the problems I had trying to make it do things "my way", I wouldn't have left home without it. It made seeing the backroads fun instead of the chore it could have been with unfolded maps strewn throughout the cab and blowing out the window. I will continue to work with this remarkable machine and refine my technique.

The Macungie Truck Show

Meeting the guys from the OldGMCtrucks.com group was a great experience. In real life, they matched their online personas. There were no surprises there. Here is an annotated group photo that Rob English worked up.

If you are interested in more info about this group's antics at the show, this forum thread will lead to the best commentaries and links to hundreds of photos.

Final Thoughts

When I decided to do this, I wasn't quite sure how it would turn out. I'm from the "drive 'em" school of antique car and truck enthusiasts. I came to the conclusion that, with my laid back pace of restoration, I will never be finished and I better get on the road now before I'm too old. At first, it was just about the truck show and meeting the guys I've been corresponding with on the Internet for a few years now. Then it slowly expanded into a grand trip including many stops with relatives and truck friends who were not attending the show.

I prepared extensively for this trip with tools and spare parts like I was going on a Lewis and Clark expedition. I was worried about breakdowns. Tony (truckedup) laughed and said don't worry about that. Turns out he was absolutely right. I am as amazed as everyone else regarding how this old truck performed. Bill Miles called it the "Legendary BillyBob" in one of his posts. He was right too. It's about the truck. The same journey in a car from "Mr. Hertz" isn't quite the same thing. I'm glad to have been along for the ride and for BillyBob's fans out there who have come along for the ride too thru these log entries.

The original purpose of using backroads was because I was not comfortable with Interstate highway travel in BillyBob. Now I know that the old truck does quite well on the Interstate and that is no longer a concern. I am glad, however, that I stuck to backroads for most of the trip. A foreign fella that I often contend with on political issues once posted a query "What's great about America?". He was trying to stir things up and he did. I don't recall if I responded to that question or not. I do know part of the answer now. I saw it on the two lane blacktop roads of the Appalachian range. I want to see more.

You can email me at  webmaster@laroke.com

Issued Sunday July 8, 2007

Updated Thursday January 12, 2017

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