Hot Rod Power Tour

Ron

Ron

Dum Spiro Spero
Moderator
Joined
Apr 16, 2005
Location
Sharon, SC
Anyone done it before?
Thoughts? Experiences? Would you do it again?
 
Oh...you going this year?

Yeah project deadline is May 5th? For Lane to drive it to Prom...just like me and his mom did 23 years ago....hope to hear it rumble this weekend or next then its just bolt together time...
 
Dylan W. said:
I know you're not on FB but ole BJ Allen in Texas (barco pump ecors racer) post every year when he goes. Looks like alot of fun too.
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Just chatted with him....he's in this year again....temptation is a fickle mistress
 
@Noel is planning to do it this year I believe. He’s pretty pumped about it. He has a sweet Chevy Impala
 
Me and Dad did the last three legs last year, we're planning on at least the first three this year but we're booked for the whole thing cause we hope to go the distance.

You need to get rooms now, you can cancel later if it doesn't pan out. I'll post up some more later today on my computer with the tips we picked up our first time.

I have some pics and videos on a thread here somewhere.
 
So I'm home with a proper keyboard, so here goes. Not only am I doing it again, I fully intend on doing it every time it passes nearby. I expect next year to leave OH and head west then loop back down through TX again so it'll be several years before it makes an east coast run again in my opinion. Dad and I drove a 79 Monte Carlo to Columbia, SC and entered it in one show in the 06 Power Tour. I went as a spectator in 14 to Charlotte. Last year was too good to pass up since it circled Fayetteville. I took my 67 Fairlane with a carbed 390 and a heavy clutched 4 speed with a spool and 4.11's and Dad took his 67 C10 with an injected 350 and a 3 on the tree with 3.73's. Neither has A/C. This year mine will be a carbed 445 stroker FE, same clutch and 4 speed, but with 3.70 and a TruTrac, Dad's is unchanged. Hopefully the next time it passes by we'll both have A/C but we're going old school again this year, window down.

Make DAMN sure your stuff can idle for long periods of time without overheating. It took 45 minutes to creep into Petty's garage on the way to Charlotte from Raleigh, the engine didnt overheat, but my master cylinder did. By the time we parked I was having to double or tripple pump the brake pedal due to boiling brake fluid since its right above my left header crammed at the back of the tight engine bay with a big block. It's not unusual to sit for 30 to 45 minutes in traffic either. I despise traffic jams usually, but these are the most bad assed traffic jams you'll ever see! Mine only hit 215 and dads was around 225 (the cut on point for the computer controlled high speed electric fans on his C10) on a 97* day. Pack some spare parts and tools (tire plugs, hose clamp, etc) but dont get to crazy, there will be help if you break down usually and probably volunteers to run you to the parts store if needed.

Get your hotel rooms reserved right now if there is even a chance you're going. If you wait another month you probably wont find anything close. You can look at the offical travel guy (Anthony Travel) but I think he's already booked up. We used him last year for Darlington and Raleigh. This year we used him for Charlotte, Martinsville, and Bristol as he had what we called good hotels, but we booked our own rooms for KY, Indy, Ft Wayne, and Norwalk. The hotels he had available in those cities were either 20 to 30 miles away from the venue (some even the wrong way or completely on the opposite side of Indianapollis) or like Raleigh last year we didnt like the area. What I mean by that is the Raleigh hotel was by itself and had no food within walking distance. In Darlington (Florence) there were 7 hotels and several restaurants side by side, we walked to a Longhorn Steakhouse and back then spent 4 hours wondering from lot to lot bullshitting with guys and girls about their cars. You dont want to have to drive for supper because you may not have a park when you return. Most hotels have under sized parking lots for the number of rooms assuming some will be using uber or taxis. On the PT there will be 3 or 4 guys driving 2 cars in each room, the lots fill up fast. Also the night-time hotel tailgating and car shows are more fun than the daytime ones. In Raleigh our hotel was right by PNC arena, but it was by itself so the tailgating wasnt as good as Darlington, and McD's was the only food walking distance, but fortunately my brother drove up from Greenville NC to meet us so he took us to the Pit BBQ downtown. This year we looked for hotels near the venues or if a few miles away were at least in the direction we'd be headed the following morning, that had at least two more hotels plus food within walking distance (even if the food was fast food) on google maps.

Dont get too hung up on trying to see the cars at the venues. You probably wont have time to see everything. We didnt get to Raleigh til 2:30 and Charlotte last year til almost 4. People were already leaving by that point. Most folks rush to get their long haul pass punched out then haul ass to the hotel to relax. By day 3 you're seeing alot of the same cars anyway at the gas station, in traffic, at the hotel or the restaurant.

We packed chips, snacks, and drinks in a cooler before we left and used hotel ice to keep cooler filled for pit stops. We brought sandwich meat and bread too for lunch but after two days of that I didnt want it anymore. They had food trucks at Petty's garage so we did that day three. This year I dont plan on bringing anything but snacks and drinks. We plan on stopping for lunch somewhere even if its fast food (but preferably I'll google mom and pop joints along the route once they announce it) Florence to Raleigh straight through with just one gas stop nearly killed us in the heat (Dad actually had to go sit in the PNC arena for a while to cool down in the A/C, may have been headed to a heat stroke). The next day was just as hot but we sat in the shade at Petty's for nearly an hour enjoying our lunch and that made a huge difference. There were several places along the way doing special stuff for the tour. A body shop just outside Lillington, NC, brought in 5 or 6 pig cookers and were selling BBQ plates for $5. Had a huge banner across 421 that said Welcome Power Tour, stop and rest a while.

I put GPS trackers on both cars before we left. Wired them up so they had a battery backup in case the thief cut the battery cables loose. They transmitted a position every 10 minutes key off, once a minute key on. Just because people suck.

I've probably forgotten some stuff, but this is the basics, if you have any specific questions ask away.
 
@Tim C got anymore info on those GPS trackers? Those would be good for rigs before a trip, specially Razors and stuff!
 
77GreenMachine said:
@Tim C got anymore info on those GPS trackers? Those would be good for rigs before a trip, specially Razors and stuff!
Click to expand...

There are all kinds of trackers out there, some that require a subscription, some that don't. The accuracy is also a big variable between the different ones. The ones I used are from MOTOsafety. We originally got some obd2 versions, that just plug in to track my grandpa before we eventually took his keys. He was getting lost at first, people from his church would find him sitting along the road near his house but he couldn't find his way home then we were tracking him cruising his Buick through the woods around his house at 2am. That's when the keys got pulled. People also use them to track teens, you can set it up to text or email if a certain speed or perimeter is crossed, or just use it to track company cars for example.

Anyway they have a hardwired version for non obd2 vehicles, trailers, etc. That's what I got for each of ours for the tour. They were around $80 or 90 each. Plus there's a monthly subscription. We activated them just before power tour, then cancelled paying for one month. I'll reactivate before this year's again. I hid them in the cars and wired them through a plug, so I removed them afterwards. Just have to plug them back in and rezip-tie them in their spots this summer.
 
@lefty and John Fowler did it last year.
 
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