Sweptline crew cab fly in drive home adventure

[HemiJoel]

So earlier last year I was out traveling in my 93 Dodge club cab, with my camper occupying the bed of the truck, when I ran across a Chysler flathead engine that I just had to have. I managed to finagle it into the back seat, barely. I figured a crew cab would be better for this job, it should be a lot easier to load cargo into the back seat.
So in October, I found this 68 Dodge crew cab on the internet. I figured I could put a Cummins and a Dana 80 dually in it, and use it for a camper hauler. It was in Arizona, and I am in Minnesota. When I called the owner, he told me what a fine truck it was and it ran and drove nice. But when I suggested that I wanted to fly in and drive it to Minnesota, he said he wouldn't. It's a 55 mph truck he said. I asked if it would make it to my Dads place in FLorence AZ, about 150 miles away. He just didn't know, he hadn't driven it too far from his town.
So I made a deal, sent him a deposit via paypal, which he agreed to refund if I didn't like the truck. Before I booked a flight, I looked for fun stuff going on in the vicinity, so I could build my trip around more that just driving a truck home.

The seller picked me up at the airport on a Saturday morning, and drove me the 1-1/2 hour trip to his house. The truck is awesome, a solid AZ truck in great shape. 318, automatic, 4.10 gears, nice aluminum wheels with new tires, and power steering. THe pic he sent me of the back of the truck wasn't too clear, and I assumed it was a long bed when I bought it. But I found it was a short bed when I got there. Oops.
This is at the sellers house:


He gave me a couple gallons of water before I left, "just in case".
So I'm thinking it must have overheated at some point.

On the way to my dads, I felt a driveline vibration. I stopped at home depot and found a shady spot under a tree.



I felt like a homeless guy digging thru the dumpster for a piece of cardboard to use as a "Norwegian creeper". I pulled the driveshaft out, and the ujoints were dry and a bit loose, so I greased them up and continued on my way. The driveline vibration was gone. I kept the creeper.



The little 318 was buzzing away going down I-17 with the 4.10 gears, and it felt really flat and ran pretty hot when I pushed it above 55 mph. SO I was thinking about how I was going to solve that as I drove.

Arizona is a beautiful state. Lots of Kodak moments:



The sun was going down before I got to my dads, so I stopped to take a picture to send to my friends before it got dark.



My dad has a pit. He dug it with a shovel and a wheelbarrow, then lined the walls with block. He put a ramp going into it so if a rattlesnake falls in, it can slither out.

[HemiJoel]

Dad had an non running Triumph on the pit.


After we pushed that out of the way, we put the old Dodge on there.



I checked over everything, including the suspension, wheel bearings, fluids, etc. The radiator was clean as a whistle, inside and out. The points were pretty fried, so I filed them, but that caused a no spark situation. Several attempts could not get spark, so I took my dads car to town and bought new points and condenser. You gotta love Arizona, all the parts stores stock parts for the old cars. When I put the new points in, I could NOT get them gapped. They actually wouldn't open because the the rubbing block was too short. So I pulled the distributor to make it easier to work on, and then I discovered the vacuum advance can was shot. I just called the store and ordered a new distributor. It was barely more $ than all the parts needed to fix the old one. I also got a new alternator, voltage regulator, and water pump. Insurance against breakdowns on the road, and I can return them in Minnesota if I don't need them.
On the way back from town, we saw this:



1950 dodge for sale.

So the truck got all fixed and I drove it around enuff to be confident. The truck ran at a normal temp now. It had to have been timing, and lack of vacuum advance making it run hot. It was also more responsive and powerful.



My dad has a cool hobby. He knows a guy with a junkyard, and he filters thru it and drags home stuff he likes. Here is a 1937 60 horse baby ford flathead he pulled out of an air compressor. Note the tin sides, welded on. That's the way they built them.

[HemiJoel]

The SEMA convention in Las vegas seemed like a good place to go, and I have never been to Sedona, so I figured I would go see sedona, then on to Vegas. As I was tooling up 17 north of Phoenix with the little 318 humming happily along at about 3500 RPM, I saw a sign for Montezumas Castle. Well there's nothing I like more than a castle, so I exited the freeway.





I paid 10$ for a ticket to see the castle. It is an old Indian cliff dwelling. It is very cool to see, and in a very pleasant spot with nearby shade trees and a flowing creek.

[HemiJoel]

The lady who sold me the $10 ticket to Montezuma told me that I could use the same ticket at Toozigoot National Monument, which is the ruins of another ancient Indian dwelling, about 45 minutes away. If I went to Tuzigoot, I would not have time to make it to Sedona before dark, so I had to make an executive decision. And since I already had a $10 ticket, Tuzigoot won. What I found there was the hilltop site of about 100 rooms, some of which could be entered, and access to the roof of the highest room. My phone battery died while I was there, so I only got a few pics. This hill was a perfect site for an ancient settlement, because it was surrounded by the Verde Valley, that was surrounded by mountains. They could easily see who was approaching from all directions. This made it a great tourist site as well.






When I was there, I met this couple who seemed to know the territory pretty well. They recommended that I go visit Jerome, an old mining town nearby. They described a ghost town and mine tour that sounded worthwhile, so I headed that direction.



While I was driving, I had my phone plugged into the cigarette lighter on the dash, which still works on this old Mopar, but the phone battery was so shot, it barely charged. Jerome is on a mountainside, 2000 feet above the Verde Valley, affording an awesome view. This is a cool old town with lots of shops, restaurants and taverns in 100 year old building, remnants of the copper mining boom.




I found my way to the mine and the ghost town tour, but it was 4:30 pm, they closed at 5, and with a dead phone, plus not knowing where I was going next, I decided not to enter the tour. Definitely something to come back for.
THe old mine yard was full of cool old trucks. I was able to get a few pics with the phone plugged in.



THis one reminded me of the movie Duel.



My original plan had been to see the sunset at Sedona. Since that wasn't going to happen, I needed to see it here. But I was on the east side of the mountain, not a good side for sunsets. I found a gravel forest service road heading west up the mountain, so I started following it in hopes of getting a view from the top. As luck would have it, I ended up traversing a ridge, where I could see the sunset on the west, and the reflections of the sunset on the east side.






It's one of those scenes that photos just can't capture. There was a sign that said 12 miles to some intersection. I figured that the intersection must be highway 89, which would lead me north to I40. So I kept following. Well, in 12 miles, it was just another forest service road. My phone battery took a charge over time, but there was no cell signal, so google maps didn't work. I considered back tracking, but my sense of adventure urged me on. It turned out to be more like 40 miles of winding gravel trails through mountain and valley and plains. I was a little nervous, not knowing where I was, where I was going, it got dark, and wondering if I had enuff gas to get to my unknown destination. But I made it to Chino Valley, and a gas station. When I hit the pavement I immediately noticed that the truck rode much smoother. THe ruff road must have burnished the rust out of the leaf springs!
I shot a short video on the trail:

https://youtu.be/2IC7r-XgDYU

THe story continues later

[Jim100]

Wow that's good stuff! Neat pics. Man I want a pit!!!

[Ypanic2]

Very cool! Best trips are the unconventional and a bit unplanned ones. Keep us posted on the rest of the journey... Troubles in Iowa, So. Dak, or Minny, I can help!

[cudaboy]

Thanks for posting this. I'll have to say, that you're a brave man for taking off on a trip in a truck that you didn't know the condition of. I applaud your sense of adventure
Ive never been to the desert, or out west. That and the Rockies are definetly on my to do list. Beautiful Truck. Hope to see more of it here.

[Jims68]

Great photo trip!! Thanks for sharing!!

[Hobcobble]

Very excellent truck and a great adventure indeed!
John

[mopardwh]

Very cool.

[slick]

What a great story and an awesome truck. I remember seeing it pop up for sale. Wish I would have known you were close. Would have loved to have seen it. Looks like you hit some good spots while you were here..

[gww]

great look n truck. an pretty neat adventure. thanks for taking us along. funny how much a single tree or shade means so much in that area.

[Txas2step]

[JLeather]

So jealous because a) there are NO trucks that clean for sale in my neck of the country and b) my fly-n-ride's NEVER go that smooth! Beautiful truck.

[HemiJoel]

Thanks for all the positive feedback, I'm glad you guys like the truck. When I bought it, but had only seen pictures, my plan was to convert it to a Cummins powered 1 ton dually. But after seeing it and driving it around, this truck it too sweet to mess up.
So I found another truck to modify, and the nice truck
will get preserved. Here is the new treasure:

[slick]

Damn, that one looks nice too

[BigJimG]

The Fly-and-Drive is one of my bucket list items, even if I have to 'Roadkill" it... I almost did it when I bought my '63, but was informed by the previous owner that it would be a very bad idea... turns out she was right.