The Valiant gingerly eased out onto Topeka Blvd., picking it's way tentavely amid the sea of commuters, in rush hour evening traffic. First time on a public highway in decades, the speedo cable was thrown away with the slant six, and the odometer only shows 47K. She's out of practice!!!
Darren is riding shotgun, and both our eyes are transfixed on the temp guage. 4 miles to the gas station in stop and go traffic, and it has steadily climbed to 225...not a good start!! We fill the 12 Gallon aluminum cell with 91 swill. When Dale put his Snap-on timing light on the car, it showed 50 degrees timing in race mode, and he pulled it back to 31 for the road. The numbers are just a reference to me, I don't trust a snap-on light, with a MSD Digital 6+.
The good news is the Denso 60 amp has no problem keeping up, and the 4 8" fans drop the temp quick with the car shut off. We leave at 190, but are back to 220 in the 3 miles to the first checkpoint.
The pic is of a Chief Drive In sign, but we are in a Wal-Mart parking lot. Dale and Boone tell us they are gonna shop, and give us a head start. We pull out behind a White Fox Body pulling a trailer. Now that I feel confident the electrical system will re-start the car at any time, I start shutting it off at long lights, and letting the fans do thier work. 5 or 6 miles down the road, we start out of town, and are running in less congestion, the needle is at 225, but starts to make a move in the other direction for the first time!! I look at Darren..."I think we have a chance!!"
6 miles later the mood in the car has lightened considerably, we are cruising along at 2500 rpm, the temp has settled in at 215, the window wings are directing airflow, and we have open 2-lane in front of us..
I conjure up my best James Taylor voice, "That Cuda had a Hemi and a Torqueflight, believe we sawed him off even if we did lose 3 hundred"!! Darren smiled and laughed. A mile later, he sez, "Pull over, sounds a little lean, I wanna check the jets". Ah..yes, Automotive nirvana at it's finest!!