engine and drivetrain Dumb idea? Driving an 02 cross country

[DavidLMM]

Doug - I remember the 02-02-02 trip well, and you left out the part about stopping at BMW of Knoxville to see about your voltage regulator. Remember the service tech asking "where's the MODIC plug? " When we asked for something as simple as a multi-meter and they didn't have one? When we asked about a local parts store that might have a voltage regulator and got only blank stares in return? Ah, that was a great trip. My odometer hasn't worked since!

If you know the car well, have reasonable spares, and are self-sufficient, I'd say go for it.

David in Nashville - I was in the Chamonix squaretail, dragging the speedo cable across several states!

[KFunk]

Kfunk's blog has a similar route. In fact if you are going from the LA area, google maps has you headed the way he went.....and right by his place. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&saddr=los+angeles,+ca&daddr=new+york+city,+ny&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=32.939885,59.238281&ie=UTF8&ll=37.370157,-96.152344&spn=32.824314,59.238281&z=4

You're always welcome to stop by here, or I can help out along I-70 somewhere (808-393-9268). But, I'm an hour or more south of I-70 in the town of Athens.

To the west of Columbus theres plenty of folks in the Dayton area. I'm not sure about PA.

Sorry, many of the pics are currently missing from my blog. The hosting site quit hosting, and I haven't taken the time to re-upload to a new site...

Your trip will likely be very different, and you'll stick with the highway most of the way. Not as much fun, but you should have some time leftover if all goes well.

As I've said before, take the little free Motel 6 booklet that lists all their locations. Motel 6s are very clean and nice places to sleep, just like any other budget motel, but only 30 or 40 bucks a night. It's not worth it to drive sleepy. Take your time and stop at the Motel 6. I couldn't count how many Motel 6s I've slept at... and never had a problem with any of them.

[tjones02]

Family cross country road trips in my parents' '72 Tii were normal when I was growing up.

If you're not a BMW CCA member yet you should join if only to have the Friends of BMW Directory in your road trip arsenal!

I'm listed under Vacaville CA, If any of you got stranded in Nor-Cal I'd help with advice, parts sources, wrenching help, etc...

[AndyS]

My son and I are doing a 2 car run to VaV. 1600 cab and a 71 02 p/u. I'm not even sweating it. Well, except for my son riding the clutch for 16 hours!

[danjrusdug]

Doug - I remember the 02-02-02 trip well, and you left out the part about stopping at BMW of Knoxville to see about your voltage regulator. Remember the service tech asking "where's the MODIC plug? " When we asked for something as simple as a multi-meter and they didn't have one? When we asked about a local parts store that might have a voltage regulator and got only blank stares in return? Ah, that was a great trip. My odometer hasn't worked since!

David in Nashville - I was in the Chamonix squaretail, dragging the speedo cable across several states!

David, good to hear from you. Weren't the other 2 guys' names Jeff & Phil? And Jeff had the Mini...and has a classic/antique car museum?

Are any of you guys going to the V@V?

Doug

'73 tii Atlantik

[Wise-Man]

Well boys, we'll see. I think that I'm leaning towards having it shipped actually. Thing is, I don't know the car and have only driven it very short distances.

When I 1st started driving my original 02, it belonged to my dad who had stopped driving it but kept it in the garage. I did go around the block some, but little else. In part, it was because it'd become old and out of tune. So, when I turned 16, I started driving it (this was in the early 90's).

Now, my dad was a good PO. Always takes great care of the cars. When things break, they get fixed and right away. That car had sit for a few years, racking up only a handful of miles. When I started putting some miles on it...oh man, did stuff start to go wrong. Not major, but in a couple of years time, I ended up replacing tons and tons of parts. It never left me by the side of the road (only once did I need a wrecker) but if I were a long ways from home, I'd be screwed.

What I learned is that these old cars need to be driven. And, the owner needs to fix the stuff as they come up. This new 02, I don't know. I'm going to assume that I'll have to go through the everything breaks stage before I can trust it like the last one.

By the way, the last one would carry me to and from College in IL and CA each summer. Heater on and windows down!

So, while I haven't totally made up my mind, I'm thinking that that I'm going to do this trip in a rental. (hey i have the time off and a 1 way ticket and my buddy does too). I _have_ to be at work on Thursday. So, I can't chance a few days waiting on a part in god knows where.

A sad day. If only we could take unlimited vacation time.

[dubois]

The longest distance I have driven my 02 is 200 miles so I can't comment on the 02 part but I have driven some of my antique cars for 1000s of miles without incident. In addition to basic tools and a few spare parts I carry

1) cellphone

2) AAA card

3) credit card

With those things I am pretty adventurous - even with two kids along for the ride

there is a one thing that I would add to that list: A fire extinguisher, anything else you can wait for the tow truck!