ONE HOT RIDE

 Our road trip home from ZCON 2019

Branson, Missouri

July 21 - July 25

by Allen Young

“Some said driving cross country in July was... crazy. Everyone else said driving in a 44 year old car without air conditioning was… insane!”

This is my story of the journey home from ZCON 2019 in Branson, Missouri. It isn’t a traditional travelog but just a collection of thoughts and experiences that stood out. Our car (or as we affectionately called it “our toaster oven”) is a 1975 Datsun 280z Scarab. I am the second owner and I self-converted the car from the Scarab kit in 1982. I consider it a true Scarab because it’s been a Scarab longer than it was a 280z. One missing option is air conditioning. You see, back when I was looking for a Z to convert, I was young (and dumb) and I thought “I’d rather have more power, what do I need AC for? ”. Well those thoughts came full circle to bite me in the butt as we were about to drive a non-AC car all the way home from Branson, MO to San Francisco, CA during the hottest July in recent memory.

When I asked Aerin, my daughter, if she would like to attend ZCON with me, without hesitation she said yes. And even after I told her about the little detail of no AC and heat like she's never experienced before, she still said yes. What a trooper! 

Spending that much time together, creating so many memories, and meeting so many nice people made it the trip of a lifetime for both of us (maybe my lifetime at least...). What started off as just a road trip became a test of strength and endurance. 

Day one: The Adventure Begins

Sunday 7/21 • Branson, MO to Junction City, KS. • 331 miles • Temp: 82º

My daughter and I woke up early Sunday morning, bright eyed and bushy tailed, to start our road trip home to San Francisco. But first, we stopped by the Dollar General store to buy ice for the cooler and bottled water. Smallest pack of water was 24 bottles. With the Z already packed solid we put as many as we could in the “air conditioning” ice cooler and scattered the rest behind the seats and luggage. (You can sort of see the cooler behind us in the photo below). I checked fluids and also the gauges… Oil pressure around 40psi, Alternator positive, H20 temp around 190º. Everything looked good.

A mile or two from the Hilton, we saw a Chick-Fil-A. Since neither of us had tried their chicken, we excitedly pulled into the parking lot. There were a lot of open parking spaces, one could get paralyzed with so many good choices.  We parked and got out. Walking towards the doors, it seemed kind of dark inside. As we tried the doors they were locked. We didn’t know they were closed on Sundays! No wonder parking was not a problem. At least our embarrassment was kept down to just the guy who was washing some floor mats. Oh well, another time maybe.

Travelling up past Springfield on our way to Kansas City, there were frequent Highway crossings. None of them were controlled or had under/over passes. This meant cars would have to wait and wait for a break in the traffic, and then risk their lives to get across. At one such crossing, I was astounded to see a family in a horse drawn wagon waiting on the median to cross the highway. Imagine yourself in their place, trying to get across a 4 lane Highway with cross traffic going 70mph. I wouldn’t want to do it, and my car has 350 ponies. Theirs had 1. I wished them good luck as they rapidly disappeared from view, still waiting to cross.

We stopped in Kansas City, MO to stretch our legs, get our bearings and check the car. Still hot outside… hotter still inside the car.  At least 10 - 15 degrees hotter. I have this little thermometer that I stuck into the center air vent. Don’t know how accurate it was as it consistently pointed north of 105º. To combat the heat, I had purchased a cooler equipped with a fan and vents in the hopes of it providing some cool air in the car. We rolled the windows up and waited anxiously for the glorious cool air to come. But none arrived. Our “poor man’s air conditioning” was a complete bust. After what felt like ages (3 minutes, tops!) we couldn’t stand it any longer so we went back to the “280z air conditioning” (roll 2 windows down and go 80 miles per hour). 

I think the radiant heat from the roof and windows overwhelmed the cooler. Oh, well, maybe it’ll keep the bottles of water cool for a while. We left Kansas City on I-70 West and crossed into Kansas. We saw corn fields for hundreds of miles. When we passed Topeka it was still 84º. We encountered heavy rain near Lawrence, KS.

We stopped for the night in Junction City, Kansas at the Great Western Inn. Still 81º at 6pm. I mentioned the hot weather to the manager. He said we were lucky. The day before, it was 105º!!!  While unpacking the Z for the night, we met another couple who were traveling back home to Tennessee from San Francisco. They came over to see the Z and were surprised by the V8.

They then told us of the Z they used to have and the great memories it gave them. It seems like many people have fond memories of the Z that they, a friend, or parent had. You all probably have had this happen to you.

Day two: Corn, Corn, Corn

Monday 7/22 • Junction City, KS to Limon, CO. • 387 miles • Temp: 82º

We left Junction City around 7am on a bright and sunny morning. Not too warm yet, car running great.

Corn fields to the right, corn fields to the left. Corn, Corn, Corn seemingly everywhere… (Maybe they weren’t all corn fields, but to this “City Boy” that’s what they looked like to me).

Found an F14 jet in Eisenhower Park, Wakeeney, KS, temp 82º. Not sure why this was on display, but it was cool just the same. I love jets. In fact, Aerin’s name is a nod to the word aeronautics.

Many fields had bales of hay rolled up like carpet... like some giant didn’t like his lawn and rolled it all up.

Kansas afternoon sky with dramatic clouds. So beautiful to see.

Day three: The Breakdown

Tuesday 7/23 • Limon, CO to Rawlins, WY. • 308 miles • Temp: 91º

Got a late start today. Probably due to the heat and driving the previous 2 days. While traveling down the Highway, I noticed the sun was beating on Aerin’s side of the car.  I got off the Highway and pulled into a Phillips 66 station in Deer Trail, CO. I wanted to get a sunshade from the back for Aerin. As I walked towards the rear hatch, I noticed a long trail of liquid following my car into the gas station.

Not good. I opened the hood and looked at the overflow reservoir, which was literally doing its namesake… a boiling cauldron of fluid, spewing and spitting out of the drain hose onto the ground. I’ve never seen anything like that. I went inside to ask if they had any fan belts (note to self: get an extra fan belt). He said, and I quote “We haven’t fixed cars in 30 years.” I was momentarily stunned as there was a 2 bay repair garage right behind him. After collecting my tongue, I asked him where the nearest place I can get another fan belt and he said “over in the next town, about 18 miles away.”

I did find the fan belt, still with the car, sitting on the bottom radiator support ledge (thank you Scarab for that design). It looked a little melted here and there with a 2 inch long chunk of rubber missing but according to my kid’s geometry lesson, it was still considered a circle. I tried not to panic as I dug through my emergency tool bag and found the duct tape and gaffers tape. I used both tapes to wrap the damaged fan belt as smoothly as I could and reinstalled it. I then began my best impression of “Driving Miss Daisy” to the next town. My mind kept repeating, “How far is 18 miles? The Napa auto store was 18 looong MILES away.'' It could have been on the moon at that moment. It seemed impossible. But, I didn’t want to worry Aerin, so as calmly as I could, I told her of my plans to get this car fixed. Driving around 10 miles per hour, I took the old highway which parallels the main Interstate just in case we broke down completely. (Note to self: get TWO more fan belts)

We got within 5 miles of Strasburg when the fan belt completely broke and flew off with a metallic bang. I looked in the rear view mirror and saw it lying across the road. I stopped as soon as possible and went back to get it. I found it in a shape that was not useful to me anymore… what shape you ask? Hmm, let’s just say a circle is not supposed to have ends on it. This one had two. We drove the final 5 miles without the alternator or water pump running, just the electric fan. H20 temp gauge hit max. I thought we were going to explode. I sped up to 55mph, put it in neutral, turned off the engine and coasted for as long as possible, restarted the engine then sped up again and coasted. Lather, rinse, repeat... all 5 miles. By the time we reached the outskirts of the town, which seemed like an eternity, I worried about turning the engine off as each restart sounded weaker and weaker. We coasted the last block into Napa Auto parts parking lot. What a relief to shut the car down. The guys inside were really helpful and nice. They found a smaller belt which actually fit better, giving me a little more adjustment range. I took out my socket set and began loosening the alternator to get the new fan belt on. I suppose I should call it the alternator belt, as I don’t have a belt driven fan. Hmm… note to self.

I also added 1.5 gallons of Antifreeze. As for the “alternator” belt, I bought THREE more! I learned my lesson that day. Even though the belt was only a year old and had, maybe 200 miles on it, I should have had a spare. Lesson learned. The guys from Napa all came out to see what I was doing… well… really, they came out to see a V8 in a Datsun. After some picture taking, we said thank you and goodbye. Time lost, about 3 hours.

Back on the Interstate the car was running around 200º - 210º, even with the high heat. We stopped for lunch in Denver at a gourmet sandwich shop and cooled down. I stopped there because there was a parking spot right in front of the glass windows, where I could watch the car and all our belongings. Also, I raised the hood to let the engine cool as much as possible. Every so often someone would do a double take and back up, gesturing to their friends to stop and have a look. Some looked like they knew what they were seeing, while others looked perplexed. But most left with a smile, perhaps remembering a Z they once had.

Day four: Crossing Two States

Wednesday 7/24 • Rawlins, WY to Wendover, UT.• 406 miles • Temp: 97º

Got up early to pack the car, Tetris style, and checked the oil and coolant levels. Oil was 2 quarts low and radiator was about 4 inches low. Filled the oil and put more antifreeze in. I repeatedly squeezed the upper, lower, and heater hoses to get as much air out of the system as I could. I previously installed a Prestone backflush tee into one of the heater hoses which allowed me to burp the system as much as possible. H2O temp ran about 190º - 210º the rest of the way home, despite the 80-90º heat wave we were stuck in all the way across the United States.

The speed limit for most of the trip was 80mph. My car’s gearing made that speed uncomfortable for any sustained driving. The engine would howl, the doors would buzz, and the tach would be pointing in a direction I hadn’t seen before. I backed it down to 72mph and just let all the other cars fly by. Shifting through the gears to Highway speeds always sounds like I need to up shift one more gear past 4th. I really can’t imagine getting up to 140mph in 4th gear. Sounds impossible.

As the days went on the car got harder to start at each refueling. I think it was the combination of hot temps and bad timing of my right foot. It would misfire and sound flooded so ultimately I would just press the gas pedal to the floor, crank the engine until it started and with a tremendous roar, scared all the little old ladies and children within earshot.

After lunch we headed West out of Salt Lake City and passed the Bonneville Salt Flats. The salt flats are 12 miles long and 5 miles wide of, well… salt. It can be as thick as 5 feet near the middle and 1 inch at the sides. This is where a lot of land speed records are attempted at events such as Speedweek. 12 miles doesn’t sound like a long way, but to see the salt laid out in front of you, pool table flat, makes it seem to go on forever...

Day five: The Big Push

Thursday 7/25 • Wendover, UT to San Francisco, CA. • 616 miles • Temp: 98º

We got up early to leave Wendover and maybe reach Reno, NV by dinner time. We got some unexpected help by the time zone which was only 3 blocks away from our motel. Hurray! We felt just like Back to the Future, gaining an hour in 3 blocks! So let’s see how far we can get today.

At every gas stop I checked the engine compartment and also let some of the heat out. Other customers would notice the car, then the engine and would strike up a conversation with me. They would tell me of their own Z car story. I didn’t mind the attention the car brought as it fascinated me that they would want to talk about the Z. The only time I was hesitant to raise the hood was in the town we were planning to stay for the night. I did not want to attract undue attention to the Z for fear of someone stealing it in the night.

Because of that (mostly irrational) fear, we looked for motel rooms where we could park right in front of the door. The conversation with the manager/owner would go something like this: “Do you have any vacancies?” “Let me see.” I would then ask, “Any rooms on the ground floor?” They would reply, “Uh, yes there is one.” I then would ask, “Can I park right in front of it?” If the answer was still yes we were “In like Flint”. If the answer was no, then the awkward part of the whole ordeal would ensue. I’d say, “Uh, Thank you, I’ll let you know” as I slowly backed out of the lobby.

We did not have any overnight problems, which makes me feel like my “Big City” fears were totally unfounded in these little towns. But, comforted with the success of my highly “scientific” room selection method, I can always say the car was still there every morning BECAUSE of my paranoia! :)... “No brag just fact.” -The Guns of Will Sonnett

On the way to Reno, we saw ugly strip mines and lovely mesa shaped mountains. Occasionally I saw giant road signs that said “Do not pick up hitchhikers”. At first I couldn’t understand why this sign prohibited hitch hiking, but a smaller sign affixed below it explained it all… “State Prison next exit”. Glad I had a 2-seater car with two occupants… no room for strangers.

One hour outside Reno, we stopped in Fernley for gas. As I got up, my legs felt weak and shaky. The heat was getting to me. I spent the next 30 minutes sitting in the casino’s convenience store, cooling down and drinking lots of iced water. Finally feeling better, we took off again, destination Reno. Temperature still a scorching 95º and well over 100º inside the car.

Amazingly, when we got to Reno I still felt good. Aerin had fallen asleep and I could not find a place to rest that was cool and shady. Still 95º outside at 5pm, I made an executive decision and decided to keep driving towards Squaw Valley, CA and maybe, just maybe, home. I surmised it would be cooler in Lake Tahoe, but I was sadly mistaken. Same thing. Hot, hot, and more hot. How can Lake Tahoe be hotter than Branson?

I stopped at the Donner Lake Vista Point for a quick breather and to show Aerin what it looks like. It was a very peaceful setting, full of green trees, a nice lake, and beautiful mountains all around. Almost like paradise. But, if you’ve forgotten your 3rd grade history lessons, this is where the Donner Party got stuck during winter, freezing and out of food. They ate anything they could. First they ate the horses, then they ate the dogs, then anything with four legs… until... they were left with one menu item… the infamous, “two-legged spéciale du jour”. You can guess what happened next.

Aerin and I, on the other hand, had the opposite problem. It was broiling hot, I looked like a roasted pig, and we had plenty of food and water to outlast a summer heat wave. But I still wondered if Aerin thought of eating BBQ whenever she looked my way. Luckily I fed her already.

After passing Donner Summit, I knew I could keep driving until we got home. Incredibly, Sacramento, CA was the hottest place of the whole trip, at 98º. We didn’t get relief from the oppressive heat until after we passed Vallejo, which is about 35 miles East of San Francisco. I can’t begin to tell you how wonderful 75º felt. Almost roll your windows up weather. Almost. And it got even COOLER once we hit San Francisco, a scorching 65º. Ahh what a relief… a temperature drop of 30º in 3 hours was sure awesome. Thank goodness for our natural air conditioner, San Francisco Fog.

One Hot Ride

Final Thoughts

Rolling into the garage around 9pm and stopping the motor for a final time, brought a mixture of emotions I was not prepared for. I was tired but happy to be home, proud of my trusty steed to carry us there, relief that there were no more mechanical problems to worry about, and strangely, sadness that the adventure was over. 

After 5 days of driving, the real world came flooding back like a Tsunami. No more long distance driving, unstructured days, stopping whenever we pleased, literally seeing the country mile by mile. I even sort of missed our constant travelling companion, the HEAT! The car performed better than I had hoped. It ran all day in 80º+ heat, always started and stopped when asked. The Recaro seats were just as firm from the start of this journey until the end. In other words, they were very supportive and comfortable. The Momo steering wheel was a joy to hold. If you get the chance, install some nice seats and a leather steering wheel. Just the addition of these two items will totally transform the driving experience of your car. You get constant feedback from the steering wheel and the seats. The sensations you feel with your hands and the seat of your pants make you feel like one with the car. This is what I enjoy most about driving this old, analog car. It does everything you want it to and at the same time, tells you everything it’s doing. I love driving, and I especially love driving this Scarab. This trip was a dream come true.

Both Aerin and I had a wonderful time in Branson with you all. We enjoyed meeting you, getting to know a little about each of you, and the friendships we made. We had an epic 2600 mile adventure, one requiring faith in a car I hand built some 37 years earlier. The trip, without air conditioning, periodically made us question our sanity. But, it also gave us a great lesson in life. Aerin didn’t complain once and now feels she can overcome any hardship life throws her way.

It reminds me of a saying:

“

Do not pray for an easy life, 

pray for the strength to endure a difficult one

-Bruce Lee

”

“Just the Facts Ma’am” - Sgt. Joe Friday, Dragnet

Total Days: 5

Total miles driven: 2625

Average outside temp: 90º

Air conditioning: 0

States crossed: 7 (Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and California)

Gas stops: 18

Total gas: $580

Average mpg: 15.6

Average Highway speed: 72 mph

Mechanical problems: 1

Repeatability: 0

Memories: forever