I have purchased several (non running) cars in Houston (including 2 LBCs) and
driven them to Detroit. Once the car was driveable, most of the prep (such as
replacing rad and heater hoses, belts, etc. appears to have been done to your
future car already.
Travel kit - tool kit containing: set of wrenches and sockets, screwdrivers,
pliers, vice grips, small ball peen hammer and chisel, feeler gages, spares (I
always carry the latest old tune-up parts: (this way I know that the spares were
functioning when removed) points, condenser, rotor, cap, rad hoses and belt),
catalogs for the vehicle, rags or a roll of paper towels, short length of
insulated wire (16 ga) and a small selection of crimp terminals, multimeter or
12v test light, fuses, spare oil - anywhere from a qt to a case depending on the
engine, empty anti-freeze gal container, electric fuel pump with at least 4 ft
long leads and equally long fuel hose.
My travel kit (minus the empty gal jug, oil and roll of paper towels) fits into
a small duffel bag that I carry in which ever vehicle I am driving. The spares
are in a separate small bag stored in each vehicle.
The only LBC failure occurred in an MGB where the previous owner had just done a
tune up and used the wrong rotor. Since all the tune up parts were new, I did
not buy any spares. I traveled from Houston to southern Illinois with out
incident when the ignition suddenly shut off while I was passing a semi. The
DPO had installed a rotor where the contact leg was too short for the
distributor cap being used. Why did it worked so good for 670 miles and then
failed suddenly? Lack of the correct rotor and the inability to trouble shoot
the problem as darkness approached cost me a tow off of the interstate into a
tiny farm town and an overnight at the local 5 room motel. Next morning a local
mechanic/handyman diagnosed the problem ("you got a wrong rotor bug") once I
explained all the things that I had tried/bypassed/replaced. He drove me out in
the country, thru the cornfields to a small foreign salvage yard and they had a
new correct rotor still in the box. After an 18 hour delay the car once again
ran like a champ.
|