After I got back from Europe in August 1964, the children and I returned to Norfolk to wait for the aircraft carrier to return to port. Then in October 1964, my husband Bob got orders to California, so we drove a 1932 Plymouth from the east coast to Monterey California. I wrote up the trip for the Plymouth magazine. We found a house to rent, and flew back home. In December, we did the trip again, this time in a modern car (a 1964 Ford Station Wagon) with our two children.
This first section is the first trip west in the 1932 Plymouth as I wrote it at the time.
But there remained one large four-door problem. How to transport Bob's 1932 Plymouth PB to California from his present duty station in Norfolk Virginia. We considered shipping the car (too expensive), having someone else drive it (more reasonably priced - $125.00 - but risky), driving tandem or towing (which we had done on previous change of stations, but it would be impractical now that we had two children -one age 3 and one age one) and (Bob refused to even consider this) storing it. Our solution - Bob requested leave, and when (surprise) it was granted, I made plans to leave the children with my mother and drive out to the coast with him. Not only did we want to get the "old car" to the West Coast but we also wanted to find ourselves living quarters. This was the first large January class and many more people would be arriving than leaving.
"You won't make it", I was told but of course I had confidence in Bob, and the car had always been reliable too. Before Bob bought it it had been driven from Florida to Maryland and traded in on a new car.
Before it was restored, it was painted Baby Blue
Before it was restored Bob drove it to Cape Cod and back and I drove it to the Naval Academy when we were dating.
Here are some excerpts from the trip diary.
Saturday 10 October 1964 - Norfolk Virginia to Hershey Pennsylvania
Bob didn't look at the calendar when he requested his leave, and it starts today. So extreme measures are necessary if we are to get to the Hershey meet which starts today. Yesterday, I drove the station wagon, myself and the two girls to my mother's in Baltimore. Last night, Bob greased the car, attempted to reseal the top (which started to leak during the last hurricane), and loaded the car. At midnight he started for Baltimore. He has so many spare parts in the back seat that there is hardly room for a suitcase apiece. We are taking
I brought maps, cameras and a thermos jug. The back is loaded up to the rear window.
It took Bob 6 hours and 10 minutes to do the 250 miles to Baltimore, and after he took a short nap, we went the rest of the way to Hershey in slightly over two hours. We were quite comfortable with the manifold heater which Bob had just installed. [This bolts onto the exhaust manifold and the hot air goes through a hole in the firewall.] Heat can be deflected to the driver's side by using our clipboard as a baffle. This prevents me from being carbonized while Bob freezes. Primitive it may be, but at least it doesn't blow cold air on you for the first 15 minutes. The only disadvantage is the added engine noise you get with the heat.
Hershey Swap Meet
We spent all afternoon walking through the flea market and freezing but there was nothing we could use. {Editor's note: No wonder!} Any parts that were usable were expensive. Bob refused to put his car on the field Saturday because it was so dirty from the trip. After dinner, he washed it.
Bill Maurer told us about driving a PA (1931 Plymouth) back from Canada without a fan belt. He said they had no trouble, which is encouraging. Bob said the engine was probably cooled by convection currents or something.
Sunday 11 October 1964 - Hershey to Somerset, Pennsylvania - 165 miles
The car growled a few times before starting this morning. It was cold and had heavy oil in it. On the way into Hershey from the motel, after breakfast at Fink's Grove Bob finally got the spare gas can filled. When we got to the stadium, it was still early so we wiped the car down washed under the fenders cleaned off the grease and fingermarks and even waxed it a little. He also straightened one headlight which had turned itself 90 deg. It was good to meet the other club members and see some of their beautiful restorations.
Plymouth
Bob looking at a 1931 Plymouth
We realized how rough out car still was.
Prize winner
Among other things Bob discovered that he had put his back bumper on upside down. I took pictures of all the cars even though they were placed so I had to face directly into the sun to do so.
Mr and Mrs McKibben with a Hershey cup - Friends of my dad's
Late in the afternoon when the meet broke up, we headed for the turnpike.
Harrisburg from a bridge
Before we had gone far, a cop stopped us to ask WHY we had a regular Pennsylvania license (It is our official residence and Bob drives the car to work so it is not eligible for an antique license) and NO INSPECTION STICKER?? It was because we had never had the car in Pennsylvania before. It didn't help that Bob had a Virginia driver's license. He let us go because it was Sunday and no inspection stations were open. This incident made us very uneasy and anxious to get out of the state.
About this time when we were starting to go through tunnels that we began to smell gas. Bob stopped and checked under the hood, but couldn't find any leaks. It was the gas in the gas can which expanded as it got warmer.
We have timed our speed with the aid of the mileage points on the turnpike and found that our speedometer reads about 2 mph fast. Construction work doesn't bother us; it just slows everyone else down to our speed. Bob met a Lt. Commander with a PB on the base just before we left who drove is car up from Florida. He said he did 60-65 mph all the way, but we try to stay between 40-45 mph. The car does ride more quietly now. One of the club members suggested that Bob grease the distributor cam, and that has eliminated one of our squeaks.
The lens of the right headlight has slipped around cockeyed again. We continued to have this trouble until about Nevada, when Bob finally got them tightened down (both were rotating by this time) so that they didn't move any more. It was a little disconcerting to turn on your lights and find that you could see the billboards better than the road because the one light was beamed straight up, and the other out in the boonies.
It got dark and we stopped without getting across the Pennsylvania border.
Monday 12 October 1964 - Somerset Pennsylvania to Angola Indiana - 391 miles
We made it to the border without being stopped. It is cold this morning and I held Bob's gloves down where the heater blew hot air into them. To save time, we eat breakfast and lunch while driving, and dinner after we stop for the night. We stop every 100 miles for gas
Getting gas on the Ohio turnpike
and to change drivers, and every 1000 miles for a grease job. We get about 18 miles per gallon, but our oil mileage isn't so good for some reason. Bob washed our car when we stopped this evening, and I did the washbowl laundry.
Tuesday 13 October 1964 - Angola Indiana to Peru Illinois - 307 miles
Motel where we stayed in Indiana
This morning we hit the 1000 mile mark and stopped for a grease job on the turnpike. We have been taking turns trying to decipher the owner's manual. It was in the side pocket when the roof started to leak (before we bought the car), and the pages got wet and stuck together. One needs a mirror and a lot of patience to read some of it. Bob tells me that to adjust the oil pressure downward (which he did as it was reading high, and he thought he might get lower oil consumption on a lower reading), one turns "anti-clockwise". Our gauges are now all reading in the proper ranges.
Fall colors
Part 2 of the trip
This first section is the first trip west in the 1932 Plymouth as I wrote it at the time.
"Go West", Said the Admiral
My husband's orders read "Report for duty, Post Graduate School, Monterey California, 28 December 1964. Detachment date on or about 1 December 1964".But there remained one large four-door problem. How to transport Bob's 1932 Plymouth PB to California from his present duty station in Norfolk Virginia. We considered shipping the car (too expensive), having someone else drive it (more reasonably priced - $125.00 - but risky), driving tandem or towing (which we had done on previous change of stations, but it would be impractical now that we had two children -one age 3 and one age one) and (Bob refused to even consider this) storing it. Our solution - Bob requested leave, and when (surprise) it was granted, I made plans to leave the children with my mother and drive out to the coast with him. Not only did we want to get the "old car" to the West Coast but we also wanted to find ourselves living quarters. This was the first large January class and many more people would be arriving than leaving.
"You won't make it", I was told but of course I had confidence in Bob, and the car had always been reliable too. Before Bob bought it it had been driven from Florida to Maryland and traded in on a new car.
Before it was restored, it was painted Baby Blue
Before it was restored Bob drove it to Cape Cod and back and I drove it to the Naval Academy when we were dating.
Here are some excerpts from the trip diary.
Saturday 10 October 1964 - Norfolk Virginia to Hershey Pennsylvania
Bob didn't look at the calendar when he requested his leave, and it starts today. So extreme measures are necessary if we are to get to the Hershey meet which starts today. Yesterday, I drove the station wagon, myself and the two girls to my mother's in Baltimore. Last night, Bob greased the car, attempted to reseal the top (which started to leak during the last hurricane), and loaded the car. At midnight he started for Baltimore. He has so many spare parts in the back seat that there is hardly room for a suitcase apiece. We are taking
- 1 transmission
- 2 rear axles
- 3 spare tires
- 4 inner tubes
- timing gear
- fan belt
- windshield wiper motor, three windshield wiper blades and windshield wiper hose
- generator
- ignition points
- distributor coil
- gas and oil flex lines
- ignition lock
- complete set of engine gaskets and extra gasket material
- fuel pump kit
- wire
- tire chains
- gasoline can, oil can and spare oil
- grease and grease gun
- touch-up paint, and brushes
- engine paint
- striping kit and paint
- wax
- bailing wire
- tool box
- wheel puller
- rear brake drum
- 1 set rear brake shoes
- 1 wheel cylinder
- brake fluid
- 2 complete sets of front wheel bearings
- door handles and window cranks
- light bulbs
- top sealer and top cover
- cleaner, bucket, chamois and washing cloths
- 1 copy of all the antique auto magazines he subscribes to (about 7) and
- the owners manual.
I brought maps, cameras and a thermos jug. The back is loaded up to the rear window.
It took Bob 6 hours and 10 minutes to do the 250 miles to Baltimore, and after he took a short nap, we went the rest of the way to Hershey in slightly over two hours. We were quite comfortable with the manifold heater which Bob had just installed. [This bolts onto the exhaust manifold and the hot air goes through a hole in the firewall.] Heat can be deflected to the driver's side by using our clipboard as a baffle. This prevents me from being carbonized while Bob freezes. Primitive it may be, but at least it doesn't blow cold air on you for the first 15 minutes. The only disadvantage is the added engine noise you get with the heat.
Hershey Swap Meet
We spent all afternoon walking through the flea market and freezing but there was nothing we could use. {Editor's note: No wonder!} Any parts that were usable were expensive. Bob refused to put his car on the field Saturday because it was so dirty from the trip. After dinner, he washed it.
Bill Maurer told us about driving a PA (1931 Plymouth) back from Canada without a fan belt. He said they had no trouble, which is encouraging. Bob said the engine was probably cooled by convection currents or something.
Sunday 11 October 1964 - Hershey to Somerset, Pennsylvania - 165 miles
The car growled a few times before starting this morning. It was cold and had heavy oil in it. On the way into Hershey from the motel, after breakfast at Fink's Grove Bob finally got the spare gas can filled. When we got to the stadium, it was still early so we wiped the car down washed under the fenders cleaned off the grease and fingermarks and even waxed it a little. He also straightened one headlight which had turned itself 90 deg. It was good to meet the other club members and see some of their beautiful restorations.
Plymouth
Bob looking at a 1931 Plymouth
We realized how rough out car still was.
Prize winner
Among other things Bob discovered that he had put his back bumper on upside down. I took pictures of all the cars even though they were placed so I had to face directly into the sun to do so.
Mr and Mrs McKibben with a Hershey cup - Friends of my dad's
Late in the afternoon when the meet broke up, we headed for the turnpike.
Harrisburg from a bridge
Before we had gone far, a cop stopped us to ask WHY we had a regular Pennsylvania license (It is our official residence and Bob drives the car to work so it is not eligible for an antique license) and NO INSPECTION STICKER?? It was because we had never had the car in Pennsylvania before. It didn't help that Bob had a Virginia driver's license. He let us go because it was Sunday and no inspection stations were open. This incident made us very uneasy and anxious to get out of the state.
About this time when we were starting to go through tunnels that we began to smell gas. Bob stopped and checked under the hood, but couldn't find any leaks. It was the gas in the gas can which expanded as it got warmer.
We have timed our speed with the aid of the mileage points on the turnpike and found that our speedometer reads about 2 mph fast. Construction work doesn't bother us; it just slows everyone else down to our speed. Bob met a Lt. Commander with a PB on the base just before we left who drove is car up from Florida. He said he did 60-65 mph all the way, but we try to stay between 40-45 mph. The car does ride more quietly now. One of the club members suggested that Bob grease the distributor cam, and that has eliminated one of our squeaks.
The lens of the right headlight has slipped around cockeyed again. We continued to have this trouble until about Nevada, when Bob finally got them tightened down (both were rotating by this time) so that they didn't move any more. It was a little disconcerting to turn on your lights and find that you could see the billboards better than the road because the one light was beamed straight up, and the other out in the boonies.
It got dark and we stopped without getting across the Pennsylvania border.
Monday 12 October 1964 - Somerset Pennsylvania to Angola Indiana - 391 miles
We made it to the border without being stopped. It is cold this morning and I held Bob's gloves down where the heater blew hot air into them. To save time, we eat breakfast and lunch while driving, and dinner after we stop for the night. We stop every 100 miles for gas
Getting gas on the Ohio turnpike
and to change drivers, and every 1000 miles for a grease job. We get about 18 miles per gallon, but our oil mileage isn't so good for some reason. Bob washed our car when we stopped this evening, and I did the washbowl laundry.
Tuesday 13 October 1964 - Angola Indiana to Peru Illinois - 307 miles
Motel where we stayed in Indiana
This morning we hit the 1000 mile mark and stopped for a grease job on the turnpike. We have been taking turns trying to decipher the owner's manual. It was in the side pocket when the roof started to leak (before we bought the car), and the pages got wet and stuck together. One needs a mirror and a lot of patience to read some of it. Bob tells me that to adjust the oil pressure downward (which he did as it was reading high, and he thought he might get lower oil consumption on a lower reading), one turns "anti-clockwise". Our gauges are now all reading in the proper ranges.
Fall colors
Part 2 of the trip
- Next entry in the series 'Driving Coast to Coast - Three Cross Country Trips 1964-1966': Taking the Northern Route - Making it to Colorado in a 1932 Plymouth -1964- part 2
