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Well, Tim just called: the generator light's come on, so it doesn't look like he'll make it home without a repair, since they'll have a few hours of after-dark driving today.
The good news, however, is that they're about an hour west of good buddy J.K. Jackson's shop in Tallahassee, so provided they can make it there, help is at hand. They may even attempt a quick alternator conversion. (Thanks, J.K., for being a friend in need--again!)
Margie
Chances are $2.00 worth of new generator brushes would get them back up and running again...much easier and cheaper than converting to an alternator.
The problem is they were running with the headlights on. Of course the generator will go out if you do that. Probably just needs some brushes and a polarization. Or an Nippodenso alternator.
Jerry From LA wrote:
Between winning the NFC Championship, the Super Bowl, and Mardi Gras, New Orleans is in for one big long hangover.
Last year me & my buddy did the same thing. Slightly bigger vehicle & slightly longer trip. We started out in Phoenix driving a 30' 96 Winnebago with no jack & no spare & no tools. 4 days later we ended up home, here in Halifax, Nova Scotia. What a trip. If that nice state trooper from New Mexico is on this board - thanks bud! he's a good guy!
Hey Tim, why don't you guys swing by here on your way home for a beer? Its just a few miles out of you way! 
Dr. Hess wrote:The problem is they were running with the headlights on. Of course the generator will go out if you do that.
Hess made me LOL.
I love road trips and wagons and an Edsel wagon has got to be one of the best choices ever.
We did make it to JK's shop, and experience unto itself. The generator just needed wires soldered back together.
We got home at 2:00am last night: safe, tired and surprisingly un beat up, considering that we just drove 2800 miles in five days in an essentially unrestored 50 year old car.
This should make a pretty interesting story, or stories. I have already started writing. Thanks to all that pitched in, or offered to help. Next time we do this, I would like to take time to visit all of you, but that would probably mean no magazines ofr a couple of months.
They're home and the Edsel is awesome. Tim and I drove it to b'fast and then work this morning, and apart from a scary "this'll never work" feeling when I first saw that long, long hood (with gunsights!) swing out of the driveway ahead of me, it was a great ride. We got many thumbs-up... who knew meter reader chicks noticed cars?
They did ditch the alternator conversion idea after an hour or so and took another good, long look at the generator, only to discover the problem was just a couple broken wires. Quick fix was followed by a smooth 4-hour ride home, in the dark, WITH headlights!
Margie
Sounds like an awesome trip. I love old wagons. Will this be in Classic Motorsports? Look forward to the read.
Welcome back home!
This story reminded me of a similar one I read year's ago about Tom Cotter driving a real 289 Cobra home across country. It sounded like fun, much like your trip did. Here is the article: http://www.erareplicas.com/history/r_and_t_289cruise/cruise1.htm
Damn she's purdy. Congrats on a relatively drama-free trip!!! Jeebus, N.O. must've been NUTS!!! Talk about great timing.
Cool car! Needs a little red below the belt to offset the red roof, maybe red whels with baby moons & beauty rings?
Red mags?
Dan
914Driver wrote:Cool car! Needs a little red below the belt to offset the red roof, maybe red whels with baby moons & beauty rings?
Red mags?
Dan
red steelies with baby moons (no beauty rings) or full covers with three-bar flippers. keep the wide whites, but dress up the black part of the tires so they'yre black again.
Big block, powerglide, and tub it with bigsnlittles. 
AngryCorvair wrote:914Driver wrote:Cool car! Needs a little red below the belt to offset the red roof, maybe red whels with baby moons & beauty rings?
Red mags?
Dan
red steelies with baby moons (no beauty rings) or full covers with three-bar flippers. keep the wide whites, but dress up the black part of the tires so they'yre black again.
Oooh, I likes baby moons. And yeah, the tires that are on it are not, as Tim put it, even round--cheap bias-ply tires bought for shows, not for cross-country trips. So we'll be shopping, but I kinda like the wide-whites.
Oh, and edit: Yes, the road trip story will be in Classic Motorsports later this year.
Margie
Tim Suddard wrote: You should have been on Bourbon street last night, just as the Saints won the NFC championship game to go to the Superbowl for the first time ever. What a night!
How could I have missed you, I was the guy in the Vikes Jersey. Actually it was a great game and a great crowd. As soon as the 4 o'clock whistle blows today I'm heading your way for the race this weekend. Not sure what I'm doing between 4 p.m. today and Thursday a.m. but I'll find something/somewhere to waste Wednesday.
Keep the wide whites (or replace with new ones). It looks about perfect as-is.
Tom Heath wrote:That is a great shot! Sounds like ya'll had a whole lot of fun. Look forward to the article. That is a good lookin ride you got there.Updates from the road-
Took Margie and the kids to dinner in the mighty Edsel. Initially, I think everyone thought I had really lost it, and then within spending ten minutes with the Edsel, the whole family fell in love with it and now there is talk of a road trip out west in the car. Never before has one of the cars I have dragged home made everyone so happy. I am going to fix a few things underneath and maybe slight modifying for improved driveability, but little else. I didn't buy this thing as a project car for the magazine, but more of a tow truck, family truckster for carrying parts and magazines. Filled it with freshly powder coated parts for the Corvair today and the Edsel carried them all, including the front cross member. I'll do a road trip story, but Edsels is not really what Classic Motorsports is supposed to be about. That said, I was thinking about doing a comparison test with a sports car from the era. This would involve both road and track testing. What do you guys want to read about? As I no doubt have proven, it all interests me. I find I enjoy the car hobby way more when I open my mind up to all of it, rather than just focus on racing or just on Triumphs, etc.
In reply to Tim Suddard:
Aw, man...I'm so jealous! Not so much for the Edsel, even though it's a great find, but just for the trip. And I think a lot of the humor in it is that it didn't break until you were almost home (well, "almost" is accurate-considering the total length of the trip )
What I'd like to see in CM is actually a little weird...maybe GRM has had too much influence? I really enjoyed the GRM article about how even a modern minivan can perform as well as many of the cherished icons of our childhood..how about a piece for CM that explains just how much better those cars were than the "appliances" of their day? Something to explain to people just why these cars were treated with such respect in the first place?
Actually, that sounds like the "period" companion test you've already been thinking about.. I'd love to see something like that with the real information that modern data acquisition can provide.
Stock Edsel wagon vs. MGA. Stock 1957 Corvette vs. Stock 1957 Bel-Air sedan.
"Vintage Tow Vehicles" might be another article. IIRC, when Jim Hall took the 2A back to Sebring for the 20th anniversary of his win there, he brought it on an open trailer behind an old Chevy pickup...just as he'd done "back in the day".
Use the concept, add CM's focus upon "usable classics", and go for it. Find an old Pontiac Safari so that you don't have to modify the Edsel. My dream vintage racing rig would be an old SCCA B Sedan BMW 2002 towed on an open trailer behind a 1974 Chevy Impala Wagon.
If you start to make a "resto-rod" tow vehicle, then it does fit with the GRM idea. Maybe a Powerstroke conversion 
.
I'd read everything about that car -- it's fascinating, in the way steam engines and WWII fighter planes are, because it is so far removed from our modern era.
Howdy guys!
Yep we survived, with plenty of stories to tell. Some are fit for public consumption....the others you'll have to ask us about when you see us at events! Although the first few hundred miles in the beast were hairy as hell (pouring rain, L.A. traffic, bias ply tires, no real defrost or wipers, steering that is.....ummm..... vague....) as the trip rolled on I really fell for the 50 year old girl. It is one of those rare cars that seem to make everyone happy.
Stay tuned for a full report, and thanks a ton for all the offers of help. It was great to know we had a "safety net" in case of catastrophic failure!
Tim- you may want to look at the trans if you haven't already. While the push buttons are cool, reverse seems to be the only weak link in the drive train. We had one that looked exactly like yours when I was growing up. It followed a '58 Mercury wagon that was the ultimate wagon at the time. They were both beasts for towing my Dads stock car and hauling my folks and five rug rats around. Some of my best memories growing up were spent camping out in the back of those two wagons at the tracks we went to.
jrw1621 wrote:The hangover kicks in after you stop drinking. From what I have learned from the New Orleans locals, many have yet to experience this thing you call a hangover.
If I had got here earlier I would have recommended Chargrilled Oysters from Acme Oyster Co. located just off Bourbon St. If that is not your thing, you can't go wrong with a Burger from The Port of Call Bar located at the other end of Bourbon St.
Had me that burger at the Port of Call. She's a good one.
To Margie: Gunsights, yes. Alas, where's the offensive weaponry when you really need it?
To Tim: Whatever you do, improve the brakes on that thing, especially since you'll be hauling weight. Sounds like a rebuilt box will help the vagueness in the steering Joe complained about. Or perhaps it's Joe's diminishing physical capacities that are the real problem now that he's 40.
To Tommy: Take a good look at that car, young man. That's a piece of the world as it was when your father was born. Amazing to think about, isn't it?
To Joe: Don't worry. Turning 40 is not like hitting a brick wall. It's more like hitting a stone wall. Happy birthday, sir.
