For the whole of the challenge we have been struggling with a lack of power on the hilly sections. On the early portion of day two, the Aries added overheating to this equation. Given it was a Sunday and we were on the road, what could we do? Follow along to see. Will the Dodge carry us the whole distance?
We stopped down a wooded lane to cool off again. First we removed the air filter. Seemly unlikely to gain us any power but could not hurt right? We initially were going to run the bare carburetor but thought better of in-case of a backfire. The air filter housing went back on minus the filter. I do not think it made much of a difference.
Turning around to pull back onto the highway, I accidentally dropped the car into the ditch at the side of the road. I knew if I let off the throttle we would be stuck. That would be a big problem, as we earlier discovered there are no tow hooks on the car. Luckily the Aries didn’t seem to lack oomph at low speeds, so I was able to power out of it.
At the next town, Cranbrook, we took drastic action. We could have removed the hood like they do on Roadkill but the forecast mentioned a strong possibility for rain. I suspect the electronics, which had not given us any grief to this point (except the clock I suppose), would not perform as well under those damp circumstances. The sweeper truck driver had met us and he had a pile of tools on-board. One of those tools was an angle grinder. He also had a spare paint tray from recently painting his truck …
So I cut a hole in the hood where the under-braces allowed it mostly easily. We then cut the paint tray to allow more air in. The modified paint tray was then attached with some self-tapping screws. My apologies to any K-car enthusiasts/preservationists. As one might imagine we got several puzzled gazes from onlookers. I suppose we should have mounted the tray the other way to allow hot air to escape but it looked better as a cool air intake. Even in a beater rally, aesthetics have their place.
Not long after setting off again, we came across a turbo-charged Subaru with a factory hood intake not too dissimilar to ours. I am not sure if he noticed our car but I would like to think our two vehicles shared a moment of brotherhood on the BC highway.
Performance wise, the situation seemed to have stabilized. We were able to cruise at between 80-90km/h (50 to 55 miles per hour). The speed limit is 100km/h (62 miles per hour) with most folks preferring to exceed that by 10-20km/h (6-12 miles per hour) so rather large lines of traffic kept building up behind us.
The sweeper truck was behind us now (after outrunning us on other occasions) so the traffic likely blamed him until they passed him to reveal the real culprit. Since it was mostly a single track on each side of the road with limited passing opportunities I would pull over occasionally to let them pass. Only on one of these occasions were we honked at by several motorists. I suspect there might have been a few one finger salutes happening as well.
From inside the car our makeshift ram intake was hard to mistake for anything other than a paint tray, but if you were perhaps far enough away and a near-sighted badger with cataracts, then it looked quite sporty. It did block the view of the Chrysler Pentastar leading the way, which was a shame.
One of the scavenger hunt items was collecting photos of unique animal warning signs. We collected a total of ten but I heard that another team managed to find a few more.
While technically still in the mountains, the elevation gains and losses were starting to become less extreme. The Aries and I had come to a mutual understanding about a speed that let the car run well. We passed farms, lumber camps, and small towns.
As we crossed the Alberta border, we sighed. Close to home. Maybe an hour and a half drive in a normal vehicle, so at least two with a limping Aries. We passed through coal mining towns of Coleman, Blairmore, Hillcrest, Crowsnest Pass and into Frank. There I added half a tank of gas to ensure we would not run out.
The winds were strong again as we left the mountains. This time they helped rather than hinder so we were able to achieve the massive speed of 100km/h (62 miles per hour). Or maybe that last tank of fuel had something special in it. The flatter foothills then prairies definitely agreed with the car and we were on the home stretch.
Familiar sights of ranches, farms and windmills greeted us. The K-car was tired but still reliably (or should I say Reliantly?) moving forward.
We had done it. A humble and well used Aries had taken us through farm land, mountain coal country, on a ferry, winding roads in torrential rain, and up a mountain pass. Sure there had been some hiccups but that was all part of the experience.
Only the wrap up dinner and drinks remained. About half the teams had already left as we were the stragglers of the group, but it was still fantastic to swap stories. Amazingly, all the beaters had finished the rally. After the final tallying of points the Rambler group came away with a well earned win. They had taken a car from its field resting place and driven on this epic journey. I heard that their engine crankshaft was moving in and out but somehow held in place by the timing marks tab.
My son and I had placed in 5th, which we considered a success. I was presented with the biggest and heaviest trophy of the night. I believe it was for the cheapest car … or worse car … or something like that. My son unfortunately was not able to attend the awards since it was held at a bar but that hardly mattered. We had a shared experience, a whole bonding weekend and memories to last a lifetime.
As for the Dodge, its time with me has come to an end. I certainly could have looked into its issues, as I suspect it might have been as simple as an engine timing issue, but I did not need the car. I really did not want to scrap such a steady and slow but somehow endearing car. Therefore I put it on the local classified site for a very small amount and sold it a few days later to a 16 year old new driver who had a couple of mechanically savvy friends willing to help him fix it up. Hopefully it will continue to make memories for someone else. Goodbye and good luck ‘Special K’.
The whole series:
CC Road Trip: The Great Beater Challenge, Part 1 – Vehicle Selection
CC Road Trip: The Great Beater Challenge, Part 2 – 1983 Dodge Aries Purchased
CC Road Trip: The Great Beater Challenge, Part 3 – Vehicle Preparation
The Great Beater Challenge: Day 1, Part 1 – Off To A Slow Start
The Great Beater Challenge: Day 1, Part 2 – Rain, Rain, and a Hotel with Character
The Great Beater Challenge: Day 2, Part 1 – The Big Climb
The Great Beater Challenge: Day 2, Part 2– Finale
What a great experience – thanks for taking us along!
+1 on that
agreed! Fun to live it through your pics and descriptions–true CC in motion!! Thanks for taking us along.
I would love to do something like this. Thank you so much for letting us ride along.
Special K all the way!
I have a feeling that paint roller tray hood scoops will soon be seen popping up on rat rods. Pretty darn clever.
I can’t take credit for the idea. It was Ken the sweeper truck driver who suggested it.
Great story that I really enjoyed reading. I will miss the “Dodgey” Aries! Hopefully the kid who bought it will show it some love.
That was great and the paint tray hood scoop is extremely “Roadkill”. Should have relocated the PentaStar to the leading edge…
It seemed like it was a week-long journey, funny how it was only two days in reality. You packed a lot of stuff into the time.
Thanks to you for sharing it and also to your son for taking a lot of very good photographs to illustrate everything.
Roadkill would have stopped at Home Depot, bought a gas-powered leaf blower, slapped a “Roadkill” decal on it and then jammed it in the intake pipe.
Mint.
I cringed at the pic of the cutting of the hood, being a little nostalgic for the K’s, but hey, all’s fair in love and war, eh? This mini-series was a fun read, and it really sparked a sense of wanderlust in me. The photos are breath taking. Most importantly, it was a great opportunity for you and your son to hang together.
Good on ya for passing the car along to an enthusiastic young driver. For better or worse, this means that the venerable old K will at least be fondly remembered by one last owner, as nobody ever forgets his first car. Besides, that Aries is semi-famous now, so it’s got provenance. Who knows, maybe one day you’ll run across it at a cruise-in, complete with a poster board outlining its monumental accomplishments 😉
Could have laid the Pentastar down flat, might have reduced drag that way. Also improved air flow into the paint tray, er, hood scoop. HA!!!
Just a passing thought, looking at the photos of the dash, are you in second gear on that TorqueFlite?
No – it was in Drive but the indicator was a bit off.
I will never look at a paint tray the same again.
Thanks for this series of articles — very enjoyable to read about both the car and the scenery, and I’m glad you didn’t have to finish the journey as passengers in the sweeper truck! Congratulations!
Thanks for sharing the journey with us; despite all the problems, the Aries crossed the finish line under its own power and you had a great father-son trip. Sounds like a success to me!
I’m also glad to hear the car wasn’t scrapped. It deserved credit for taking you the whole way, and even if the engine is on its last legs, the (mostly) straight body and complete/non-roached interior would make it a great candidate for a low-buck swap. The perfect first car for a kid who needs cheap wheels and wants to get his hands dirty!
I’ve enjoyed this series a lot. Taking an older car on any sort of journey can be nerve-wracking, but that’s the adventure, isn’t it?
Your son will remember this trip forever.
That’s what a AAA card with 200 mile towing and a cell phone were made for, Jason.
Cell phone service is pretty spotty at best in the mountains. We didn’t have AAA but there was the sweeper truck.
Pentastar —> Paintastar
Reminds me of the bread pans I screwed to the sides of my Squareback to correct VW’s idiotic backward-facing air inlets.
Whew, you made it! I was on pins and needles for awhile. Too bad you couldn’t have tried to duct the paint pan scoop directly into the air cleaner for a little forced induction action – I’m sure that would have earned you that last 5 mph. 🙂
I had kind of hoped that you would take the now-famous Aries back home and apply your diagnostic skills, to quickly find the simple issue that hindered the car’s performance. It would have been just the Staff Car that CC (Oops, I mean KK) needs. Oh well.
If we didn’t already have four other vehicles (car, truck, minivan and bike) I might have. Plus there is a likely a more powerful classic car in my immediate future.
This experience was perfect for CC. Thanks for sharing David.
What a great ending to a great story. Even K-cars have a will to live it seems 🙂
Going that far with severely retarded ignition very well done, I would have just advanced the distributor rather than carve holes in the bonnet overheating and power problems solved in an instant, Great to see you made it though.
A total scream, David. Thank you. And taking your son along was perfect both for the two of you and bringing future new blood into the hobby.
And all my Grandmother did was let me start her 60 Ambassador wagon to light the flame.
Great story! Takes me back to Peter Egan’s early adventures in improbable cars in the 80s.
Great series & very enjoyable to follow. Thanks!
Loved the paint tray air scoop. I hope you got some points for it (Best On-Road Modification?).
Kongratulations! Hey, it wouldn’t have been memorable if that K car ran like it was supposed to; it would have been a snooze.
Love that scoop…
Glad the Special K made it to the end, but too bad there was no opportunity to perform an autotopsy to identify what was ailing the old beater.
Hey, glad you made it home. I’ve enjoyed the series, it brings back memories of 35 years ago when I and my friends thought nothing of hopping into a 300 dollar car and driving 800 miles across BC with a few tools, a roll of duct tape and maybe a handful of zip ties. we didn’t always make it but we always had an adventure.
Sorry to hear the locals weren’t too polite about the speed thing, but for what it’s worth doing the speed limit on the Crow heading east on a Sunday afternoon will get you the same treatment. Lot’s of weekenders heading back to Calgary…..
I hope the K car’s new owner treats it right, it served you well.
There were only a very small number of folks that honked. Most were very good about it.
Enjoyed this series, old Mopar’s always seem to get you home (mostly)
Great story. I’m glad you made it all the way. Bask in the glory! It just goes to show that you can actually drive and use some of these CC cars if you are willing to deal with the occasional problem. Usually you would take some time to get your car in better order but that was the challenge. I know a lot of guys with their expensive garage queens that would be terrified of a journey like this. I would like to recreate your trip in a bit better car as the scenery looks fantastic. Drive on.
Great story enjoyed it tremendously. It did remind me of Roadkill but you had windows and windshield with actual glass in them. It also reminded me of a family trip several years ago from Houston to El Paso Texas (@850 miles one way) plagued with fuel problems that neither I nor a mechanic we met enroute were able to diagnose. The problem turned out to be a piece of gasket material in the fuel bowl. Engine ran great on level ground but every time there wa an elevation change the gasket would get sucked by the jet in the fuel bowl and cut off the fuel supply. It was quite an adventure but one I rather not go through again.
What happened to the special K plate on the front? I noticed it was missing on these pictures.
It was made of paper so unfortunately it dissolved in the heavy rain on later part of day one.
In Day 2, part 1 you showed a picture of a Top Gear entry. Were they the new Top Gear guys, one of whom has been sacked, or was it the old Top Gear guys, who all left after Jeremy was sacked?
It was the old Top Gear guys – Jeremy and James.
Did they have a camera crew? Their new show is on Amazon’s network. I can’t imagine that they did this just for fun.
It was guys dressed as them. Not actually them.
I had looked at your post on Day 1 Part 1 and had figured out they were playing a part. Did they get any points for that? Perhaps they should have lost points since James and Jeremy are no longer Top Gear. They should have been driving an old Rolls if they were stopping for tea along the road.
They did get some good points for costumes. It was all in good fun. No chance of finding a Rolls for under $700 around here!
Any running Rolls would be worth far more than $700.
I have been through Lethbridge a few times on my way to Banff.
Bravo, Saunders & Son!
What a great subject for CC and a well-told tale. Each episode had just the right amount of “suspension” to keep us at the edge of our seats.
Maybe we’ll get lucky and the new owner of Dodgey Aries will stop by and let us know when and how he gets her back up to speed.
A great adventure and the fact it was a father-son adventure makes it especially wonderful. I still remember the trip my dad & I took in 1963 when I was 12 traveling from Portland, OR to Indianapolis, IND to pick up and drive back a M-H school bus to Portland. That trip was priceless to me as I hope your trip is to your son. The time you have with your children is fleeting and times together such as these are to be savored.
I hope you could convince the Rambler Guys to post and article or two here.