Best thing to start off with is a good car in good running condition. Make sure the engine is in good condition. Make sure the clutch is in good condition and is adjusted properly and the cable is in good condition and DRENCHED IN GREASE. Oil leaks known to be at the oil cooler or in the flywheel area are things that need to be fixed before you leave. Massive oil leaks anywhere else can be dealt with with  diligent checking of the oil and maintaining the level but if the cooler leaks, it’s oil under pressure coming out and it can get so bad, it’s impractical to keep up with the demand by adding oil. Flywheel area leaks eventually get on the clutch and cause the clutch to slip and a badly slipping clutch on a long trip is unmanageable.

Leaks from the trans are unlikely to stop you. If it’s topped off, minor drips are not going to drop it to unsafe levels very quickly but it doesn’t hurt to keep it topped off if it’s leaving nice pools of oil whenever you stop. If it’s leaking onto the brakes, it needs to be fixed  before you leave along with the brakes themselves since the oil damages the shoes.

Consumption of brake fluid is not acceptable. You may end up on the road with no brakes. Can’t have that. You need to check them all including the front. Front wheel bearings should be in good condition. If age is unknown, replace. Use high temp disc brake grease no matter what type of brakes you have.

Rears seldom go bad. Spin both back wheels. If one is much louder the the other, it probably has bad bearings. Rear wheel bearings can attempt to seize. A seized rear wheel bearing makes it hard to push the car out the way in the middle of a busy intersection – at best.

Noisy CV joints can usually be fixed simply by greasing them. As grease ages, it dehydrates and becomes nearly a solid and can cause a joint to make noise because of a lack off free movement. It takes about 1/2 of one typical grease gun grease refill to grease one CV joint properly. Fill the interior and and blob some on each side. The small tube that comes with many CV joint boot kits isn’t even close to enough to properly pack a CV joint.. Don’t sweat over a bad boot if your budget can’t handle it. CV joints in a rear engine cars last a real long time with bad boots. It’s the grease that matters. Of course, if you ford lot of rivers, perfect boots are an absolute necessity. If you do require new boots or CV joints, demand original Lobro brand for both. They’re both out there. Non-Lobro boots are only acceptable for those who enjoy replacing them every two years or so. I promise you that. Non-Lobro joints look real nice but I’ve seen brand new ones bind with the wheel fully extended downwards (car jacked up with wheel off ground) and I’ve heard new ones make the same noise as a bad one. Demand Lobro from you supplier.

By the way – as you read this, there’s a German company putting Chinese parts in their boxes. The word “Germany” is on all their packaging. They don’t mention the parts in their boxes are made in China. What’s up widat?

 

 

As far as what to bring on a trip, it’s only the engine you should have to think about – the things that just happen that you can’t predict however it’s a good idea to bring a pair of headlight bulbs, tail light bulbs, and license light bulbs. Don’t forget the fuses.

What to bring for the engine? My suggestion is to bring everything that attaches to the engine that you can replaced without taking the engine out of the vehicle.

 

Here’s the list …

Generator with fan attached or alternator if applicable

Generator pulley and a couple woodruff keys. Easy to never see again if dropped in sand or dirt. If the generator pulley is installed properly (tight and true), it’ll last longer than you dear reader. When installing, put the pulley on backwards without the key. Spin it with WD-40 – it’ll go on easy for final installation. Drench the shims with WD-40 when installing and make it real tight. It’ll never come off or break. If you have an old original pulley with the two engagement tabs and one or more is broken, no biggie. If it’s tight, it’ll never come off or break. Avoid fake pulleys at all costs. If the chamfer on the back of the fake pulley is bigger than it needs to be – like way too big – it won’t seat properly on the spacer it mates with on the generator and over time will wiggle and this will damage the spacer and then the pulley will begin to rub on the generator potentially causing you to have to hitchike or perform survival techniques. Therefore, if your pulley is made like this, find a nice  thick washer at Home Depot. There’s one size that fits over the shaft with just thirty seconds of filing to make the hole just slightly bigger and a perfect fit for the shaft and it mates well with the flat part of the back of a crappy pulley and mates well with the spacer thus preventing failure. This is all true – I’m not kidding ya.

 

Here’s the list …

Voltage regulator

Complete distributor with points, condenser, rotor and cap

Fuel pump

Air flow sensor for fuel injected vehicles. The sensors for vehicles without original equipment electronic ignition will not work on those that do have it. Trial fit to see if your spare actually works on YOUR vehicle, regardless of the part number or what you are told.

Double relay for fuel injected vehicles. When you acquire your spare, check it on the vehicle. The relays for vehicles without original equipment electronic ignition will not work on those that do have it.

Fuel pump for fuel injected vehicles

Fuel filter for fuel injected vehicles

Computer for fuel injected vehicles

Original Hall control unit for vehicles with original electronic ignition. Vehicle will not start with any other kind of ignition system – a lack of spark due to failure here will not enable the fuel injection system to function at all.

Original equipment Hall generator (inside distributor). Best thing is a complete, known good distributor with working Hall generator. Don’t forget the distributor cap and rotor.

Cylinder head temperature sensor for fuel injected vehicles.

An injector? They seldom go bad. But do bring injector seals

A couple fuel injection connectors (like for the injectors and the cold start valve) with a few inches of wire left so you can splice in if necessary.Don’t  try to remove the metal connectors from the plastic plug unless yo absolutely must do so. Break one apart to see how the metal connector can be sucessfully removed intact without damaging the plug for the time you  really must suceed in doing so. You’ll have to make a tool for this.

Broken plastic plugs that won’t stay on and with no replacement available can be effectively secured with a small drop or two of super glue. They’ll come off easily if necessary – super glue is brittle

At least one spark plug wire – this can double as a coil wire if the coil becomes detached from the fan housing and need to be relocated due to broken captured nuts or from sheet metal breaking – it fractures.

At least one spark plug but 4 is better. I usually bring 2.  If you suspect a bad plug, it’s easier to just replace all 4.

At least 2 spark plug connectors – Bosch only, no other brand will do

If you have any plugs that have inserts (threads have been repaired), bring an insert and an EZ Out big enough to engage it in case one gets stuck in the head and you can’t start the plug into it. You don’t want to drive your car very far with a plug missing. Short distances are ok but go slow and coast with engine off whenever possible (Push ..,,,.. and Roll, Push …… and Roll), even if people are honking at you. Just don’t cause an accident.

A pair of generator brushes but they usually go bad because the commutator is worn and literally sandpapers them away – it can happen pretty quick with a rough commutator – that’s why you bring a whole generator

Cheap volt/ohm meter – for checking spark plug connectors to help identify a miss

6 feet fuel hose

Fuel filter

Appropriate length of vacuum hose if needed

Fuel pump

Fuel pump bakelite spacer

Fuel pump gaskets

Intake manifold gaskets – 3 times as many as the car actually uses

Intake manifold boots (for dual port engine)

4?? exhaust gaskets although if you leave on a trip with a properly prepared vehicle, you shouldn’t need them

Valve cover gaskets

One complete rocker arm assembly with adjusting screws

2 pushrods

Carburetor needle valve (or maybe even the whole kit)

Miscellaneous electrical connectors for all applications in engine compartment – generator/alternator, coil, voltage regulator.

Ignition coil

Generator belt

6 feet of electrical wire

Clutch  cable

Clevis pin for clutch cable (buses only)

Accelerator cable

Brake or carburetor cleaner

3M Weatherstrip Adhesive – yellow – for attaching valve cover gaskets to the valve cover and if desperate, just glue the whole thing right to the head after you clean it real good with brake cleaner. With patience and using it sparingly  on clean surfaces, you can seal a leaky mechanical fuel pump at the seams as long as the gaskets are intact – use “cardboardy” magazine pages to make a gasket  for the top of a pump if yours is broken.

Typical gasket material available in a typical parts store.

A couple tubes of Super Glue – not the gel

Maybe a tube of silicone for … something

Hand cleaner

Rags

Black electrical tape

A five foot long jumper wire with an alligator clip on each end

Can of grease

WD-40

Anti-seize compound

Genuine Bosch grease for the points – it’s the only kind that doesn’t fly off the spinning distributor cam and onto the points – that ruins them. However, in a pinch, any grease will do – even a light smearing of engine oil. The rubbing block on the points will wear very quickly without some kind of lubricant.

Assorted hardware – a few 5, 6 and 8 millimeter bolts, nuts, and washers

Bailing wire – for assorted things including if the coil becomes detached from the fan housing, you’ll be able to secure it. A car won’t move very far under its’ own power with an unsecured coil – it will constantly short out and stop the vehicle

Duct tape – maybe for the coil as above or whatever  …

Single edge razor blades for removing fuel hose – slice lengthwise at pipe vs trying to twist off without slicing. Wire cutters or diagonal cutters are not very good at this and awkward at best.

Scissors  – for making a gasket – just in case

Tools – make sure you bring enough to change anything on this list.

Don’f forget  medium size Vise Grips and a hammer with a head about as big as your fist. If you can’t get the lug bolts to come off, try slamming with this hammer a few times – swing it like a golf club – they’ll probably come loose after this treatment. Only works for lug BOLTS, not lug NUTZ.

Anything that  fails that’s not on this list means your vehicle wasn’t ready for a long trip in the first place. But stuff happens.