i am thinking of a kamakaze run wisc to nor cal to retreive some old dinner plates and some 78's from the in-laws over easter break. i was worried of not having bio d suppliers all the way or taking the veggie car and finding wvo. imagine, milwaukee to s.f on two or three gal of diesel. take that insight and prius.

__________________
currently
[1981 300 td tdidi 165500 dark brown/palamino-Brownie-mine-3k miles of ownership
1983 240d 162+++ Anthricite grey w/ henna red interior and hella lights-wifes car-Red

the above two cars are for sale
and can be seen on the cars for sale thread here. pix also available.


240d-144+ Manilla Yellow w/ palmino interior-greasecar kit-Blondie-the college kids car

23" gt 21 speed still on original tires-still got the nubs
21" khs tandem

I love it.

Bring a laptop and an AOL starter disk. If things get bad, you could dialup, log on and order parts, then have them FedEx'd to you. Plus you could consult with folks on this Board.

And a digital camera so that you can post pics.

You know in the cruising world people have the same debate, how much spare stuff should you bring? A spare starter? GPS, what?

I fall in the middle bring spares within reason, for example if your alt is old replace it and keep the old one as a back up.

But remember even in remote islands in the Pacific you would be amazed where DHL and Fedex are. Their is very little in this day and age that cannot be air shipped to you. I remember a guy was in some little African town on its east coast and found a DHL. He had new standing rigging shipped to him from the states in about a week. The hardest part was converting US currancy to the local currancy, since in that country he wanted to convert a small fortune it took a few hours.

In this country I'd put Phil's number on speed dial on my cell. Phil I need this part shipped to this address overnight. You lose a day maybe two at most.

Deal with the odvious stuff like Roy said, and bring a few tools and some duct tape.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I've been in that situation quite a few times in my Travels, so it doesnt faze me that much anymore. I've broken down everywhere from Manahattan to the boonies. Honestly, the last resort is the good old AAA Plus card, which has saved my butt several times.
The strangest and most dangerous breakdown? A friend had some family trouble and we hopped in my 300D and gave chase to a hormone crazed teenager for two days without sleep. The car hit a curb in Pittsburgh at 4 am in the morning and was impaled on the curve. It hit so hard the the throttle shaft rod popped loose and the oil pan started loisng oil. We kept the chase up not knowing that the bearing spindle on the front driver side was bent and a Trucker caught up with us at a Rest stop in Indiana. We gave up the chase there and my neighbor boarded an airplane flight to Denver..But i wanted my Car back and I drove it back even though it was throwing tires like ever because of the bent spindle. I lost four tires on the way back, I just kept rotating them...ahh no one is going to believe me. Tomorrow morning after some coffee I will make this a separate post.

Carrameow,
Remember, this is very important for you, and you only. Take some coveralls, or work cloths, or anything that you can wear in case you need to pull parts at a wrecking yard.
We don't want you to have to face the cold in your drawers again.....
What you might do is get the cell #'s of anybody 'near' the areas you will be in. You could post where you would be and when, and any volunteers could p.m. you if they were willing.
If you ever get down this way it would be a pleasure. I'd go nab that Volvo diesel wagon before you got here....

Good luck!

__________________
Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

WOW....

your 300D has had a VERY rough life...I must say.

Any problems related to the damage (loss of oil, etc) that still stick around? If you have even the slightest hint of rod knock I wouldn't make this venture cross country after hearing this story.

It's winter. Bring warm blankets and a cell phone! I ran out of gas (foolish) in Minnesota back in the late 70's. 10 below. Even with blankets it was very cold before help came.

Joe

__________________
www.jerseyplanning.com
1987 300TD 440K - My car
2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 107K - Tim's car
2000 - CLK320 100K - Deb's car
1994 C230 150K - Josh's Car

is it really much warmer in jersey than out here in the provinces?

tom w

__________________
[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

We live about 1 mile from the ocean. and unless we have a strong west or northwest wind the ocean usually tempers the cold. It is a damp cold however. We also get mosquitos in the summer but not as large as the ones we experienced in the BWCA or the Apostle Islands. It seemed that the further north you got the larger the mosquitos!

Joe

__________________
www.jerseyplanning.com
1987 300TD 440K - My car
2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 107K - Tim's car
2000 - CLK320 100K - Deb's car
1994 C230 150K - Josh's Car

That was one engine and one transmission ago! I have since replaced both.

Ah okay. Had me worried there for a second

Injector bypass hose = the cloth injector return lines.
Duct tape can save you in many strange situations.
The window regulator breaks, dropping the glass down = pull it up and duct tape.
The sunroof begins leaking = duct tape the seam closed.
You get in a minor fender bender = duct tape the lights back in place.
And thousands of other possible uses.

considering this is your car (and reading as much as you do to it) I think it would be okay to make a cross country trip. You may want to map a network of dealers close to the main roads youre taking, or find euro parts houses that are on your route, but knowing this is YOUR car, which I know you rebuilt many things on, I'd say, go for it.

I take the work horse everywhere, 230K miles and she never left me on the side of the road.

__________________
91 350SD
14 F150 Eco
19 Fusion Hybrid
11 GT500