Across North America in Five Weeks!

[Chungas Revenge]

Tomorrow? Towards West Virginia...

Sorry I missed this thread earlier. I did "take a drive" with you today..Well done.

 

[hecrod]

Spent a portion of the Holidays "decluttering" the 40...

Out with the ARB and in with the HFS... much cleaner lines IMHO...

What's your verdict???

 

[Honger]

I've never been a fan of the ARB on an FJ40, though I generally like their bumpers a lot. It's one of the design aesthetics I've never understood about Jonathan Ward's Icons.

So my verdict is "HFS for the win!" The front is so much cleaner and looks far more FJ40-ish. =)

 

[AKAIE15]

Looks good. I like 4plus bumpers too.

Any plans for lights?

 

[Healey]

HFS. Paint the "D" rings some other colour - they draw the eye too much. Looks like a bull. Reminds me of Pamplona and the festival when I was there with Papa back in the '20's - before he wrote that book.

 

[Honger]

HFS. Paint the "D" rings some other colour - they draw the eye too much. Looks like a bull. Reminds me of Pamplona and the festival when I was there with Papa back in the '20's - before he wrote that book.

Agreed... make those D rings less conspicuous. Black would be good. =)

 

[ryanwk628]

Selling the ARB?

 

[todt]

I like the ARB much better. I think the catchers mask may be a bit much for looks but sure is good for plowing thru the brush/trees.

 

[brian]

i'm a minimalist smaller and cleaner is better in my book.
i also agree about making the d rings darker.

 

[drnekFJ40]

ARB is too bulky for FJ 40 in my opinion..

 

[Chrismanjs]

Happened apon this post by accident and really enjoyed the long read and is inspiring me to make a similar road trip of my own in my 100 Series! Congratulations on making it! the pictures are amazing! Do you have a 2017 Calendar made up yet ?

 

[hecrod]

Happened apon this post by accident and really enjoyed the long read and is inspiring me to make a similar road trip of my own in my 100 Series! Congratulations on making it! the pictures are amazing! Do you have a 2017 Calendar made up yet ?

Not totally done yet... but outlined! Going Northeast in the Summer of '17... for 2-3 weeks.

Tides (New Brunswick)... beaches (Prince Edward Island)... Icebergs and whales! (Newfoundland)... four ferries (one of which will be 17 hours!)... French-Canadian culture... and some amazing scenery I hope.

Two of the ferry rides (Portland, ME to Yarmouth and Argentia, NL to Nova Scotia) are not shown in the screenshot above as they only open in the Summer.

Would love to do the Trans-Labrador Highway (see below)... but I don't think I want to do that in the 40. The northern parts look very desolate. Anyone here done that before?

About 3,000 miles... piece of cake!

 

[Chrismanjs]

Not totally done yet... but outlined! Going Northeast in the Summer of '17... for 2-3 weeks.

View attachment 1373363

Tides (New Brunswick)... beaches (Prince Edward Island)... Icebergs and whales! (Newfoundland)... four ferries (one of which will be 17 hours!)... French-Canadian culture... and some amazing scenery I hope.

Two of the ferry rides (Portland, ME to Yarmouth and Argentia, NL to Nova Scotia) are not shown in the screenshot above as they only open in the Summer.

Would love to do the Trans-Labrador Highway (see below)... but I don't think I want to do that in the 40. The northern parts look very desolate. Anyone here done that before?

View attachment 1373368

About 3,000 miles... piece of cake!

That looks Like a fun trip! It would be a solid trip for me to get to just where you are starting! Maybe some day when I can take a year off work Hope you can pull it off! Can't wait to hear about it!

 

[hecrod]

Hi Gals and Gents... It's been a while... but I've not been idle!

First off, awesome to see the FJ40 Cross-Country Expedition: Will YOU join us??? take off in the way it has! Sort of self-running at this point, which is in my opinion the only way this can run sustainably. Lots of people pitching in and coordinating between themselves on passing the baton... I only hope it gets back to the Boston area at some point in the future! Would love to get my hands on that black briefcase again... what a great idea @sggoat!

Me, well I'm already 2-3 days into a much less ambitious 7-10 day, ~2,000 mile trip into Maine, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. Less ambitious, but not less fulfilling from 40-heaven perspective. Lots of back roads... very little Interstates throughout. At least that's the current plan!

Once I get to Yarmouth, the red dot in the picture below, we (wife and I) will be boarding a 6.5 hour ferry back to Portland, Maine (and then home in the Boston suburbs) in The Cat! It covers the 200+ miles at speeds of up to 40 mph! Should be fun.

But first, some background of what I've been through with the 40 the last few months...

Those of you that read this thread from beginning to end may remember something about an oil leak. Well, the oil leak continued, the 40 continued to run well, but I knew I had to do something about it sooner or later. The leak seem to come from the rear main seal area, mostly... because who knew really... the entire underneath was covered, so that drops of oil would drip (eventually) from everywhere in between the two axles! Not too bad mind you, but it was there.

I decided to take the motor out, open it up, and find out what was what. We thought, probably wear and tear... it is a '78 after all.

Well... it was not good. And it was not wear and tear... no siree!!!

This motor had evidently been "rebuilt" at some point years ago, and, wait for this... the "mechanic" forgot to put one of the rings in piston #6!!!! The mechanic sent me some pictures, I gagged and deleted them as soon as I saw them, but I'm trying to get them again... you know, that masochistic feeling we need from time to time???. This was the root cause of the issues I was witnessing... excessive blow-by causing the leaks, the wet #6 spark plug... and now I had to deal with a scraped cylinder wall as well.

And the darn thing was running quite well! Some loss of power at times, but, heck, I drove it 7000 miles last summer alone! You know it!

So... a full rebuild was in the cards. I could have bought one from the net and save some money i guess... but decided to keep the original motor instead.

This was a much longer story as you can imagine, it took months from beginning to end... scheduling the machine shop, fighting the "we might as well" syndrome... but I dare not rehash it here in its entirety... most of you have gone through similar deals yourselves.

So that's that. It is all good now... the kid runs like a champ... ready for the next 20 years, and some awesome experiences as well I hope.

As I said at the beginning of the write-up, I am already 3 days (I think? ) into this trip, so quite a few updates to add... and pictures of the beautiful North American Northeast as welll

So read and ride along!


Hector and Millie...

 

[oldschool4wheeling]

Your trip last year has inspired me to want to do that with my two girls... 14 and 9 years old. An epic journey that they will remember!! Im hoping they will like it as much as I.

Im shooting for next summer. Well, thats my plan.

Not sure yet of our route, but at least 3 - 4 weeks.

 

[hecrod]

And here's the trip update!

Left the Boston area on I-95 through NH and into Portland Maine... for 100+ miles and then detoured into the Maine coast... hugging the coastline following Route 1 (yes! just like California's) all the way into Canada. The Maine coast is was pretty... lots of old New England coastal towns where fishing is still king!

The picture below was "famous" Nautilus Seafood & Grill restaurant in Belfast, Maine.

Lots of beautiful scenery like the one below...

And something unique... The tallest bridge observatory in the world! See the obelisk on the left? And the windows on top? It's an observatory! It sits right next to Fort Knox... in Maine, of American Revolution fame...

Towns such as Saint Andrews, New Brunswick (below) are typical through the maritime region in Eastern Canada as well...

Beautiful... not touristy... just normal living throughout... Oh, and high temperatures in the mid to high 70's! We could live here...

To be continued...

 

[hecrod]

And we eventually made it into Prince Edward Island, where I type this today... almost 900 miles in already... the distances, even here in the crowded Northeast, are vast...

Prince Edward Island is the smallest province in Canada... red-sand beaches, lobster fishing (they send 4MM pounds of lobster to China alone!!!) and lighthouses everywhere! Proof below...


The red sand! Or clay??? The water is not dirty... it just takes the color of the sand! Really unique...

More red sand...

And the lobster cages...

And fishing boats...

And functional lighthouses... are everywhere!!! Fishing (and farming) galore...

A far away world... drove all the way to the farthest northernmost point in the island... the North Cape! Stunning tranquility... makes me want to visit Newfoundland someday... maybe that's next!

Anyways... we stay in PEI (that's how they call it) tomorrow... driving to the other end... called the East Point!

The 40? No issues. Totally dry underneath... smooth running. Cruising at 50-55... enjoying the views... the windows down... smoking a cigar. Getting the thumbs up from strangers, listening to the most famous question (what year is it?!). Life is good.

More tomorrow...

Hopefully you'll find this fun for at least a few days...


PS. @oldschool4wheeling do it man... unforgettable memories... 3-4 weeks? That's the way to do it...

 

[handcannon]

Alright! On the road again. I want to see more pics of all the places you go, wherever you go.

Your 2F is just like my GM 6.5 diesel motor. Takes-a-lickin-and-keeps-on-tickin. I had major blow-by, yet it still seemed to run good. Finally tore it down and found scored cylinders, major scratches on several pistons, and a couple big chips out of piston edges. And it STILL ran reasonably good, in spite of the major blow-by.

Don

 

[White Stripe]

Man I bet the seafood is good up their! Now that you don't have your arb bumper your wheels look a little out of place. Something about the arb made the whole package. Now with the simplicity of the new bumper it seems like you need some style of steel wheel. Also, since you are doing so much driving, consider getting your tires siped. It's cheap and helps when you run into wet or icy conditions.

 

[hecrod]

Alright! On the road again. I want to see more pics of all the places you go, wherever you go.

Your 2F is just like my GM 6.5 diesel motor. Takes-a-lickin-and-keeps-on-tickin. I had major blow-by, yet it still seemed to run good. Finally tore it down and found scored cylinders, major scratches on several pistons, and a couple big chips out of piston edges. And it STILL ran reasonably good, in spite of the major blow-by.


Not kidding... and I'm glad that's the case!

Don

Man I bet the seafood is good up their! Now that you don't have your arb bumper your wheels look a little out of place. Something about the arb made the whole package. Now with the simplicity of the new bumper it seems like you need some style of steel wheel. Also, since you are doing so much driving, consider getting your tires siped. It's cheap and helps when you run into wet or icy conditions.

Interesting thought... I do have the original steelies... and will need some tires, like real soon. Let me think about it...


Some more photos of what they call "The Maritimes" here in Eastern Canada...

First, a couple more pictures of what a local lady we met called "her very pastoral home." Couldn't agree more... calm, relaxing, that's what Prince Edward Island was... unpaved roads galore.

We then moved to Nova Scotia, a much grander and diverse land! Home of the world's highest tidal waves... take a look at the tidal marks on the picture below on the left... in some places ~40+ feet!

We also sampled the local wines... just about an entire day doing this... and I needed it! At least a dozen or so nice wineries (some with their own restaurants) in the Western coast of Nova Scotia... reminded me a little of the Bourbon Trail in KY from last year...

And finally, just one picture of the very typical coastal towns in Eastern Nova Scotia... it's like time stood still... stunning... This one is from Lunenburg.

Heading to the Southernmost tip of Nova Scotia today... another 150 miles or so... then home on Thursday.

The 40? No issues... cruising the highways at 50-55... 40-45 on the back roads... 30-35 on the "unpaved roads..." It's all good...


Hector and Millie.