Thoughts on a trip....'94 at high altitude

[BTLSHP]

We are going out to Colorado for a bit of a family gathering in late August. My 92 year old father will come and get to see his '94 80 series again. The car is in good shape having been baselined extensively prior to going to Colorado a year ago. It was up a 9,500' without issue three weeks ago.

I am thinking of a very long day on US 34/Trail Ridge Rd in a 200+ mile loop. There will be a second rental car along.

The road peaks at 12k'. The cars cooling system was completely overhauled in the baselining. We had a bit of an issue with valve seals but changing the oil seems to have ended that for now.

Any thoughts?

 

[tmxmotorsports]

Brakes are new or shall I say in great working order no 32 year old brake fluid? I could go on but you mentioned extensive base lining year ago did everything go smoothly on your last trip no weird little things happening?

 

[robnicko]

Enjoy the trip!
Hope your Dad enjoys seeing his old car again!

 

[tmxmotorsports]

Enjoy the trip!
Hope your Dad enjoys seeing his old car again!

This too !

 

[HemiAlex]

We are going out to Colorado for a bit of a family gathering in late August. My 92 year old father will come and get to see his '94 80 series again. The car is in good shape having been baselined extensively prior to going to Colorado a year ago. It was up a 9,500' without issue three weeks ago.

I am thinking of a very long day on US 34/Trail Ridge Rd in a 200+ mile loop. There will be a second rental car along.

The road peaks at 12k'. The cars cooling system was completely overhauled in the baselining. We had a bit of an issue with valve seals but changing the oil seems to have ended that for now.

Any thoughts?

You’ll be fine. I’ve done I-70 through vail and Monarch pass in a heavy 60 series with maybe 40 hp at altitude.

The 80 will have zero issues.

 

[vwhammer]

It'll be fine.
Real world secnario:
I went to Buena Vista CO a couple weeks ago in my relatively neglected (by previous owner not me) bone stock 280k mile 97 LC that I slapped some 35s on just for fun
On my way home I decied to take an alternate route up through Leadville CO.
At some point I was over 11,000 feet with zero issues.
This was after a 3 hour drive at the beginning of the weekend through the mountains, up and over Monarch pass, which I also think is over 11,000 ft, just to get to Buena Vista.
Then we camped and did some trails for two days.
Then I drove home.
It was slow going at times on some of the steeper grades, like basically 50 or 55 with my foot to the floor and pushing almost 4000rpm but none of the gauges budged.
No overheating, no low oil pressure, nothing. Just slow.
4000rpm does not sound like much by modern car standards but when you consider that the LC's redline is like 5500rpm then it starts to feel sketchy.
Nevertheless, I had zero issues other than my brakes starting to make noise as I got closer to home.
This was not a surprise as I had just looked at them during the week before I left and noticed that there might have been 3 or 4mm of pad material left.
Figured it was good for a weekend in the mountains (and it was) so I sent it.

 

[60wag]

Cruiser will do fine. How is your father at high altitude?

 

[BTLSHP]

You’ll be fine. I’ve done I-70 through vail and Monarch pass in a heavy 60 series with maybe 40 hp at altitude.

The 80 will have zero issues.

Ha, in the 1990’s my parents took an ‘84 fj60 across the Himalayas from somewhere in China to Kathmandu to sell it.

 

[BTLSHP]

Brakes are new or shall I say in great working order no 32 year old brake fluid? I could go on but you mentioned extensive base lining year ago did everything go smoothly on your last trip no weird little things happening?

Brakes are A1 with one year old fluid and lots of help rebuilding the e-brake from this group.

On the way out we ran into valve seal leaks. Kernal had us change to Delo ESP 15w-40 and it has not consumed a drop in a year. We have a reserve set aside for a new HG at some point in the future.

 

[Brindleboxer]

I would say don't stress what isn't there. Go, enjoy the trip and family time.

I would definitely bring along some basics (fluid for the 80 and maybe some adult fluid for the non-drivers)

At that altitude the 80 won't be fast at anything but if you look at it from the perspective of the time spent with family, the speed from point a to point b it will be more enjoyable.