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Hawkrod 'RoadKill' Cross Country Trip 2022

I'm afraid that right now those are UBER crowded. That's the most-visited national park in the country and right
now it's prime time for the whole Sevierville/Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg/GSMNP region.
They get over 10Million touristies through there every year!

For a nice contrast, if you're coming down through Middlesboro, KY @HawkRod , you'll be coming into gorgeous
country - and right into the Cumberland Gap National Park, which is pretty spectacular as well and a lot less
crowded.
(25E down through there, which sits in the actual Cumberland Gap into TN is where the settlers came through
to head through the Appalachians and then westward ho! Tell Davy Crockett I said "hey" - he'll know what ya
mean).

Good Advice!!! AVOID Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg!!!! Plenty of other great roads and scenery down that way.
 
Good Advice!!! AVOID Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg!!!! Plenty of other great roads and scenery down that way.
Yeah, it's a shame - off-season, it's pretty cool.
Problem is, the "off" part keeps shrinking every year. :)
 
Depending on which part of Kentucky you drive through I have some other suggestions. I suggest some other places to check out is the Big South Fork, Lake Cumberland, and Cumberland Falls. Tennessee is Smoky Mountain National Park if it's not too crowded and Cades Cove. Be safe, careful, and happy motoring.
OK....it's a little out there but there is a Famous hot dog joint called Hillbilly Hot Dog over by Huntington WV. It's at the corner of WV/KY/OH. Pretty Funkified place. About 2 hours west of the NR Gorge Bridge. Happy Trails.
MoPar to ya.
I'm afraid that right now those are UBER crowded. That's the most-visited national park in the country and right
now it's prime time for the whole Sevierville/Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg/GSMNP region.
They get over 10Million touristies through there every year!

For a nice contrast, if you're coming down through Middlesboro, KY @HawkRod , you'll be coming into gorgeous
country - and right into the Cumberland Gap National Park, which is pretty spectacular as well and a lot less
crowded.
(25E down through there, which sits in the actual Cumberland Gap into TN is where the settlers came through
to head through the Appalachians and then westward ho! Tell Davy Crockett I said "hey" - he'll know what ya
mean).

Great suggestion fellas. We'll look at them tomorrow.

What are your plans when you start to smell a bit gamey???
Any of the below
  • Take a "hobo shower"
  • Drive with the windows open
  • Avoid people
Now, it's not an adventure until you break down.
IMG_4755.jpg

Looks like the front left brake caliper partially froze up. We started smelling brakes and that wheel was really hot.
We tried a campside fix by pushing out and then back in the piston a few times to get it to move more freely. It may have helped a little, but it's still not good.
I tried calling some auto parts stores but no one seems to be able to get the pin type caliper quickly. We will try calling more tomorrow, but we might have limited range until we can get this fixed. :(
 
As OKDart said, change the hose... Might just buy an O/H kit, It's a RAYBESTOS WK520

And here's a video of how to do it.... The caliper is a little different but the tricky part is getting the dust boot on & this guy demonstrates the same method I've used for 40 years..

Thing is the piston is stainless so it's rarely damaged, most of the bore can be pitted & it doesn't matter as long as the area where the seal rides is good your golden...

 
I'm afraid that right now those are UBER crowded. That's the most-visited national park in the country and right
now it's prime time for the whole Sevierville/Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg/GSMNP region.
They get over 10Million touristies through there every year!

For a nice contrast, if you're coming down through Middlesboro, KY @HawkRod , you'll be coming into gorgeous
country - and right into the Cumberland Gap National Park, which is pretty spectacular as well and a lot less
crowded.
(25E down through there, which sits in the actual Cumberland Gap into TN is where the settlers came through
to head through the Appalachians and then westward ho! Tell Davy Crockett I said "hey" - he'll know what ya
mean).

Well it was worth a try for the Smokies And Cades anyways. I'll stick with my recommendation of the Big Fork in KY/TN and Lake Cumberland near Somerset although that might be busier these days. Cumberland Falls might be a little busy as well but, should be less than Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge/Sevierville. Also should throw in it might be helpful to keep an eye for severe weather. I suggest the https://spc.noaa.gov to keep an eye on the areas that could be get severe weather. In your case, I would monitor the Convective Outlooks. Anyways, I hope you get the car fixed and back on the road soon.
 
Its friday morning, HOPE YA DODGE THE RAIN!! Looked at radar (son, d-i-l & grandkids heading back to KS) a LITTLE wet out to OH.
GOOD LUCK WITH BRAKE REPAIR!!
 
Cades Cove is an interesting, pretty drive...although most of the time "in-season" it is a huge parking lot.
 
I think you have a lean hot start, however I've had the pick-up be too far away from the reluctor wheel in a electronic dist and it give a hot start issue.
 
Hope you got your caliper issue worked out. Weather has been crap around here the past few days. I just drove back from some work training in MI, and the drive home sucked due to the rain and traffic. Good luck, waiting for the next update.
 
Just a quick update:

First, it seems our "camp engineering" to push the plunger in and out several times may have worked. The hub stayed cool all the way Wytheville, VA. We found a caliper there that can be delivered at around 2 PM today. @conv67bdere is coming to help us with some tools, so hopefully we will get the caliper swapped and be back on the road tomorrow.

More pics and updates later...
 
First an update on our mechanical woes:

Napa came through and managed to get a caliper (and the correct pin type one too!) delivered by about 2 PM today. Then it was a fairly simple matter to swap it out and bleed the brakes. I got the hose too, but the condition of the hose/ brake line connection on the car wasn't good - it was fairly permanently fused together. I was afraid to mess with that because if I ruined the brake line then we would be in a world of hurt. I would have to bend and construct a partial (or completely new) brake line, and we don't have the tools for that.

Huge thanks to @conv67bdere who came up to bring us a floor jack, some line wrenches and a torque wrench. This made the job much easier and I was able to even torque the wheel back on! Once again, FBBO members are there for us!!!
IMG954769.jpg

We even managed to get the repair done before the heavens opened up and it started raining hard! So bottom line, we are mobile again!

Additional news about our hard starting issue: We have all but confirmed that it is fuel boiling off after the car is stopped. Barry saw fuel boiling and bubbling in the glass fuel filter after we had stopped the car and it was sitting for a few minutes. Then, when I went to start it, it cranked over until the fuel filter had fuel again, and then it fired right off.
We checked the fuel line, and it is toughing NOTHING between the fuel pump and the carb, so I don't think there is too much more we can do about this as an easy fix. The cur runs fine once started, so we may have to live with this?

I'll post again later with some sightseeing pictures.
 
Here are two shots of the area near Cass Railroad. Nice area for sure!
20220505_100704.jpg


20220505_102832.jpg


Then we went to New River Gorge. Nice area and the bridge that was built over the gorge is pretty impressive.
20220505_145320.jpg


20220505_145332.jpg


DSC_0396.JPG


One final picture of the RoadKill Runner undergoing surgery.
DSC_0404.JPG


...and finally resting for the night at a local Motel...
20220506_150745.jpg
 
First an update on our mechanical woes:

Napa came through and managed to get a caliper (and the correct pin type one too!) delivered by about 2 PM today. Then it was a fairly simple matter to swap it out and bleed the brakes. I got the hose too, but the condition of the hose/ brake line connection on the car wasn't good - it was fairly permanently fused together. I was afraid to mess with that because if I ruined the brake line then we would be in a world of hurt. I would have to bend and construct a partial (or completely new) brake line, and we don't have the tools for that.

Huge thanks to @conv67bdere who came up to bring us a floor jack, some line wrenches and a torque wrench. This made the job much easier and I was able to even torque the wheel back on! Once again, FBBO members are there for us!!!
View attachment 1281088
We even managed to get the repair done before the heavens opened up and it started raining hard! So bottom line, we are mobile again!

Additional news about our hard starting issue: We have all but confirmed that it is fuel boiling off after the car is stopped. Barry saw fuel boiling and bubbling in the glass fuel filter after we had stopped the car and it was sitting for a few minutes. Then, when I went to start it, it cranked over until the fuel filter had fuel again, and then it fired right off.
We checked the fuel line, and it is toughing NOTHING between the fuel pump and the carb, so I don't think there is too much more we can do about this as an easy fix. The cur runs fine once started, so we may have to live with this?

I'll post again later with some sightseeing pictures.
Please replace the glass filter with a steel one when you get a chance.
You can insulate the fuel line from pump to carb. May help.
 
Please replace the glass filter with a steel one when you get a chance.
You can insulate the fuel line from pump to carb. May help.

Yup, if your filter is this kind...
Screen Shot 2022-05-06 at 7.22.26 PM.png


get rid of it, to many engine fires because of them...
 
Please replace the glass filter with a steel one when you get a chance.
You can insulate the fuel line from pump to carb. May help.
Yup, if your filter is this kind...
View attachment 1281216

get rid of it, to many engine fires because of them...
It is exactly the filter shown in the picture.

OK. We'll get rid of it. I've used it for years with no issues, but maybe I just got lucky. Easy enough (I hope) to find a better fuel filter.

Thanks for the suggestion.
 
Post your own caption to this photo: "Roadrunner eats mechanic"
I'd caption it "ED! USE A DAMN JACKSTAND, FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE!"
Oh no, wait....I was having a flashback of everyone else yelling that at me....
:lol:
 
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