Pikes Peak, Again
 

I did this trip 4 years ago with Pepe, a son and a daughter. That story is here: http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19141. That one had no video. This time I took some that I think are pretty good. Here's the story.

AnnaRae went to her sisters for three days so I decided to climb Pikes Peak again. Since Pepe's not much good traveling any more (anxiety) I invited my dad and his wife. He just turned 90 the week before we left. You'll see them in the pictures and video.

One of the first events of note shortly into the trip was Old Henry turning a quarter of a million miles (250,000).


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That's not much of an accomplishment for a modern car but says something about the tenacity and longevity of Old Henry now 68 years old.

Then there wasn't much to note until I decided to pull off the freeway at Price for gas. I gave the right turn signal with my arm and veered toward the off ramp when an 18 wheeler passed me on the left and threw something up from the road that smacked into my left arm that I was holding up. It hurt pretty good. I looked at the spot and some skin was torn off. (top picture) It didn't bleed much but I put a Band-Aid on it to cover it because that was the exact spot I rested my arm on the window sill to drive. After two more days of driving it looked like the bottom picture with a big bruise that spread around it. Ah, the price we pay for our fun.

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After crossing the border into Colorado we decided to take the little detour up onto the plateau at Colorado National Monument. Dad had never been there before. Here's the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpU2NKCV7nU The biggest hairpin turn in the video and road through the two tunnels are on this stretch below Dad and his wife Laura at a lookout point.

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We stopped at one other spot for a picture of Grand Valley with Fruita on the left and Grand Junction on the right.

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Here's one of my favorite shots from my previous trip coming out of one of the tunnels.

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As we went on down the road toward Montrose the engine started to act just like a fuel filter was plugging up, stumbling and stuttering at higher RPMs. The only filter in the fuel line is the one attached to the electric pump between it and the gas tank. I decided it may well be plugged since I had just emptied a bit of sediment out of the settling bowl on the mechanical pump.

But, what to do about it? I had no spare filter (among all that spare parts I was carrying) and didn't know how I'd put one on if I did since all I had was one bottle jack and I wasn't climbing under the car supported by that alone.

As we pulled into Montrose I spotted a Car Quest store and pulled in. I tried to find a picture of the filter on my phone to show the guys what I was looking for but couldn't so I just told them "I've got this Airtex pump that I need to replace the filter on. Can't give you a part number or even show you a picture of it." Before I was even done saying that much one of the guys said, "I think I know what you're looking for" and headed back into the shelves and brought out the very thing. "This thing has been sitting back in the shelves for years and its the last and only one we have." Ah, for those little miracles. But, now, how to get it on?

As I was at the counter I saw Dad hobble toward the back of the building on his crutches. About the time I bought the filter he came in and said there was a guy at the back that could put it on. Here he is raising Old Henry into the air for the job:

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This is the pump showing the filter to be replaced.

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It took him quite a while to get the filter off. I was waiting anxiously for that moment for him to blow into it to confirm that it was plugged. He did. It wasn't. So, that wasn't our problem.

He put the new filter on and we went on down the road with the same stumbling and stuttering. But not for long before I pulled off, lifted the hood, and found a loose spark plug wire. Yeah, that was all. Sometimes we get lucky. Sometimes we don't. I squoze the end a bit and pushed it back on tight and it solved the problem. At least I know I don't have to worry about the filter an the pump for many more years.

We stayed in the first little dive motel we got to in Salida for the night and headed for Pikes Peak the next morning.

The lower section of Pikes Peak Road is not very steep and was lined with yellow quaking aspens. Just gorgeous.

http://i1059.photobucket.com/albums/...pslasycokt.jpg

Here's the video which I did not take last trip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-mBMj7xSq0 The music for the lower calmer section was composed by Dad and produced by me. I think it fits the scenery quite nicely.

Here's another shot on the side of the road looking up at Pikes Peak.

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After the previous trip when we fought vapor lock all the way up I installed an electric fuel pump back by the gas tank. Last year we drove to the top of Mount Evans, even higher, without any problem at all so I really thought we'd do the same on Pikes Peak. No dice. The road was steeper and more strenuous on the engine.

I was watching the temperature gauge thinking I could go as high as usual with my 4# radiator cap - 222°, but when it hit 210° it stated sputtering water out and the engine started to stumble and stutter again.

Not knowing what else to do, and realizing that the problem with the engine was something to do with the heat, I decided to try propping the hood open 8 inches and see what happened. Such dropped the temperature of the engine 10° to 200° and solved the stumbling problem immediately.

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When I got home I did my arithmetic and realized that the boiling temperature of water at 14,000 feet is only 186° and with my 4# radiator cap it was 199°. So, that's why the water started to sputter out when the engine got above 200°.

So, we climbed the mountain with Old Henry's mouth gaping open.

The big W taken on our previous trip.

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As we climbed higher the road got steeper. The average grade is 7% and the steepest over 10%. I can do 7-8% in second gear but when we got steeper than that it was 1st gear going 10-15 mph the rest of the way up.

We finally reached the top where the there is only 58% of the air that there is at sea level. Quite an experience. Some of the bystanders applauded as we arrived at the top with Old Henry's mouth gaping open. This time I got a nice picture of Old Henry with the summit sign showing the elevation of 14,110 feet. Comparing this picture with the one after illustrates the PhotoShopping I sometimes do to improve the looks of a shot. They were both taken the same place with all the same distractions, including people around the sign, that I removed for the top one.

http://i1059.photobucket.com/albums/...pspf1oxuo5.jpg

Dad was pretty scared all the way up, particularly because I was doing all the filming seen in the video and navigating the steep winding road with one hand. (Gotta watch the video to see what he's talking about.) His wife kept trying to comfort him with, "He does this all the time. He's OK." Here they are with Old Henry at the top too.

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Airplane pilots start feeling the effects of lack of oxygen over 12,500 feet altitude and passengers must have oxygen above 15,000 feet. So, as you can imagine, we felt the effects of the thin air up there, mostly very rapid fatigue with any exertion, like the muscles had no fuel to burn. Also a bit of imbalance and a little feeling of disorientation.

We headed back down the mountain without incident. Going down is easy, just put it into low gear and crawl down. They have a brake check station about half way down where they check the temperature of your brakes to see if you're overheating them and instruct people about low gear. Of course, Old Henry's brakes were nice and cool.

Dad was still pretty scared going down, even though I wasn't filming any more, especially when I'd suddenly pull off the road to let the line of cars behind me go by. I had to start warning him before I did that.

At the bottom of the mountain we stopped an this quaint little ma and pa diner called Mildred's Café for lunch. Had the best green pepper Philly steak and cheese sandwich I've ever had. Good fries too.

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On the way up over the mountains again headed home we drove through the highest incorporated city in North America, Alma at 10,578 feet elevation.

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And the continental divide at Hoosier Pass, elevation 11,539 feet.

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After passing back into Utah we pulled off at Thompson Springs that I'd photographed and video taped before. Here's a photo of the great old Thompson Motel from the previous trip. Here's the video including the train coming through town that used to stop there. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF2EKYuQUlw

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This time we drove north of Thompson Springs three miles up Sego Canyon to see the ancient rock art, both petroglyphs and pictographs, created by the ancient Indians. Here's the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRZwHayxauQ

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Starting our climb up from Green River to Price the engine started doing its stumbling and stuttering again. This time I decided to see if it was the coil failing as it heated up. So, I stopped and drizzled a gallon of water on it to cool it down. Didn't help at all. So, I stopped and propped the hood up again and this time taped it down with my trusty role of duct tape so it wouldn't blow up. (Didn't need that on Pikes Peak going 10-15 mph.)

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At Soldier Summit I put the hood back down thinking we could make it home without the gaping mouth since it was all mostly down hill. We did pretty good until just a few miles from home on the freeway it acted up again and I had to pull onto the shoulder of the freeway and prop up the hood and tape it down again to get home. That is a bewildering mystery I've go to solve.

Total distance 1,058 miles over the three days. Only tool needed was a screw driver to replace a brake light that burned out and needle nose pliers to squeeze the end of the spark plug wire to secure it to the plug. Oh yeah, and duct tape.

Previous Trips:

Uinta Mountain Range, Utah, September 2015: http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=173539

Mount Rushmore and Devils Tower, July 2015: http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=173539

Pony Express Trail in April 2015: http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=166241

Mexico and around in February 2015: http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=162633

Ghost towns of Modena, UT and Pioche, NV in November 2014: http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=155331

Million Dollar Highway, Durango to Montrose, Colorado in June 2014 http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=142975

Transcontinental Railway Grade in May 2014: http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=139471

City of Rocks, Idaho in April 2014:http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=137684

Capitol Reef National Park in March 2014: http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=133018

Grouse Creek and the AAA garage in February 2014: http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=130966

Grand Canyon in January 2014: http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=128820

Moab, UT in December 2013: http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=127222

Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument November 2013: http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123694

Across Nevada on US 50, "The Loneliest Road in the Country", October 2013: http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=120098

Mount Evans (the highest paved road in North America) August 2013: http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=115013

Canada in June 2013: http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=109872

Monument Valley in March 2013: http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=99523

Bryce Canyon in February 2013: http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=97822

Milford, Utah in December 2012: http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=93137

Nevada and Idaho in November 2012: http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=89080

Rocky Mountain National Park in September 2012: http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=83966

Yellowstone National Park in May 2012: http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=72864

Death Valley in February 2012: http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=62705

Pike's Peak in July 2011: http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19141

Route 66 in April 2010: http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57511

Re: Pikes Peak, Again
 

Thanks for sharing looks like a great time!

Re: Pikes Peak, Again
 

:D Now that looks like fun!

Re: Pikes Peak, Again
 

You, your Dad, and Old Henry are so fortunate to have each other, and to be able to share these kinds of experiences. Amen

Re: Pikes Peak, Again
 

I always enjoy your pictures and narrative, makes me feel as if I'm in the backseat. One more trip to put on my bucket list.:)

Re: Pikes Peak, Again
 

What memories you have given me with your trips, brings back memories I have not though about in years. thanks john

Re: Pikes Peak, Again
 

I was stationed in Colorado springs in 1953 and took the trip up Pikes Peak in a 49 Ford Tudor. We lived in Manitoo Springs. Great pictures and video. I always enjoy your trips. Keep on driving your classic car, that's what they are for.
Don in SC

Re: Pikes Peak, Again
 

Thank you once again for a great"ride-a-long" !!

Re: Pikes Peak, Again
 

Professor,
Thanks for taking us along on your trip. Just great!
Now, a technical question: I understand how high altitude equals thin air and lower pressure. Not good for carburation but how does it affect a closed and pressurized system in an engine. Does the radiator water boil at a lower temp? Just curious and trying to understand the high altitude physics.
Thanks again
John

Re: Pikes Peak, Again
 

As I explained in my post, and without going throbugh all the technical calculations to arrive at these numbers, at 14,000 feet water boils at 186°, 26° lower than at sea level. My 4 pound radiator cap increases the effective atmospheric pressure by that amount and raises the boiling temperature to 199°. That is still 22° lower than at 5000 feet where I live. So, the water in my radiator which would not boil out until 226° at sea level, 222° at 5000 feet, boils out of the radiator at 199° at 14,000 feet. Climbing a 10% grade in first gear going 10-15 mph was quite a challenge to keep the engine temperature below 200 and the water in it. For some reason propping the hood up lowered the engine temperature 10° from the 210° when I first pulled off the road and eliminated the stumbling and stuttering of the engine. Those are the physics of high-altitude driving with a carbureted engine.

Re: Pikes Peak, Again
 

Great trip! Have you ever thought about adding a helper for the cooling on such trips?
I know some model A guys put an extra washer bottle/pump and direct it in front of the radiator with a sprayer, or drilled tube. One flip if the switch and your engine temp will go down 15-20 degrees.

Re: Pikes Peak, Again
 

Thanks again for another great road trip. A nice adventure for your Dad and his wife also.

Re: Pikes Peak, Again
 

You need to put some Buick holes in that hood to increase circulation.

Re: Pikes Peak, Again
 

Thanks for the suggestion.

What I really need to do is just figure out what it is under the hood that is heating up and partially failing. I don't think it could be the fuel pump. It's not like vapor lock that just kills the engine dead like it's out of gas. Besides, I've got an electric fuel pump to switch on whenever I suspect that. It doesn't solve the stumbling/stuttering problem. It's something new I haven't experienced before. The engine temperature itself is not excessive. It's something else.

One thing I'll do if it happens again is hook up my timing light to the high voltage output of the coil and lay the light on my windshield to watch as I drive to see what, if anything, happens to the spark. Then I can at least determine whether it's spark or fuel.

If the problem is spark I'll tie a rag around the coil and soak it with water to cool it down and see if that cures it. If so, then I'll know it's the coil and replace it. If not, then I'll have to think about it and try something else.

As for a temporary measure until I solve it if it becomes chronic, lifting the hood is quick, cheap, and easy, albeit a bit embarrassing to drive down the road with your mouth open. :)

Re: Pikes Peak, Again
 

Thanks for the suggestion. I have thought that, if I can't find the problem and solve it, I can cut out a section of the bulk head above the radiator to allow air to flow into the engine compartment that way.

http://i1059.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7eaap88y.jpg

I already don't use the panel in front of the radiator because I have a fresh air heater with the intake duct in that bulkhead. Better to just figure out what's overheating in the engine compartment and fix it. That's my first priority.

Re: Pikes Peak, Again
 

Professor
I cannot remember if Henry has a shroud or not. If he does not have one it would help a lot to add one. Beautiful trip.
Bruce

Re: Pikes Peak, Again
 

Thanks for the suggestion.

As I said before, the problem is not the engine temperature. That is not excessive. So, I don't really need more air through the radiator. In fact, if anything, the flow through the radiator decreased when I propped the hood up that cured the problem. The problem is with some other component under the hood that is partially failing when it heats up. The coil is my main suspect and hope it is since that one is easy to fix. Other than that, I don't know what it would be.

Re: Pikes Peak, Again
 

Fantastic. Always enjoy your trips.

Re: Pikes Peak, Again
 

Great drive as usual, Craig. As an aside, last week I took a drive from Beaver to Junction. I have wondered about it for some time. I would reccommend it. No pictures. My camera told it needed batteries. Wayno

Re: Pikes Peak, Again
 

Your symptoms lead me to believe you may have a bad ballast resistor on the coil.