Epic Shasta road trip

[funkaholik]

Left home this morning for a 6 day road trip to Shasta and back. Drove 165 miles today. First went to Placerville to meet up with Mike Kerr. He was a bit under the weather but got me the part I was looking for. Then on to the Red Hawk Casino. Car started running rough so I pulled in, popped the hood, and gas was leaking out of one of the velocity stacks. Not a good way to start the journey. A quick phone call to David Premo and he suggested I check under the jet covers to see if a jet holder was loose. Bingo. Two ended up being loose, and one was just starting. Tightened everything up and things were much better, but I could tell the plugs were fouled. Drove to David Witt’s place in Cameron Park, pulled the plugs, and he cleaned them up like new with his fancy, air-powered plug cleaner. Drives like a dream now. I didn’t know that jet holders backing out of Mikunis was a thing, but it’s the first thing Premo suggested and David Witt said it’s happened a few times to him too. Now I know…

Meeting up tomorrow to caravan through Tahoe and Truckee to Chester.

[Stick]

Looking forward to following this ... such a beautiful area of the country.

Day 2 looks like a great drive up and around the Tahoe area!

Travel safe.

[funkaholik]

Fixed photos.

[Gregs672000]

Well done Erik and Dave...never experienced that and never would have guessed. Ya, I bet that made a difference! Have a great trip, fun stuff... keep posting!

[Solex68]

I've had the jet blocks come lose once. I feel better knowing it's a thing

[ppeters914]

....but I could tell the plugs were fouled. Drove to David Witt’s place in Cameron Park, pulled the plugs, and he cleaned them up like new with his fancy, air-powered plug cleaner.

Interesting. Did it look something like this?
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plug_cleaner (Phone).jpg

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[FergO2k]

Subscribed to this one! And for those planning ahead (not my strong suit), I am putting the MotherLode 400 rally on my calendar for Fathers Day next year. I will let you Google it.

[Alvin]

Good luck Erik! Look forward to your report!

[funkaholik]

I felt much better knowing that the loosening jet block is a thing, too. Now it's on my radar for periodic checking.

Covered about 220 miles of beautiful scenic roads today. I've got the easy job since David & Kathy are leading the way in their '70 2000 and all we have to do is follow.

We left Cameron Park this morning with another couple, Rick & Toni, joining us in their Infiniti (he left the 240Z at home, sadly). Cruised up to South Lake Tahoe then along the lake shore and northwest to Truckee, where we all had lunch and were joined by my friend Scott (minus his '69 1600 which is back at home in the Bay Area). After lunch, we said goodbye to Scott, Rick & Toni, and the two roadsters headed up through the Tahoe and Plumas National Forests. The pine trees, meadows, and even the areas recovering from recent fires were beautiful. We drove through some cute little mountain towns, stopped for ice cream in Greagle (never heard of it before today), passed Lake Almanor, and ended up in Chester for the night. Sad to hear that the hot tub at our hotel is out of commission, because a soak would be nice after many miles in the Datsun. There were a few times we got stuck behind a large, slow-moving vehicle, and a couple of stops where the road was down to one lane and we had to wait for the flagman to give us the go ahead, but most of the drive was smooth sailing through majestic scenery.

Some photos from the day.

[Gregs672000]

Jealous! I love road trips!

[funkaholik]

Today was amazing. First, we cleaned yesterday's massive amount of bugs off our windshields, headlights, and grilles. We left Chester and headed up into Lassen National Park. Volcanos? Check. Snowpack in June right next to boiling pools of sulphuric mud? Check. Majestic peaks and frozen lakes? Uh huh. How about a couple of bears? Yep, those too. As the bears climbed up toward the road, David said, "If they go left, it's time to leave!" The road up through the park was closed, so after seeing the sights and having lunch, we went back down to head west and then north up around the park through Manton and then towards Mount Shasta. The pine trees gave way to oaks and meadows for a while, then back to pines as we got closer to our destination. We parted ways with David and Kathy to check in to our respective hotels, then met up with them again at the Swiss lodge for ice cream, lots of Datsuns, and the makeshift bar in Scott's trunk, complete with disco ball and mirrors. As Scott said, "The first drink is free. The second drink is free. The third drink is free. Well, you get the idea..." Great group of people and fantastic cars, some of which I recognized and some I saw for the first time. Picked up some leaner pilot jets from Dave Premo since my carbs aren't happy at this elevation - they're jetted for 50 ft above sea level.

Lots of photos!

[Gregs672000]

Aww, great times, great memories!
Jets... I remember that too... can I interest you in fuel injection? My engine runs at 14.7 at home and at the top of Mt. Rainier now!

[funkaholik]

can I interest you in fuel injection? My engine runs at 14.7 at home and at the top of Mt. Rainier now!

Greg,

You know I'm interested! I'm filing it under "Future Projects" for now...

[funkaholik]

Whew. I was pretty wiped out last night and went to bed without an update. Yesterday morning we went on a 60ish-mile run through the woods and the little town of McCloud. There were 34 Roadsters and two Z cars. It must have been bizarre for the other motorists to see that huge line of Datsuns going by, unless they are locals and are used to it happening every June.

After the run, we regrouped around noon for the picnic in Shastice Park and Paul's Coast, where contestants have a plumb bob attached to their front bumper and try to stop closest to an "X" without using their brakes. It was my first time doing it, and I held the record at 1 foot, 5 inches for a while, but some other cars eventually dethroned me and got much closer. We will find out who won at tonight's banquet. After the picnic, David Witt led a few of us to the Sacramento River headwaters, a large spring in a park in town. Crystal clear, ice-cold water is coming up out of the ground there, and it's apparently a sacred energy vortex for the local hippies, who were filling up their jugs with the fresh waters. I politely declined one gentleman's offer of the "moon tea" he made last night that he was carrying in an old glass jug, even though he assured me it was full of positive energy and contained no hallucinogens.

One of the amazing things about this town is how you'll turn a corner and there will be Mount Shasta looming in the distance right in front of you. It never fails to wow me. 20 of us went to dinner at the Puerto Vallarta restaurant and then over to the Swiss Holiday Lodge for the Hawaiian-themed welcome party. Scott's disco Datsun trunk bar was open again, and it allegedly may have had something to do with why I went to bed early...

The big car show was today from 10 to 1:30, and it was quite a spectacle to see all the cars lining Mount Shasta Blvd. Datsuns, Datsuns, everywhere.

[spl310]

Looks like an awesome time!