svx cross-country trip

Picture this:

A lonely ebony SVX in Jersey wants to make its way home to its owner, all the way in Los Angeles...

A lonely SVX owner in Los Angeles wants to see his SVX again...

And a car shipping company that has missed its pick-up deadline and doesn't know when they can get the car.

The stage is set, for...

an SVX cross-country trip!!

I'm flying out of LAX in about 3 hours, and will pick up my SVX tomorrow, and begin driving straight across. Planned route? 78 West to 70 West to 15 South, with stops in PA and CO, where I have some friends.

The plan is to get back into LA by early Wed morning.

Wish me luck everyone! (i.e., no tranny failure!!)

If anyone has some advice, tips, or just wants to get out onto 70 in the next few days and wave as I zip on through (doing the limit of course), do so! Would love to see some SVXes on the road.

kmin.

[Earthworm]

Enjoy the trip. My dad's getting ready to do a similar trip as well...except with Mike's car (Green1995SVX).

[Alycone]

Sounds like fun!

[NapaBavarian]

I want to drive cross country, prefrably with a cute and fun girl, but alone would do too

Sounds really fantastic, I think your'e about to experience the coolest trip ever, your car will be so glad to see ya it wouldn't dare cause you grief have fun, it goes without saying many of us will be with you in spirit.


92 Pearlie

[Earthworm]

Nobody ever travels through Winnipeg.

I would offer a place to stay for any SVX'r passing through.

[shelfy]

kmin:

sent you pm!

Shelfy,

didn't get it... but are you thinking what I'm thinking?

Check your PMs, I'll leave you my phone number.

kmin.

(currently sitting in Starbucks in NYC).

[shelfy]

i got your pm. hopefully you'll get my reply.

Well folks,

It's Sunday afternoon and so far almost so good!

I've learnt one valuable lesson: when staying at a friend's place, make sure you take your wallet with you when you leave!!!

I found out that my wallet was still in Shippensburg, PA, about 200+ miles later, when I crossed the Ohio state line. Which was also just about the time I was getting ready to find a station to pump gas...

So right now I'm sitting at a Sunoco station, off exit 91 on the PA Turnpike. Yeah as soon as I found out that I didn't have my wallet, I turned around and drove back. Decided that in the interest of fuel economy, I wouldn't go over 60mph.

(and a guy in a mustang just stopped to look at me. Okay probably more at the car. )

So right now, I have 444.7 miles on the odo, and probably about 1 gallon of gas left in the tank. Waiting for my friend to come drive to meet me and pass me my wallet.

Looks like I'm going to have to drive through the night to make up for lost time.

The SVX is now in LA.

It was a good trip, really helped me to get acquainted with the SVX. I've had it since April, but loaned it to a friend who needed a car. But it's all mine now!!!

Met shelfy in CO, and got a nice set of rims... at least these aren't rusted and flaking, like my current ones!

So the car made it 3000 miles with only one small problem - there's an oil leak somewhere. It's pretty small, and I suspect it's probably the oil pump. But will have Steve at Suby Specialties look at it soon.

Did figure out a list of other things that need fixing:

1. Rear suspension is bad. Looks like I lowered the back of my car (and only the back!). Mychailo, are those springs ready yet???

2. Air-conditioning!!! Something's wrong with the compressor. Thank God I drove through Nevada at night (and it was still in the 80s!!).

3. The tranny shifts, especially in the first 2 gears, are pretty hard and abrupt. Is this normal?

Did get a lot of looks along the way... and someone off exit 91 on the PA Turnpike actually knew what it was! He was driving a red turboed Dodge Spirit, and said he had a friend who owned one too. Anyone on here?

The SVX is a great touring car though... the seats could be a little more comfortable, but after 12 years I guess that's what you get.

[Earthworm]

1. The rear of the SVX has the appearance of being lowered. Sometimes the strut mounts can fail and the car will be lower.

2. Have the system checked for leaks. There is a diagnostic check you can do to check for errors but I can't remember where on the site it is.

3. Does your power light flash 16 times when you start the car? Check the resistance of the resistor located between the battery and the fender. If all is fine then it's possible the band brake is out of adjustment.

[shelfy]

glad you made it home safely, kmin. please post to my colorado mini-meet thread in the upcoming meets forum. i don't think anyone from colorado read it and it needs to be bumped!

[Royal Tiger]

Napa, which one did you pick for your trip, the cute one or the fun one!

hey, how come my thread is turning into a discussion of napa's love life???