Introduction/Pickup Story

[BlackSheepz]

Hello All!
I just wanted to take a minute (or 20) and introduce myself as I am new to ZR-1 ownership as of last weekend.

I've interacted with some of you over the last few months and I really appreciate all the help I have received both here and over at Corvetteforum. I have been looking for "THE" ZR-1 since mid last year or so, and started making offers and seriously considering cars starting in April of this year. I'd made offers on a few, but for one reason or another none of them had worked out until about three weeks ago when I made an inquiry on one and the pieces all fell into place so quickly it was scary. This was the car. It isn't my dream color combo (Black/Red), but it's got absolutely every other criteria met and I'm in love with it already.

My (new to me) car is a 1990 ZR-1 One Owner Red/Red with 25k miles (27k now that we are home in Indiana from driving cross country. Car is #2530.

I had wanted to tell the story of the trip in the same way that Jim (QB93Z) normally does with his trips, but we ran into an incredible hiccup along the way and now must only recount it after the fact. (more on this in a bit)

I'm going to have this start with Day 1, and I'll do a separate response for each day after Totaling in 4 days.

Pre-Planning

So I had only seen photos of the car, and talked to the previous owner on the phone and everything seemed great. I arranged an inspection with the one and only, Man, Myth, Legend and ZR-1 Registry form member Demps out in Las Vegas. Ted looked at the car, we talked for quite a while and also emailed a few times after that, and I made the arrangements with the original owner (Don) to go out and get it.


This is the photo from Don's listing.

The plan was that we were going to fly out and drive the car home on Route 66 because it sounded like an awesome idea since neither of us had ever driven Route 66. I knew that weather might be an issue this time of year, so I took the weather very seriously. Each day a week before the trip I checked the weather forecast in every major city that we were going to pass though. In fact I downloaded the inRoute App for my iPad to help plot the trip and plot the weather forecast for our trip based on the dates we planned to travel. This is a screenshot of the app on Wednesday 12/9/2015. (I was flying out on 12/11).



The graph on the bottom I found super helpful as it had the options to tell me temperature, precipitation, humidity and a few other things in graph form for the duration of our trip based on mileage and date. The graph in the photo reads that right at the beginning there was a 100% chance of light precipitation in Arizona, but I could live with that.

I booked the flights.

Day 1:



(The view from my seat flying out of Chicago).

The plan ended up being that my wife drove me to the Indianapolis Airport at 4AM on Friday 12/11 for a 6am flight to Chicago, where I then flew to Las Vegas to arrive by 9AM. There I would meet with Don at the airport, look at the car, head to the BMV and then see Ted before heading to Scottsdale Arizona where my sister lives and where my wife was flying after work on Friday. To this point everything had gone very according to plan. Don was an incredible fellow who is/was very proud of his cars (he has a 95 Z still, and has a New Z06 on order). I couldn't have picked a better person to spend a majority of the day with. Unfortunately most of that time was spent at the BMV.

The Visit to the BMV should have been an indicator as to how the rest of the trip was going to go. At one point we had been there for 2 hours and the line hadn't moved. Security then took the line single file out the door into the parking lot and then moved us BACK inside as if they were trying to give us some fresh air. I don't have any pictures of the mad mess that was the BMV, but I can tell you this. If you are in Nevada; Avoid it at all costs.

When all said and done 3 hours had passed, and Don ended up loaning me his plates to get home because the BMV computers were down and the moving permit that they provided me was ONLY good in Nevada. Considering not a whole lot of Nevada is between Las Vegas and Arizona this could have really put a damper on the Trip. Don was my hero.

After leaving Don, I went to the Wal-Mart (yes I know) to get little things that I hadn't packed not knowing how much space I would have. These things would include:
-A small bluetooth speaker for the Cup holder since the radio didn't work.
-Windex to clean the inside of the windows
-A Can of Fix a Flat for just in case
-Some Microfiber Cloths
-Flashlight

Ted recommended that I drive the car around and get it to operating temp in the Valley before going to Arizona because my car has the Original Fuel Injectors in it and if there was a problem it would be good to know before leaving. Before I flew out, I had acquired 16 new Accel Injectors, Injector and Plenum gaskets from Jerrys, the LT5 service manual, AND Marc Haibeck's Plenum DVD in the event that I was in a bind. It may seem like I was paranoid about the injectors, but if something went wrong on this trip, I was SURE it would be the injectors. (more on this later also)



I let the car run in the parking lot while I cleaned the windows and went over the car in extreme detail, as I would check certain areas over different legs of the trip looking for any sign of trouble. I also took some photos of the car in the parking lot until I started getting accosted for change by a few folks passing through. Luckily that's when Ted called and I went to see him and his glorious collection of ZR-1s.

I could talk to Ted for days, and it took everything in my being to not take photos of everything in his garage. Ted is a Magical Space ninja and I am incredibly grateful that he was able to look at this car for me. I wish I could have gotten to him sooner to buy him lunch, but since I didn't it just means I owe him one the next time I see him either in Vegas or at a ZR-1 Gathering.

After Ted's I hit the road to Scottsdale and my new to me Z drove like a dream.

Got to my sisters at around 11pm and we went to get my wife from the Airport. Thus far the trip was going incredibly well and exactly as planned. I was excited to see my wife and what day 2 might bring.

(Day 2 will be next post)

[BlackSheepz]

Day 2:
We got up at my sisters to a beautiful day. The plan for the trip was that we would get to Route 66 and drive it as far as we could/wanted with an ultimate goal of Oklahoma on the first day. It was an ambitious goal, but we also needed to be back in Indiana on Monday so we could both fulfill other obligations on Tuesday. If we didn't get to Oklahoma, it wasn't a big deal, but you have to have goals right?


(My brother in law's Subaru STI. 400hp at the wheels on regular pump gas. Yowza!)

My wife and I got on the road and were in the greatest of moods. What an incredible trip. As we headed towards Route 66, we noticed something interesting though: The Trees in Arizona were starting to turn white. Then we noticed the grass was all gone, replaced with this whiteness. Being from the midwest we knew that it was snow, but we hadn't expected that in Arizona. We looked it up and because of the elevation we were at snow was something that happened from time to time.

Nothing could prepare us for what happened next.



It REALLY started to snow. And it didn't stop.

This is a video my wife took while we were driving.


I'm not afraid of a little weather in a Corvette. I also currently have a 1992 LT1 6 speed and a 1988 Z52 4+3 (for sale here). The problem came when it snowed almost the entire way from Arizona, to Amarillo Texas. All the planning I had done, all the weather forecasts, all of the time spent getting everything in order was now gone. Instead of Cruising at 75-85mph down Route 66, we were traveling between 40 and 60mph trying to not slide off the road.



That photo was taken in Grants New Mexico. Fun fact. Grants New Mexico gets an average of 7" of snowfall every year. The national average for snowfall in any city anywhere is 28". The day we were driving through Grants the National Weather service was saying they were going to get 6".

Driving Saturday was the most difficult thing I have ever done in my life and Grants New Mexico wasn't the most difficult part of that day. At one point I decided to stop and get gas. Not because we needed it (we still had over half a tank), but because I wanted as much weight on the back end of the car as I could possibly get. It was brutal out there.


(This photo was taken near Gallup New Mexico. My research says that snow is most likely to fall in January near Gallup, and then it is only a 29% chance based on history. It's also only a 1% chance inside that 29% chance that if it does in fact fall, it will be heavier than a dusting).


The last 15 miles to Amarillo Texas were the worst. Visibility was so low from the freezing rain that I couldn't see 3 dashed lines in front of me on the highway. Big Rigs were barreling past like they were headed to put out a Fire. When we finally got to the hotel we ate some soup we bought at the gas station down the way and going to sleep was probably the best feeling I could have ever imagined that night.

The trip was still a dream trip for me, but it had taken quite a different tone than intended. Instead of a fun lets stop and do things it was more a need to get from point A, to point B which really put my wife Shannon and I into a cranky mood. I wouldn't trade the trip with her for anything, but it was NOT off to a good start.

(Day 3 coming in next post later tonight)

[ZZZZZR1]

WOW!!! Awesome pictures!

Congrats and welcome!!


Couldn't agree more about Ted... Class act and serious addition!



David

[Dynomite]

I will have to put this in the Road Trip Section of -Solutions-
Give me a nice Title for your Trip or we just call it the ZR-1 Pick Up Story

Great Trip Documentation and very well written

[JimZRyd]

Welcome! Wow!!! I couldn't imagine getting caught in a snowstorm like that in mine! If it snows in SC we know it in advance. Nice Z! Welcome to the Brotherhood!

[-=Jeff=-]

WOW.. look at that snow..

And DOUBLE WOW.. it is true .. OUR cars DON'T MELT!!

Congrats on the Z and a safe trip

[G-Sting]

What a Great Z pick up story, so far!

… Sounds kinda like life!

… And if you're gonna drive it in snow, one may as well drive with the top off!

Congrats and Welcome!

[secondchance]

Glad you made it back. Driving a ZR-1 through snow says a lot about your driving skill.
Welcome to ZR-1 family!

[BlackSheepz]

Thanks everybody. I will come up with a name for the trip, and had no idea there was a road trip section! I'll have to go check that out once I'm all done with this post.

I have no regrets on the trip, but it's not at all how we wanted to make this trip. Speaking of which, let's talk about Day 3.

So we stayed at a Red Roof Inn in Amarillo Texas. After a hearty meal of microwave noodles eaten using a couple of coffee stirs we found in the room the night before, we were kind of dragging both physically and mentally. We had expected to have more time to stop and SEE ALL THE THINGS, but as I mentioned that was not at all what had happened. We were especially dragging when we looked outside to see this:



I never thought I would use the heated mirrors in any of my corvettes. The day before on the road, and today not only did I make for certain that they worked, but they work like champions. I love my corvettes, and all corvettes. I never had any doubt.

I distinctly remember looking at my wife and telling her how much I appreciated her allowing us to do this trip. I know how she must have felt seeing the car that day. The hopes of day 3 being a lot of fun were dwindling. If the snow had been in the forecast or she hadn't wanted to come I'd have just shipped the car home as she is my partner in crime and doing something like this was a trip of a lifetime for me; it would have been meaningless without her. She loves to travel and I love to drive (not mentioning my love of Corvettes) so this seemed like the mecca of trips. Without her the night before we wouldn't have made it to Amarillo, her second set of eyes and her diligent watching of the weather Radar on her phone was invaluable.

As she got ready, I started the Z and let it warm up and even with the 25 year old injectors she started right up. While also brushing the snow off I may or may not have thanked the lord baby Jesus that it was just fluffy powder as I likely would have died if I had to Actually scrape ice off of this car.

That morning after eating at the local Waffle House we hit the road. It seemed like another long day in the snow and Ice, but then something miraculous happened.

The snow stopped.




Eventually the snow went away and for approximately 60 miles that was the view. The roads were wet, but the snow was gone. With the wet roads, I continued to keep my speed in check, but being able to cruise at the speed limit was a nice change at that point. Eventually we reached the Oklahoma/Texas Border which is where it started to rain again, relatively hard as well, but at that point I said I'd take rain the rest of the way as long as there was no more snow. I have a feeling I shouldn't have said that.

Oklahoma had it's own plans as to how it wanted to mess with the trip. We merged onto the Oklahoma Turnpike and read a sign stating Toll in 45 miles. I decided to find an exit for gas, but noticed that the first exit was an exact change only toll manned by no human, but one of those basketball hoops that counts change after you throw it through your car window. After about three of these, I decided we needed to stop because I didn't want to risk getting to the large ALL CAR toll, and be SOL with an undetermined amount of "correct change". So I exited without exact change. Yup. I am that guy that drove through without paying because I did not have $1.50 in quarters, but i was on my way to fix that problem at the gas station.



Despite it seeming like I stopped for gas a lot, I really wasn't. In fact, I don't think I put more than a half a tank in at any given time, but I'll get to that.

In the gas station I went to the guy at the counter looked like he may have been in his 20s and confessed my crimes against the Oklahoma Turnpike. He laughed at me. Then he proceeded to tell me that the toll at this exit had been broken for years so it didn't matter. I laughed and thanked him. I went to the ATM in the station to get cash for him to break into quarters for future tolls, but the ATM was out of service. He then refused to give either myself or Shannon Cash Back on a purchase. I asked him about the ALL CAR Toll coming up and he said they took Cash, Cards, Checks or any other form of currency we might be carrying. At ease, we got back on the turnpike when it started to Rain. Not light drizzle, although there was some of that in the mix. It started to Really rain.

Once we arrived at the First ALL CAR toll, we discovered that they DO NOT in fact take anything but cash. Cash that we did not have enough of thanks to the broken ATM and lack of their wanting to do cash back on a Debit card. The toll was $4 and the $2 we had between us wasn't going to cut it. The guy at the toll booth gave us an envelope and told us to either mail it in, or pay at the next call car toll. On the way to this toll, we saw that there were a few exits that did not require the $1.50 in quarters to access. I asked when the next one was, and he said not before the next ALL CAR. Begrudgingly we continued on, and before anybody asks YES. It's still raining.

A few miles down the road, we then once again sinned against the Oklahoma turnpike by going through the toll without paying to get cash; again to pay the "Great" state of Oklahoma. Shannon ran into the gas station and got cash and we were on our way. At this point we came up to the toll to get back ON the turnpike and the change throwing side of the toll was closed (with a big old sign and construction cones kind of closed). So we drove through the prepaid side, and set the alarm off because gosh, we didn't have a PikePass. The interesting part here is that not a single other toll plaza had an alarm go off. Maybe they were mostly broken...

Needless to say, we were getting frustrated with Oklahoma. We decided to stop for dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe and Casino in Tulsa. The first really cool thing we were able to do on this trip.


(Shannon standing with our new Z)

After eating at the Hard Rock diner we took a couple of photos of us around the attractions at the casino, and then with the car since the rain had turned into a fine mist at that point. We then hit the road. It wasn't long before we hit the next ALL CAR toll on the Turnpike. The Last. ALL car Toll on our trip. I once again Confessed my sins to the attendant, wanting to pay penance (or quarters, at this point it didn't matter). You'll never believe what she said.

"I wouldn't worry about it, most of the tolls are broken and the last time I had to do it they never mailed me a bill".

I was dumbfounded. If I did that in Chicago, there would be a bill in my mailbox in two weeks and there would be a fine to go along with it. I asked if she was sure, and she said yes. Continue on. I made note to remind me to let Don know to keep his eyes on the mail. We were using his plates after all and the last thing I want to do is sour him to the idea of trusting fellow Corvette folk, or people in general.

I drove for a few more hours in what continued to be rain varying from mist to full monsoon until there was a fatal accident on US44. When we navigate in the car we use an app called WAZE which uses crowd sourced alerts to traffic jams, accidents or ect. Someone had posted a photo saying it was a complete standstill ahead because there was a fatal accident. WAZE however rerouted us through a nearby town, which was good and bad. It was good because we didn't have to sit in a traffic jam for an hour, but it was bad because you know those windy twisty narrow roads we all love to find in the fall? The ones that make spirited driving fun? You know those kind that are NOT the kind you want to drive in the dark and pouring rain? That's how we got around the accident. A 7 minute detour took us approximately 30 minutes of intense driving at 30mph watching for deer. I'm also pretty sure the Z got its off-roading merit badge after having to cross what I think was a creek running through a super tiny town in Missouri. You did read that correctly. Running water was coming down the side of a concrete ledge onto the street, and it was running over the street (about two car widths) and falling off another concrete ledge. It was enough running water that I would have been afraid to walk through it. The Z took it in stride.

That night we pulled into the Hollywood Casino in St. Louis at right around midnight. If you are wondering, yes in fact it was still raining but they had a parking garage and I think that if the Z could talk, she would have had a sigh of relief as Don said that she had probably only seen a limited amount of sunlight in her entire life being stored for 12 years at one point and then mostly going from garage at home to garage at work otherwise.


(Lobby of the hotel, all ready for the holidays!)

While it may seem like we enjoy Casinos you'd be surprised to know neither of us are really gamblers. The Allure to the casinos in this case was that we could stay there, park and not have to leave again if we wanted to eat or go do something. And that's what we did. We enjoyed a nice Thai dinner, had a couple of drinks and Shannon won $28 playing $2 in the Penny Slot Machine.

Things were finally looking good.

(Day 4 in next post, but I won't likely get to that until tomorrow)

[Blue Flame Restorations]

Welcome aboard! Very nice ZR-1.