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I took my 61 Sunliner on a 400 Mile road trip to a little car show in Parowan Utah last week. I was a little nervous because it has had very little use in two years. The trip there went fine, it got it's usual 12 mpg. It likes to cruise around 65 mph, it does 70 to 75 just fine but the wind noise becomes really annoying over 70.
Car show was great people had lots of questions about the car as they hadn't seen one in a long time.
Trip home was going well untill I was pulling a hill a few miles out from Mesquite, it lost power and was stumbling badly. It sounded like it was running out of gas. I made it to the freeway ramp and down to a gas station. Checked it out and pulled the fuel line off from the pump to the filter. Fuel sprayed out so I had fuel pressure. Tried to blow through the filter and it was plugged. Replaced it at AutoZone and was on my way.
About 5 miles from home I stopped at a light and heard this squeeling noise and looked down to see the generator light was on. Crap, the generator is siezed up. Since I was close to home and was in no mood to crawl under it to mess with the generator I cut the belt and took off, accelerating up to speed shutting it off put it in neutral and coasting to try and keep from overheating with no water pump spinning.
Made it home ok. I guess it is time for an alternator conversion and keep a spare fuel filter in the trunk.
Mike
Last edited by 61Sunliner (October 23, 2017 1:33 pm)
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Well done sir! For what it's worth, I took an expedient approach to installing an alternator on my '63 390, with the PowerMaster PowerGen 1-wire unit that has the form factor of the generator. Sounds like you're more savvy about bracketry and the like. I've read good reviews abou this setup, tho' too much chrome for my old ride.
Good luck!
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Your experience is why I don't take mine on a little more "serious" road trip, you've got guts! 
I'm a coward for that long a trip, but I did have mine on the Blue Ridge Parkway last weekend, and no problems at all. Only a 40 mile trip, though. And I'm still running a generator, too. 
By the way, I apologize if I missed a pic of your car - would like to see it!
Last edited by Glenn M. (October 26, 2017 3:01 pm)
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My first road trip 2 months after getting My Sunliner on the road after it had been sitting since 1978 in Denver was a 2000 Mile trip. It was from Las Vegas to Denver through Leadville then to Woodland Park and Cripple Creek for the Cruise above the Clouds Car Show then home through the mountain back roads over Independence Pass back to I70 then back home.
Mike
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Glad you got home alright. My first voyage in my '65 was driving the 600 mile trek from Illinois to Georgia. The only thing that made me nervous was coming through Monteagle, TN in a car with 4 wheel manual drums. The heat didn't blow strong, but fixed that once home.
To be honest, I would rather take one of these old barges than my newer car as roadside repairs are much simpler.
Glad your issues didn't ruin your good time and weren't more serious.
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As for pictures of my Sunliner since Photobucket is blocking photo posting for ransom I haven't bothered to find an alternative yet.
Mike
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That Power Master alternator looks pretty slick. A little pricey but when you compare to buying alternator brackets and buying the alternator it gets a little closer.
My only concern would be if it failed your not going to find a replacement at AutoZone.
Mike
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That has always been the deciding factor and has always kept me from getting one of those swanky alternators. Murphy always seems to catch me at some point. If I did I would just buy two and keep one in the trunk.
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