Road Trip to Alaska-Coffee Table Book Finally Done-thanks Cody Cole!

[AKcharger]

Great trip!

[thehemikid]

Awesome trip & beautiful pics you have there Bob! 

Think I read on your site logs where you had a clear "Bra" installed.  If so, how well has it performed for ya, ...disregarding the chunk of truck tire? 

Did you apply it to the wheel well lips too?

Stick-on, static, or what?

[stripedelete]

So, who had fuel additive on their list of thing to pack?

I've much enjoyed your dispatches.

I have the upmost respect for your ability to stay in the seat each day.

[taxspeaker]

That clear stuff did the trick. It was a stick on wrap that will peel off when I get home. It is on the entire nose cone and 1foot of hood and fenders, and behind both wheel wells from the bottom crease down-you can't even see it's there. Sadly it was not where the tire hit.

I was scared to carry much fuel additive and incorrectly assumed I could buy it at most places. They have lots of diesel additive but no one had gas additive.

[Mopar John]

Bob,
Amazing trip!
Thanks for taking us along!
MJ

[Bob T]

Great trip and travel blog Bob, thanks so much for keeping it going and up to date after the long days at the wheel.
Sounds like a fantastic trip

[taxspeaker]

The furthest point of the trip was to Whittier Alaska after driving through the 2.5 mile combination car/train tunnel through the Portage Glacier tunnel. This final picture may be one of the most picturesque taken in front of the Portage Glacier outside of the tunnel. No, not home yet but taking a short break for 5 minutes with internet access!
Bob

[dads_69]

That is pure awesome-ness right there.

[taxspeaker]

Well I am back from Alaska. Many folks have commented on the trip-thanks for the cards, calls, texts and emails! The most common question is "How was it"

It was an incredible experience of which dreams are made that I will remember until my last days. The people, the scenery, the experiences, the road, the long days driving, blessed with occasional bright lights of children's smiles and car-lovers grins and comments all served to make this trip actually better than I had dreamed about my whole life. The bucket list however is not complete! I found Mopar lovers everywhere particularly in Saskatoon, Dawson Creek, Whitehorse and Wasilla. When the car went through the railroad tunnel to Whittier the entire tunnel staff took pictures and in Whittier the excitement of people seeing the car in that tiny fishing village was wilder than a return from overseas. Man do people love this car! Superbird owners-you've got to drive these things!!

Mechanically the Superbird held up amazingly well. I have a new wiper motor waiting to replace in a few days once I catch my breath and the cleaning needs are worse than expected. The thousands of miles of travel on poor gas and more importantly on unleaded gas has burned several valves so over the next month or two I am going to do a valve job and put in hardened valve seats for the future. This is not a design flaw of Chrysler, this is as a result of changing EPA regulations so I do not fault the car. In fact the car held up for the entire trip. Other than those two things no new leaks have been sprung or parts broken that I have found yet. I do plan on doing another brake job on the front disks after the problems outside of Whitehorse and Dave (Dawson Creek Inland Chrysler) the gas tank is still holding! Other minor mechanical needs-another oil pressure sending unit and a new radio speaker! Chrysler built an amazing vehicle 45 years ago that withstood the rigors of the entire Alaska Highway basically without any failure or hiccup!

Over the next few weeks here is what I am planning. First we will have Ryan prepare a couple of time lapse videos of portions of the trip, particularly the scenic portions in British Columbia, the Yukon and south of Anchorage where we had good weather and camera shots. We have already printed about 1 dozen large prints of the best pictures of the trip and have framed them for hanging in my office at home and in the new garage once we get it. I hope to go through all of the trip receipts and organize them into a chronological manner to coincide with pictures and also print out the daily trip log, and tie them into my daily audio notes while driving. Then I want to put it all on 1 large DVD with high quality pictures, time lapse video, audio commentary from the trip and still shots supplementing the commentary and make it available to anyone who wants it. I have now received an email inquiry from Fiat Chrysler's publicity department about the trip so there may be something coming on that as well. Finally as soon as I get time I want to post some final pictures of the car at home to show how it held up. Assuming I have time I hope to drive it up to Columbus on Saturday in August to the Mopar Nationals.

The new bucket list item? Well since in 2015 we took the car as far north as possible in North America, what about the other direction? Planning now begins to drive it to the tip of South America in January 2017! Crazy-maybe-but no one thought it would make the Alcan trip either! Step one will be to start working on Spanish.

Once again, thanks everyone for your interest and support. We will be posting some video clips in the next few weeks once we get them converted.

Bob Jennings

[charge69]

That must have been an amazing trip that will give you great memories until memories no longer count.  I am envious of your bravado and determination to make this trip and will certainly go on the waiting list for a CD compilation. The number of miles you travelled each day is stunning and amazing to me as I would be hard-pressed to do that in the comfort of my Lexus, much less, my Charger or your Superbird!

The trip to the southernmost tip of South America would be an amazing journey and the experience of a lifetime.  My medical issues now and age (almost 69) make either trip a virtual impossibility for me so I will just have to travel vicariously thru your expeditions.  Really a great report of an awesome trip!

Carl

[1970Moparmann]

What an experience.  Can't wait to see some videos!

What was the ending total mileage?

[kw mopar]

Awesome journey. Looking forward to more pics. Thanks for all the details of your travels. I guess the aftermarket parts are meant to look good and not stand up like original.
Rob

[taxspeaker]

https://youtu.be/21drxu4v3XU
Here is a time lapse video for the very short section from girdwood to Whittier Alaska through the Whittier tunnel

[skip68]

Beautiful country up there.   

[tan top]

 what a awesome road trip  , thanks for sharing the your day to day adventures & pictures & stuff  , made for good reading   

[taxspeaker]

Last summer VTDoug made this trip in his 2013 Challenger. He also owns a 70 Challenger and a 68 Charger R/T. He was at Carlisle over the weekend (I have never had the pleasure myself) and is slowly driving to ST Louis to visit family before heading up to Minnesota for fishing. He is driving his triple black restored 68 R/T with aftermarket air and we met up for lunch outside of Louisville in Corydon Indiana. What a great guy, with great stories and a beautiful car. I have attached a picture.

My son is working on another time lapse to post maybe by the weekend, and Matt Johnson who is our company's other IT guy has taken on the job of converting all my videos, pictures, audio recordings and receipts into a DVD to give away. I think I will also ask him to develop a set of storyboards and scrapbook for car shows.

Once again thanks for the kind comments.
Bob

[taxspeaker]

This trip is now on the fiat-chrysler blog
http://blog.fcanorthamerica.com/

I probably incorrectly stated the first time it was ever done as I am sure someone else could have done it 45 years ago, but I don't know if they did it alone.

Started cleanup today and found several things:
1. Wiper motor had not burned up-it had vibrated the nut loose from the back of the motor to the arms. So I have a new motor I put in anyway and marked the old one "still works-70 Superbird"
2. Vibration had also loosened one of the hood lanyard tie-down bolts and a couple of other bolts and nuts
3. Rear window or trunk leak was still wet, so I have the trunk open drying it out with the mat out in the sun-after 2 weeks!
4. There are dead bugs and dirt from crevices I didn't even know existed
5. The only casualty of the trip seems to be my back which is still bothering me.

[Alaskan_TA]

Dead bugs are a badge of honor! Photo from my trip to Anchorage & back in 2003;

[dads_69]

Right on. Good meeting you Bob. I'm now building a Daytona clone since you've left 3 weeks ago.

Mark

[73rallye440magnum]

Dead bugs are a badge of honor! Photo from my trip to Anchorage & back in 2003;

Beautiful! The mark of an appreciated car.

[hemigeno]

More good press for Bob and the indomitable Superbird!

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2015/07/25/four-links-superbird-in-alaska-literary-road-trips-pulled-pontiac-johan/?refer=news

[Redbird]

For those of us that did not follow the day to day progress of your trip, thank you for the nice writing in the DSAC newsletter. It sounds like a wonderful trip!

[RECHRGD]

Thanks for the update!  I really enjoyed your posts along the way.  Please think long and hard about your proposed trip south.  Although there are many beautiful places and great people, there is also some areas and elements that you would not want to be faced with.  Taking the superbird down there will certainly bring attention your way, but it may not be all positive.....

[Aero426]

Thanks for the update!  I really enjoyed your posts along the way.  Please think long and hard about your proposed trip south.  Although there are many beautiful places and great people, there is also some areas and elements that you would not want to be faced with.  Taking the superbird down there will certainly bring attention your way, but it may not be all positive.....

A friend has run the Carrera Panamericana race in Mexico in a vintage Corvette.   When his car became disabled and had to be towed, it was an interesting experience with much uncertainly as to how he was going to get his car back.    It eventually involved cash donations with a number of twists and turns.     There is no way I would take a valuable car south of the border.    It is like the wild west. 

[Aero426]

For those of us that did not follow the day to day progress of your trip, thank you for the nice writing in the DSAC newsletter. It sounds like a wonderful trip!

Here is the link to the trip compilation in the DSAC newsletter.   Click on the link to view or download the newsletter.

http://www.superbirdclub.com/May-July_2015.pdf