Day 4 (Thursday 6th October)
After the nightmare tyre blow out the day before, we woke up in the morning and checked under the car to see how it was doing…. not good…. it had leaked a lot more oil overnight.
Whilst we waited for the motel breakfast to start, we sat on the picnic benches outside in the refreshing October morning clutching our coffees in our hands. We needed to decide what to do – take the risk and carry on the journey as planned or give up before the trip had even really started? My heart did sink a little at the idea that after all the work and planning, my dream was about to get cut short. If we did decide to continue on and take a chance, then what would be our plan B if we broke down in the middle of nowhere? If the car became completely undrivable what would we do? I knew this was a possibility regardless of the oil leak as any car can break down any time. With a decision still hanging in the air, we topped up the Mustang with oil and headed over to Niagara Falls.
After all the drama with the blow out and now the oil leak, my mind had been elsewhere and I was not prepared for how absolutely stunning the Falls would be. It is one of those places that words and pictures cannot do it justice. I could use all the words under the sun but it doesn’t compare to what it is really like to stand there and look down at the crushing water. We walked around to see the horseshoe and it was just jaw dropping. We spent a good amount of time watching and taking pictures. I could have just stayed there all day…
But a decision still needed to be made, and fast. My dad got on the phone to Ali back in New York and told him of our dilemma. From inspection it looked like the leak was coming from the rear main oil seal. We could push on with the risk of it getting even worse and if the car lost all the oil and we ran it without any, it could cause severe damage leaving us possibly stuck in the middle of nowhere… Or we could turn back to where we started 390 miles away with no guarantee we would even make it back there. So, we concluded that there wasn’t really any option… we headed back to New York.
But we weren’t giving up yet! Ali had got off the phone and had sprung into action, calling Summit Racing and ordering up the rear oil seal and a replacement clutch (as yesterday evening driving into Niagara it had started to judder when pulling away, due to the oil seal leaking). He asked Summit what was the best replacement we could get and told them of our need for it to arrive quick. They didn’t have a standard clutch in stock for my 302 but they did have a 351 Boss clutch in stock that was ½” bigger. Ali made 2 phone calls to make sure that the splines on our 3-speed gearbox would definitely fit the Boss clutch. He also went out to a local store and picked up a brand new engine hoist! A plan was coming together…
The decision to turn back for Blauvelt, New York turned out to be the right one as the oil usage quickly got worse on the way back. My uncle Gerald, who was back home in the UK, had been in email contact with Ali about what was happening. He knows the upstate area of New York well thanks to some friends of his that live there. There were 2 possible routes back to take and he was able to advise us of the best one to get back avoiding all the hills. As we drove back, the oil from the leak was dripping onto the exhaust and we got to enjoy the lovely burning oil all the way back… I would imagine that might put a lot of people off but not a problem for me. Even though it was highly possible that this was the end of the trip, it wasn’t all bad, as I got my first proper drive on the American Highways. Despite the problem of the oil and clutch, it was absolutely amazing sitting behind the wheel of my Mustang.
The oil seal and clutch were already on their way to Blauvelt at the same time we were too and a plan had been formed to lift the engine out the next day and change the oil seal. It was going to be a huge amount of work but it was a choice of give up or keep fighting on. And we had not given up yet! So, the 302 V8 engine would be coming out!