Day 6 (Saturday 8th October)
After removing the engine and fitting the new rear oil seal and clutch the previous day, the engine was put back late in the evening and we hadn’t had the chance to test it. So in the morning we did a quick test (everything was all fine of course), adjusted the exhaust as it was knocking and then it was time to be off again for our second start of the trip… Ali and dad waved us off and celebrated hitting the road again…
This was swiftly followed by returning 5 minutes later to pick up the coffee flask (a definite essential). It was off again, for real this time. They do say third time lucky!
We had gone from the frightening blow out, to leaking oil seal thinking the trip was over, to considering we could possibly lift out the engine and replace the seal and clutch over a few days, to now being back on the road and on track having only really lost two days. Talk about rollercoaster…
We had set off from New York for a third (and final) start! We took a different route this time, heading more directly West along Interstate 80. The scenery along the roads was just as beautiful as the route before, especially with the stunning Autumn colours and trees. The Mustang was cruising gorgeously and we just sat back and enjoyed the drive, travelling across New York, into Pennsylvania and then to Ohio. We stopped for the night in a Best Western motel in Youngstown. All in all, we had covered about 415 miles, which wasn’t too bad considering we had set off late morning and were taking it gently on the Mustang. It certainly hadn’t felt that far. There were no issues on the car, just a very small oil leak at the front.
415 miles down, another 2500 miles to San Francisco to go!
All these pictures were just from our first day!