Pics from Temecula to Laughlin Road Trip

As mentioned in an earlier thread, Cheryl and I decided to take a 650 mile road trip to Laughlin and back driving my freshly sorted '74 X1/9. A brief rundown of the X1/9's current state of upgrades:

Drivetrain
1300 / 4 speed intact with some mild changes:
* Open element "Henk" scorpion air filter
* 1500 euro exh manifold and oem style muffler w/ OBA custom tip.
* smog pump and fittings removed and plugged
* electric fuel pump
* pcv catch can w/ breather

Wheels/Brakes/Suspension
* Accelera Alpha tires on 15" Autoricambi Libres
* front coil springs cut 1/2 coil w/ kyb struts

Interior
* Am/Fm/MP3 player w/ spare tire subwoofer
* LED dash lamps
* Sheepskin seat covers on stock seats
* Dino Steering wheel and hub kit

Exterior
H4 style headlamp housings w/ HID bulbs

Electrical
* Brown Wire Mod
* Starter Relay
* Headlamp Relay
* Interior Power Post
* LED tail lamp and side marker bulbs

I am happy to announce that on her maiden voyage she did not skip a beat, and handled all that I threw at her. The only things worth mentioning was a slight lean surge after a hot restart but it irons itself out after 15 seconds. Also the motor, being possibly the original motor, used a 1/3 qt of oil during the weekend trip. Oh and a couple leaks from the tranny...

Pic 1: The outskirts of temecula (Vail lake) in front of one of artist Richard Beccera's many metal sculptures that litter the so cal desert landscape...


Pic 2: Some of Richard Becerra's sculptures on the hills... heading out of Temecula on CA79:


Pic 3: A stop on CA371 outside of Anza:


Pic 4: Taking some curves before reaching CA74:


Pic 5/6: Getting up in elavation (4500 ft), turning onto CA74:



Pic 7/8: CA74 heading into Palm Desert:



Pic 9: Reaching Rancho Mirage (note Tesla in front of us):


Pic 10: Cheryl being a good trooper about having her hair wind beaten...


Pic 11/12: On CA62 heading to that crazy uphill grade to Yucca Valley and the high desert... the X struggled but made it up at the speed limit



Pic 13-18: Trip detour to Pioneertown, a ghost town 5 miles outside of Joshua Tree:







Pic 19-26: Hitting the loneliest stretch of highway, CA62 east of 29 Palms...









Pic 27-29: Photo op - CA62 and Iron Mountain Rd:




Pic 30-31: "Shoe Fence" on CA62:



Pic 32-33: Heading up US95 North...



Pic 34-36: On our way to Needles...



Pic 37: Crossing Colorado River...


Pic 38-39: And near the end of our 7 hr drive, we are in Bullhead City looking at Laughlin!



Pic 40-41: We made it!!

Pics

Looks like a fun trip, thanks for sharing. Glad to hear you made it trouble free.

Great Pics....

I need to do a long road trip...Just me and the X....lol....

Beau voyage

Thanks for sharing,
great pictures also the X :thumbsup:

Road trip pics

Great pics - thanks for sharing. I have only question:

Road trip pics

Great pics - thanks for sharing. I have only question: did you stop every 20 miles and WASH your car? It always looks so clean!

Ed

What fun you must have had! And what a handsome couple.

jss1591 said:

I need to do a long road trip...Just me and the X....lol....

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+1

Looks really good from where I'm sitting right now!!

Nice!

Nice X, superb photos...thanks very much for posting

Beautiful pictures!

Great pictures and it looks like you had a blast! I have one question for you though, what size tires are you running on those 15" wheels? The fitment looks perfect.

Nice - thanks for sharing!!

Your instrument lights are nice and bright!

Colltech said:

Great pics - thanks for sharing. I have only question: did you stop every 20 miles and WASH your car? It always looks so clean!

Ed

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Haha - no it got a few bugs and dust along the way, but the weather was very cooperative and the roads are well kept for the most part.

Alfa75racer said:

Great pictures and it looks like you had a blast! I have one question for you though, what size tires are you running on those 15" wheels? The fitment looks perfect.

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I'm running 195/45-15 on front and 205/50-15 in back. I also took a 1/2 coil out of the front spring so this combination has the rocker panels parrallel to the road. The 205/50's also give a little overdrive to the gearing, and now my speedo reads spot on

BTW, the tires - Accelera Alphas, were well priced and about the only tire that had both sizes (other than the 40% more Yokohama S-Drives). I thought I had made a grip compromise with a cheap tire but I was wrong. I took mountain corners faster than I ever dared before with not so much of a peep or wiggle from the tires. They are also quiet and track great without any wander over rough roads. I am completely sold on the brand.

myronx19 said:

Nice - thanks for sharing!!

Your instrument lights are nice and bright!

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Thanks! The LEDs make a huge difference, don't they?

fiatmonkey said:

What fun you must have had! And what a handsome couple.

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It was a blast - I am so lucky to have Cheryl as a copilot, she actually enjoys taking trips like this as well - the mood on a long trip is always upbeat and fun when I am with her.

Thanks for sharing your photos. Looks like your Cheryl and you had a great time! Always good when our wives appease us by allowing their hair to get messed up so we can drive with the top off

Thanks for the info!

OK, you were seriously out in some remote areas of the state. I'm a little jealous actually, I've never had the chance to explore that part.

zonker said:

It was a blast - I am so lucky to have Cheryl as a copilot, she actually enjoys taking trips like this as well - the mood on a long trip is always upbeat and fun when I am with her.

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Wish my wife were into it. She's gunna be lonely because, Lord willing, I'll be driving a LOT when I get the chance (as time allows). She can gladly join me or not but I'm not sitting home.

Coupefan said:

OK, you were seriously out in some remote areas of the state. I'm a little jealous actually, I've never had the chance to explore that part.

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You know, if I am vacationing by car, there is no better way to spend the travel time than on some 2 lane blacktop. On the way back, I jumped on I-40 for about 50 miles and it was like someone almost flipped a switch to raise the stress factor.

Faster speeds means less top off comfort, more a-hole traffic and lots of semi trucks, with little to no chance of really soaking up the view and stopping at will.

I love driving the desert - there are so many well paved lightly travelled roads that take you to all sorts of interesting places.

BTW, this set of pics is only for the way there. We took similar pics on the return trip and took different roads home. I'll post another thread for that, as well as some vid captures Cheryl caught of me running the X thru the gears, and driving thru the twisties. :thumbsup: