Road trip: drive it or drag it?

[GTOger]

Alrighty folks... soliciting some opinions.

Planning on a little trip to Henderson Performance Tech down in New Braunfels. I'll be leaving from Dallas. The ZR-1 will be receiving a few upgrades. :)

We're also taking the 92 Firehawk, and this is what my question is about. The forecast is currently calling for rain, or at least a strong possibility. We're a week out, and this is Texas, so that could change at any point. But the Firehawk, in 23 years, has never been driven in the rain.

The plan had been to drive both cars down, have Corey & company work on a couple Firehawk related issues, then drop the Corvette and drive the Firehawk back home to Dallas. The wife drives the ZR-1, I'll pilot the Hawk.

Now I'm torn: drive both cars and risk getting the underside of the Hawk wet after 23 years of not? It is, after all, a car. It was built to be driven. A little wet muck under the wheels and in the suspension and underside is the price of admission for driving a car. We're in a Southern clime so no worries about residual road salt getting up in there and causing corrosion or anything. And it's not like the car is never wet. It gets wet every time it's washed. I've even run it through car wash tunnels.

OTOH, it's spent 23 years not being driven in the rain. This will already be its longest trip, having only covered a tad over 6000 miles since birth. It's got 23 year old wiper blades! I have a car hauler and a truck. I could put it on the trailer and drag it. It's an open trailer, so the car would still get wet, but not the same as if it were on the ground, with its big meaty tires throwing nastiness off the pavement up on the undercarriage.

There's no guarantee I'll take anyone's advice. And I may change my mind a thousand times between now and next week. But I'm curious to know what folks think.

So I'm asking... what would you do? GO!

[efnfast]

If I was buying the car, I wouldn't believe you that it had never been driven in the rain. I might if it was an extremely low miles car. Here in the North East, it's almost unavoidable. They tell us 0 percent chance of rain, then it does.

[GTOger]

Whether to believe me or not... well not much I can do about that. I don't plan on parting with the car anyhow so I'm not really concerned with using that for resale. It's more for... well, I don't know! It didn't get rained on in the first year we had it, and that turned into another year, turned into 5 years and then it became "a thing". Don't drive the Hawk in the rain. It's just sort of always been like that.

Again, I'll fully cop to the car has been wet. Car washes, puddles... in fact here is some evidence:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CDm8jjsWEAA4aMT.jpg:large

The rain is totally avoidable for your average around-town kind of thing.

As for extremely low miles, I'm not sure if 260 miles per year constitutes that or not. I guess that would be a relative and/or subjective response. I wonder how many miles the other 25 Firehawks in the world have. :)
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CDm8mPCW8AEvcm3.jpg:large

[JimZRyd]

Personally speaking , if you have the ability to haul it, haul it. Treat it special as it should be. Yes these cars were meant to be driven but that doesn't necessarily imply in the rain. Not 100% my 94 Z ever saw rain but if I can't help it, she won't. That's what my DD is for.

[GTOger]

Cool - so there's one for drive, one for drag. You guys... I'm so torn! I want to do both!

[FU]

Those are the original tires ? If they are I wouldn't drive on them period. Let alone in the rain. They would make a hell of a ride. Just my experience.

[GTOger]

Hey Frank - nah, this car is on it's 3rd set of tires. Right now it's wearing the same Nitto meats as the ZR-1. (NT-555). It *should* be wearing Firestone Firehawk tires, but those are no longer a performance tire. The Firehawk brand has been relegated to tires suited for your Camry or Focus.

Safety-wise, I'm not worried. Although, there are reliability questions that do make me consider the trailer. I simply don't have enough miles under my belt with the car to have a great deal of confidence. So there is that.

In 6000 miles this $42k Firebird has gone through 3 sets of tires, 1 air conditioner, 1 headliner, and let's not forget the replacement ZF transmission. Value for the dollar proposition it ain't! LOL

[BigJohn]

Want to barrow my tow-bar?

[efnfast]

Whether to believe me or not... well not much I can do about that. I don't plan on parting with the car anyhow so I'm not really concerned with using that for resale. It's more for... well, I don't know! It didn't get rained on in the first year we had it, and that turned into another year, turned into 5 years and then it became "a thing". Don't drive the Hawk in the rain. It's just sort of always been like that.

Again, I'll fully cop to the car has been wet. Car washes, puddles... in fact here is some evidence:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CDm8jjsWEAA4aMT.jpg:large

The rain is totally avoidable for your average around-town kind of thing.

As for extremely low miles, I'm not sure if 260 miles per year constitutes that or not. I guess that would be a relative and/or subjective response. I wonder how many miles the other 25 Firehawks in the world have. :)
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CDm8mPCW8AEvcm3.jpg:large
I hope you didn't take that as an insult, or me calling you a liar, not what I meant. I would consider 6000 miles extremely low.:handshak:

[GTOger]

I hope you didn't take that as an insult, or me calling you a liar, not what I meant. I would consider 6000 miles extremely low.:handshak:

LOL, no worries, man. Sometimes I don't realize what I type doesn't come with the benefit of inflection. So I can tend to be "tone deaf" in that regard. It's all good!

But I think I'm gonna drag it now. Don't wanna.... but I think it's safer.

[Z06scentair]

Under no circumstance drive the car if you can transport....keep the miles as low as possible.

It's one thing to get wet on the topside, the bottom side is a different story.

Once they have been on wet roads it becomes nearly impossible to rid the evidence.

The true collector would be looking for that residual grime if for some reason you decide to part with it in the future.

Beautiful Car.......preserve it for what it is!

[BigJohn]

Funny, I drive and enjoy all 17 of my cars. Low mileage often means major problems to a collector.

[Z06scentair]

Sounds like a nice collection you have, and drive them as you wish.

Tell more about your collection?

Brad

[GTOger]

We ultimately decided to drag the car on the trailer. Nowhere near as fun as driving it, but this did afford us the protection from a faulty fuel level sending unit (stuck on full) as well as the occasional stall we've gotten coming down from highway speeds. Some detergent will fix the fuel level sender, and Corey is working on the tune to see if we can get rid of the seemingly random stall.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CEPxubfUMAA2uwR.jpg

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CEPxzaEVEAE_b-R.jpg

We'll roll out with everything except the ZR-1 in a couple days. The list on the ZR-1 keeps growing. Eeek!

[GTOger]

In case anyone wants to hear what an old pushrod Firehawk from the early 90's sounds like on the HPT dyno...
https://youtu.be/lCHdhw9A2Pc?t=36s

FWIW, we ran a calculated 320 HP & 404 LB FT at the flywheel, which seems a bit low on the HP and a bit high on the torque if you compare to what the manufacturer advertised. That said, it still feels like an absolute kick in the pants to stomp on it. So that's satisfying.

[Fully Vetted]

Corey does such good work. We are lucky to have him.

[GTOger]

Corey does such good work. We are lucky to have him.

OMG, yes. I'm not sure if "lucky" rises to the level to adequately express my appreciation for his expertise, time, and workmanship.

That said.. I *am* starting to miss my beast. I'm getting quite anxious to take it for a ride. I understand that a lot of people can get through a week without the rush of some V8 thrust. I just don't know how they do it.

[Fully Vetted]

If you need a ride down let me know when it's ready. If I'm not too tied up I'll take you. I could use a break.