Not saying this to brag as much as to instill some confidence in some folks who are "on the fence" regarding this touring. Pennie & I (along with another couple in their 1925 Coupe) just got back from a 5 day trip where we covered a little over 700 miles driving the Blue Ridge Parkway up to Luray, VA in the Shenendoah Valley and back down the Lee Highway and we made the entire trip without carrying a bunch of spare parts. If we can do it in an old Model-T, you can surely do it the same way in a Model-A!!
The only maintenance outside of checking/adding oil along the way is I tightened the low speed band ¼ turn once I arrived in Luray. The only spare parts that I took was two extra ign. coils, -which if you know about Model-Ts, these are the weak link of the ignition system. I personally think the key to our "mechanical success" is that my car is mechanically prepared and almost totally stock with the exception of a Scat crankshaft and a Ruckstell rear axle. Also (...and I feel like this is a huge contributing factor), we drove around 38 mph for most of the trip (...sometimes a little faster going down the mountain, -and sometimes a little slower going up the mountain!
) where we did not "abuse" the cars.
The picture above was taken about 7:10 AM as we were readying to enter the B/R Parkway at Milepost 291, ...and we arrived in Luray after dark at about 8:10 PM that night. Not counting where we exited the Parkway for fuel or for lunch in Roanoke, we traveled 291 miles on the Parkway, and about 60 miles from Waynesboro to Luray totaling about 350 miles of travel in that one day.
Ironically, we met up with two other Model-As and one 'T' and all three cars had mechanical issues on the trip. The Model-T lost an alternator somewhere on the parkway and had to be towed in because the alternator came apart and shorted out the electrical. He also lost a universal joint on the way home. The Model-A Phaeton blew a headgasket between #3 & #4 on the way up due to overheating from water loss. I replaced the headgasket for him that nite, ...and I am of the opinion that most of his other mechanical issues stemmed from much "MacGuyvering" of the car and poor mechanical maintenance/condition of the car. A discussion/debate did come up regarding carrying spare parts and causes of mechanical failures. The final agreement from that group was that if someone is going to drive their car with worn parts or at speeds that tend to 'tax' those worn parts, then maybe carrying
these spare parts to replace the broken ones with is a good idea afterall.
Ohh well, here are some other random pix from the trip...
1) Our car, a 1915 T
2) 5 days of luggage & snacks loaded in the rear seat
3) Cooler, battery pack for GPS/cell charging, 1 gal water, & more luggage.
4) North Carolina scenery from the Parkway
5) ...more scenery.
6) ...and more scenery.
7) Disregard the Max Speed but everything was pretty accurate!
8) Virginia scenery on the Parkway
9) Speeding a tad bit.
10) Met some Model-As w/ Maryland & VA tages. Presumed they were traveling to Gilmore for the dedication.
11) The last hour on Wednesday we traveled by headlights.
12) Cooked on the manifolds some. Pulled into a Conv. Store parking lot. Made tables from what was available behind the store. Ate BBQ pork, Hot Dogs, and some warmed Cherries over some store-bought Pound Cake. 13 ppl in our group and we had food leftover.
13) Drove on quite a few dirt roads through the G Washington Nat'l Park.
14) Left at 6:15AM on Sun morning going home. Got to see the sun rise.
15) Traveled home down the Lee Hwy to Roanoke.
.
Heck, next time that happens I can save you a piece of safety wire too. Just unscrew the thumbnuts on the backside of the ammeter and place both wires on the same stud. Reinstall the thumbnuts and away you go. 
