Well, we made it from Houston to Abilene (approx. a 6 hr trip up beautiful Texas Hwy 36)!
checked the oil level at the first fuel stop... still at the full mark, temp ok and oil pressure ok.
then about 30 minutes from Abilene, Daniel called me ( I followed him up just in case) saying that he just noticed the oil pressure had dropped to zero, but no temp rise, no funny noises, not smoke, no nothing...
so, we gingerly proceeded the rest of the way. Upon arrival at his dorm, we checked the dip stick and it was showing no signs of oil!
removed the drain plug and got approx. 2/3 of a quart out of the pan.
proceeded to crawl under and sighted some wet spots in the area of the torque converter housing at the back of the block. While following Daniel, I noticed a few signs of minor smoke from the tail pipes... not black or blue, just looked like steam.
proceeded to refill the oil up to full level (about 3 quarts), started it up and it ran just fine.
Went over the next day to my brother's shop, jacked it up, crawled under again and found, I believe, where the oil is coming out. appears to be blowing out at the back corner of the p side head. perhaps a faulty head gasket...??
anyway, we changed the oil and filter, started right up, no visible oil leak... it must leak at speed on the road. He drove back to his dorm and parked for the day.
Daniel called me today saying he had a chance to try the strength of the rear bumper... a rear time came undone from the wheel... no blow out... just seemed to come loose from the rim.
So, he's continuing to learn the joys of operating an old car! But he's a trooper... hasn't dampened his spirits.
His soph year is under way as of today.
will update as interesting things happen.
again, thank you to all who have offered suggestions, comments, words of encouragement, etc!
Mark