FE Power Forums
FE Power Forums => FE Technical Forum => Topic started by: jayb on May 04, 2021, 05:30:31 PM
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Quite a few years ago David Freiburger wrote one of his back page columns for Hot Rod entitled, "Life at the Side of the Road". It talked about the inevitable breakdowns that all of us suffer with our high performance equipment. It struck a chord with me because I'd been there, probably like most of us on this forum. I was there again yesterday :D
I was on my way to my friend Steve's house to see his progress on my 69 Torino; Steve is doing the bodywork. Three quarters of the way there in my 68 Mustang with 428CJ, I stopped at a stop light and heard a noticeable ticking sound. Hmmm, did I just develop a header leak? I turned the corner and accelerated and suddenly things got dramatically worse; the engine was backfiring and popping, the car bucking and lurching, etc. Oil pressure was down to about 20 pounds, from a normal 60. I pulled into the nearest parking lot just as it died, wondering what the heck had gone wrong.
I popped the hood and through my trick FE Power clear valve covers ( ;D) I could see that the #4 exhaust rocker had broken. This was a Comp Cams rocker, one of the extruded aluminum ones that Dove used to make for Comp. They are known to fatigue and fail after a while, but I hadn't been too worried about this because the valve springs on this engine are pretty mild. Apparently that didn't matter to this particular rocker arm. The engine has been together since 2008, and I put a couple thousand miles a year on it, so I guess it doesn't owe me anything, but still...
Anyway, with just a busted rocker I figured I could limp the remaining 3-4 miles to Steve's place. I got the engine started and found sort of a sweet spot where the engine would run without a whole bunch of drama, and pulled into Steve's driveway. At least I wasn't on the side of the road LOL! I had a spare rocker arm at home, so I borrowed Steve's truck to get back there, and while I was gone he pulled the valve cover. When I got back he had the offending rocker out, picture below:
(http://fepower.net/Photos/Posts/Broken Rocker.jpg)
Nice! While I had been at home I called Steve and had him check the pushrod, and it was still straight, so I figured we'd just pop in the new rocker and I'd be ready to go. Unfortunately, when we got ready to reinstall the rocker assembly with the new rocker, we discovered that the lifter had come completely out of the bore, and was laying in the valley. No wonder the oil pressure had gone away. At the rear of the engine compartment, the hood hinge and spring were in the way of really seeing anything, and it was clear that we weren't going to be able to fish that lifter around through the holes in the intake and get it back in the bore. It was getting dark, and I didn't want to impose any further, so Steve lent me his truck and I went home, figuring I'd fix the problem today while he was at work.
I got over there early this afternoon after taking care of some FE Power stuff in the morning. My plan was to leverage the features of the FE Intake Adapter to open up the valley of the engine, reinstall the lifter, and button everything back up. Everything went fine at first; I had the intake and carb off in 15 minutes, and the center plate of the intake adapter off a couple minutes after that. There was the lifter just laying there in the valley, so I stuck it back in the bore. However, quite unexpectedly, the #4 intake pushrod was bent down near where it goes into the lifter:
(http://fepower.net/Photos/Posts/Bent Pushrod.jpg)
Well, that wasn't good. With the exhaust rocker broken and the intake pushrod bent, it seemed like something could be seriously wrong in cylinder #4. I got back in Steve's truck and headed back home to pick up a spare pushrod, while thinking about this. Bent valve? Broken rod? It almost seemed like something had to be seriously wrong.
When I got back to the car, the first thing I did was pull the #4 plug. It looked fine. Then I spun the motor over while holding my finger over the plug hole, and there was plenty of compression and no leakage back through the intake valve. Also, the whole valvetrain seemed to be working as it should. Nothing to do but put it back together and see what happens. While I was getting the engine put back together, Steve got home from work and mentioned that when he took the broken rocker arm out, it had been sitting vertically in the rocker arm area. We think now what probably happened was the broken rocker jammed underneath the #4 intake rocker, preventing it from opening, and that caused the pushrod to bend. In any case, the engine went back together and fired up with no hint of a problem, and I drove home uneventfully.
I've had to do these kinds of repairs many times over the years, and often in parking lots or on the side of the road. Drag Week comes to mind. You guys must have some stories like this; let's hear them!
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Jay, our mutual master mechanic buddy Bradford taught me about the bent intake pushrod many years ago. I had broken a rocker shaft on my FE on the end exhaust rocker while at the track. That was back before I had end supports on my shafts. His first comment when I had called him was...”Did you check the intake pushrod on that same cylinder, I bet it’s bent”, and sure enough it was. When the exhaust rocker fell off, and no longer opens the exhaust valve there is nowhere for the exhaust to go, when the intake valve then tries to open against the exhaust pressure it bends that intake pushrod. As you found, no “touch” interference was involved.
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The only time I've ever been stranded due to breakage was when I was young. It was really cold out and I had just been dropped off at my car (390 '66 Fairlane), and I was in a real rush to get home before my curfew....you know, when parents took that stuff seriously..lol I started it up and threw it in reverse, then hauled butt home. I made it about 2 miles when I heard a loud BANG, then nothing. I coasted to the side of the road, got out and saw a big oil spot and trail leading up to the car. Knowing I only had a couple minutes left, I ran to the nearest house, which, fortunately I knew the people, and they let me call home. Dad came and got me, and wasn't too happy after seeing the oil spot. A rather large oil spot!
The next day we took a look, and I was pretty surprised to see a big hole in the side of the block and oil pan. Looking around, I saw a main cap wedged between the block and alternator. What convoluted path it had to take to end up there is still a mystery to me. Needless to say, Dad was not happy and blamed me for 'hot rodding' it. It wasn't until I got the engine out and tore down that we both took a good look at the main bolts. On the MIA cap, one bolt had a clean break, but the other was obviously tarnished with surface corrosion on both the busted bolt and the remaining stud left in the block. It became apparent that one of the bolts had been busted for some time, probably before I got it. It's still the only time in my life that I've ever seen a busted main bolt. That got my butt out of the doghouse. I never told him that it was probably a combination of 'hot rodding' it trying to get home before my curfew, with very cold oil that probably finished it off. I didn't see the need to ruin his day....or my life. ;D
The only other times I've been stranded were due to ignition problems. One busted set of points, and THREE failed MSD ignition pickup modules. >:( I now carry spares at all times, for all my vehicles. Two of them are still points ignitions.
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Stories, eh?
So, many years ago, I was out late at night wiith a group of other car guys match racing at Martin Tractor in Topeka KS. I had my 66 Fairlane GT, 12:1 390 solid lifters, toploader, 4.57 gears, G60-14 tires.
I'm getting ready to make run against a guy I should easily beat and make $50, when I whack the throttle hard in first gear to clean the tires, stab the clutch to grab second gear, when the clutch rod drops out of the clutch fork and the engine dies. Mere seconds later, we hear the sirens of the incoming fuzz.
Everyone else tears out of there, except me, with an inoperable clutch. I think quick, jam it into second, crank the starter, and head off down the access road at 6000rpm, knowing that, if I stop, the car will die again. Car wouldn't shift into third, so I somehow managed to make it all the way back home (ten miles) turning 6,000rpm and going about 35mph (or so it seemed).
No damage, no ticket, but a distinct memory ;D
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Is it just me or doesnt that rocker look like its been broke for awhile ? only a small part of it looks like a fresh break
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About 1962, I decided to drive to Indiana, where I went to school, from suburban Detroit. It was New Year's Eve day, and about 5 PM or so when I left.
The trip, at that time, was almost all two lane country roads. The first populated area after home was Ann Arbor, MI, and the path went through the downtown area and out the other side. Just as I was getting close to the U of M Campus the engine in my '54 Customline (312 engine, three on the floor, factory race dual quads and home-made headers plus a B7A 6250 C cam) began to run VERY rough. Seven, or, perhaps, six cylinder rough.
Varsity Ford was, at the time, on the edge of the campus. I had a mental picture of a broken rocker shaft, although I'd never experienced one. I ran to the dealer's door, which was locked, but I could see a guy still moving around inside. He came over to tell me they were closed and he was the book-keeper, and knew nothing about the insides of engines.
Talking fast, I persuaded him that I'd be able to find the part if he'd only let me into the parts department. He agreed, and I did, in fact, find a rocker shaft after scrounging around a bit. Neither of us knew what a proper price would be, but he told me to just take it and come back after the holiday to settle up.
With the shaft, in its cardboard tube, on the seat next to me, I limped across the parking lot to a auto repair facility/gas station close by. They were just open for gas, but I talked them into letting me inside in a repair bay. They also let me use the necessary tools. (It was about 15 degrees outside and snowing freely.)
Inside, I put my hand on the rocker covers and could feel the effect of the non-running cylinder(s). I pulled the factory Thunderbird cast aluminum cover on that bank, and, somehow, I'd guessed right. I pulled the shaft loose, and re-assembled all the rockers in the right places on the new shaft. I carefully put all the pushrods back in the tops of the mushroom lifters, and a bit at a time, cranked the r-s bolts down tight. No bent pushrods or other damage. Just the shaft, broken in such a way that the engine wasn't doing so well. When I re-started the engine, the valve lash was close enough that I left everything 'as-is'.
They were happy to sell me a gas fill-up but didn't want anything for the use of their space or tools.
I didn't make it to school by midnight. In fact, it was after 1 AM and a New year. The party had wrapped-up before I got there. I checked into a motel, and didn't find the girl until almost noon that day. But that's another story...
KS
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Heading to a muffler shop in downtown Spokane in 1983 or 84, the light turns yellow and I decide to step on the gas rather than the brake. I go "over the hump" in the intersection and upon descent, I hear a loud scraping noise as my Moroso oil pan begins emptying its contents. Looking in the rear view mirror, I see a smoke flow visualization of the twin vortices trailing behind my car. I pull to the side, shut of the engine, and hear the "gluk, gluk, gluk" as the last of the 9 quarts of oil evacuates the pan. A car of teenagers pulls up, "Nice Mustang!". Yeah, thanks. I call some friends and we push it the last few blocks to the muffler shop. I pull the pan while the shop owner does the exhaust work. Upon dropping the pan, I find a big slug of mallory metal; the machine shop drilled radially into the counterweight rather than axially and, at some point, the centrifugal forces exceeded their welding capability. The slug hit two rods and one piston skirt. I was somewhat lucky that the pan was wiped out, otherwise I would not have discovered the poor balancing job until much later.
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Driving my Mustang to work ,not messing around, 1st gear 3500,2nd 3500,3rd.....that sounds weird....power seems soft...turn into a driveway idle is rough and labored. Fuel injection self tuning working over time to keep an idle. I turned toward home, about 3 miles, self learning correcting mixture. Pull into garage and shut it off. Took truck to work.
Later that afternoon I pulled the left valve cover and looking over the rockers #8 looked odd,out of time?
I jumped the starter and sure enough the rockers on 8 did not move. That is odd. Pulled right valve cover and #4 looked odd,cranked it over and rockers didn’t move. Not happy I let it sit for 2 weeks before I pulled engine.
Somehow no valves bent.
I decided to freshen the stroker up new bearings ,rings, heads freshened up. I had my machine shop look over the block to see if something was off. It all checked ok. I decided to have them check the deck because I had coolant seepage at the head gasket,went ahead and corrected the deck height as both needed work.
It’s now zero decked flat top 4.125 stroke FE with a Lynkins Hyd Roller and non adjustable rockers.
Almost 3 years and all is good.
Being my picture didn’t load,wrong format, the cam broke aft of the #4 bearing so I am the proud owner of a 3/4 race cam and a 1/4 race cam.
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Is it just me or doesnt that rocker look like its been broke for awhile ? only a small part of it looks like a fresh break
Fatigue failure. It started at the adjuster threads.
Now onto my story. It was June of 1988 and I had just started as a Ford engineer in MI. I pissed off my (non-car guy) dad and bought a '68 Shelby GT-350. "Son, you've really dug a big hole for yourself!" The car ran pretty well but used a quart of oil every 300 miles. After tons of sealing work and a few quarts of Rislone solvent, I got it down to about a quart every 1,000 miles. Call it a win! I planned to drive my new prize back to my folks' place in CT, about 800 miles away. I was king of the world!
As the day of my trip approached, I took my then girlfriend Beth out for a little cruise and date. At a light, three hot high school girls in a new Mustang GT convertible waved at me, and of course 23 year old me waved back. A very annoyed Beth then looked at me and said, "What's that ticking sound?". Needless to say the ride to her place was a bit frosty and I became obsessed with this slight intermittent engine noise.
On the way back home from Beth's house (no "quality" farewell of course), I was in a foul mood. The little sound kept coming and going, so out of frustration I finally mashed the throttle on the I-275 South on ramp. Dang it, I was going to find out what that noise was.
The car gods did not let me down. "BOOOM!!" followed by loud clattering and clouds of white smoke out the tailpipes. I managed to limp down to the closest rest area to assess the carnage. Unfortunately I had chosen the rest area where the singer George Michael had recently been arrested for solicitation - of young men. Sure enough, there was no shortage of sketchy dudes going into and out of the bathroom. All thoughts of rescue went out with the white tailpipe smoke. No way was I going to pick up a quarter near that pay phone!
I turned the key, and got the wounded car to proceed down the freeway shoulder to the next exit. It bucked and banged all the way, but it got me home! I locked the Shelby up in the garage and jumped in my POS winter beater 1980 Chevette for the ride of shame to my parents' house.
After a week of enduring a very smug dad, I returned to MI and started tearing into the Shelby's 302. It turns out I had broken a piston skirt and a chunk had gotten wedged and blown out the cylinder wall. All of the skirts were cracked and about to fail. I was the victim of Ford's infamous cast piston porosity problem... No wonder it was using oil!
It took over a year, but I did a top-to bottom resto including a new roller cam 5.0 done to look original. The car ended up being super sweet. Even my dad eventually came around! I wish I still had her (the Shelby, not Beth), but that's another story.
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I got a story that involves some Comp/Dove roller rockers like Jay's. I also had them on this engine for a few years.
I decided that I wanted to put a solid roller cam in my '63 Top Oiler 454 stroker. I got a 308R cam off Ebay and some used Comp solid rollers from Ford Power Parts. I used the Comp recommended 929 valve springs that were 150 on the seat and 400 open. The car ran great and it made a bunch more power than it did with a .590 lift flat tappet. I drove it that summer and even took it to the track...where I couldn't get it to rev beyond 5k. Didn't think much about as the car ran fine on the way home.
A while later Mrs.-T and I were out on our normal Saturday morning rounds the car started running poorly and then quit...and would not restart. Had to walk up to a house to call AAA. Got it home pulled the plugs and valve covers to find 4 broken Dove rockers on the right bank and 2 more on the left. I call my good friend and forum member Afret to see if he had any Dove rockers. He asked what happened and I told him. He said that he and his brother Kay would like to come see my car. First thing they did was check the valve spring pressure. It was 90lbs. and they schooled me on if your springs go away on a solid roller, they break the crap out of everything. They were right.
Kay and Earl said they'd be back the next day with some parts to fix it, but I was already committed to take our Jeep out rock krawl'n so I said another time.
When we came home from the wilderness, sitting on my front porch was a complete Precision Oil Pumps rocker assembly with pushrods and Comp roller cam springs and retainers. The note in the box said "Hope you enjoy your off roading trip. Here's some parts to fix your car. Earl & Kay."
They would never take any money for those and other parts they gave me. I try to pay it forward.
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I got 2 stories one is a 1966 fairlane highway driving when the air cleaner rod undid its self from the carb and the nut ontop of the air cleaner and fell down the carb holding it open 120mph and still going kids in back had to push clutch in and grenade it that was a friend of mine not long ago.
Second one is a 69 fastback mustang exiting a shopping centre carpark and all kinds of rattling starts look under the car and here is the tailshaft on the ground broke the u joint.
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In 1983 at 12am, leaving a second job at Randy's Ford Specialties working for boss 302 parts, i'm jumping on 270 heading home and a 260Z racing up on my mustang and thought he was going to get around me so i mashed it. Was pulling away from him and at about 90mph she started slowing down. No real commotion just dying off gently. By the time i made it to the next exit I was at 15mph begging to make it up the ramp. Pulled into the lights at a self serve station and had hood up checking everything, got fuel, pulled the cap and rotor checking points. All good there, put rotor back on and turned it 90 deg?????? Pulled the dizzy and sure enough I sheared the roll pin and gear was slowly spinning on the shaft taking it out of time. Dug around in the bottom of the toolbox I found a nail that was a near perfect fit. Stuck it in and bent it around, pulled number 1 and stabbed it, tune by ear and ran another 10 miles down the hwy to home. Pulled in at 2am and back out the door at 6am again for the real job at supreme grinding and was feeling rough. Fun times had by all. Mike
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Hmmm. All my stories involve Chevys. Go figure.
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While not quite as involved as some of your stories, I had a few of my own breakages happen. Driving out to my buddies house in my '67 Mustang I turned a corner and stopped while I waited for he and his then girlfriend to catch up. Once they turned the corner, I dumped the clutch in first gear and BANG, there goes the 8" rear end that was in it. We were only about a mile or two from his house so we hooked up a strap to the front and towed it to the house. Went back to my house with his truck, loaded up a spare 8" rear I had from a parts car, jack, tools and lights and went to work swapping the rear out in the street in front of his house using a halogen light. Eventually I found a 9" rear to put back in it since that's what it originally came with and I have not had any issues since.
Second one was in my '86 Mustang GT. I had broken the T5 once or twice before but kept rebuilding it. Well, as the saying goes, the 3rd time is the charm. So I pull out from a stop light and turn left on the highway, I jump on it while still in first gear and grab second. BANG,,,, the car shuts off and coasts to the next intersection. The car would not start not matter what I did. A cop pulled up behind me and turns out it was a cop I was friends with. He helped me push the car around the corner into a parking lot and gave me a ride to where I was headed. Of course I rode in the perp seat to where I was going an had my friends thinking I was getting busted LOL. A friend helped me tow the car home and the next day I checked it out. Well the trans was definitely busted good this time but I still could not get it to start. Well I found out why after a little checking to see if the fuel pump was running. It was not so and my Dad told me to look for a fuel pump shut off switch to see if it was popped. Sure enough, those cars have an inertia switch behind the taillight panel that pops to turn off the fuel pump in the event of a rear end collision. I reset that and the car started no problem. After sitting a month or so I had saved enough money to buy a Tremec TR3550 trans and never had a problem with it after that. Never again would I use a T5 trans because they are so weak.
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My last break down and the only break down on my 63 Fairlane was a electric Carter street pump from the early 80's about 7 years ago now on a friday night and I simply was able to coast to a buddies driveway and park in a nice spot not blocking his driveway , walked home from there , drove to Jegs at 7:30 am Saturday morning and had my car running by 10:00 am
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No motor story - transmission. This is around 1975 or so. The Falcon used to run around with a 289 and a 3 speed. The shifter I used was a Mr. Gasket floor stick from Scotty's Auto Supply in Fort Worth. Which I actually still have - shifter and trans both. Had a lot of fun with that combo.
This was a cold Sunday morning, after a long night at the Sundown Lounge on 7th street with the buds. Room mate had to go to work downtown, "can you take me as the busses don't run on Sunday?" This is around 6:30 AM or so. Sure, I can do that - I'll just go back to bed later. Damn my head hurts. I grab shorts and a t-shirt, in spite of it being like 35F outside. I'm not really up to speed yet. Car has a working heater, so whatever. I run him downtown and start back to the apartment. Take the exit off 287 to Lancaster and when I downshift into 2nd at the bottom of the ramp onto Lancaster the shifter falls down through the floor. What the hell?
I coast over to the median - thankfully there's zero traffic at this time. The sun is just barely up. I've only got second and just roll the left side up on the median curb. Slide under the car and the shifter bracket bolt in the rear of the trans is gone, which is why the whole assembly dropped down. I get up and look around - in the middle lane of this three lane road, about 100' of so from the light on Riverside is my bolt, standing straight up. Reminder - it's about 35F, I'm in cutoffs and a raggy t-shirt. It's cold as hell. I go get the damn bolt, crawl under and manage after some time to get it threaded back into the bracket and the trans at least finger tight. That got me back to the apartment anyway.
This is my one sure cure for a hangover - because by the time I got home, I was feeling decent. Frozen, but no hangover. I seem to recall having several cups of coffee and standing in front of the Dearborn heater for a while. Later I drive the few blocks to the Scottys and bought some Locktite and that bolt didn't come out again. I think the bracket is still on the trans. LOL, I'll look when I get home.
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Chris -
That reminds me of a trans issue I had on the '64 Galaxie several years ago. At my job in L.A., we had some clients in from Samsung one day. They really, really wanted to see Universal City in Hollywood, so I agreed to take them out. They also wanted to go in the Galaxie. No problem, right?
Well we went down there, had a nice dinner, and checked out Universal City. It was 10:00 as we headed back to the parking structure. We piled in the Gal, she fired up as always, but the shifter was loose. No gears! I shut the engine and crawled under the car to find that a couple of pins had fallen out of the shift linkage :o The shift rods had spun around and were all out of adjustment. All I could really do in the moment was manually put the Toploader in third and leave it there.
By pushing in the clutch, and the guys helping, we got the car out of the spot. Then the 390's torque curve got to shine for the trip home! Everything from stop-go city traffic to freeway cruising was no issue all the way back to their hotel. I got home from there before midnight and gave the old girl a nice pat on the fender.
Those Samsung guys were so nice! They called me from the airport the next morning to check if I was OK. Lesson for me: Don't re-use tired old Hurst shifter retaining clips when you install a transmission.
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Mine was a learning experience also. First FE I built (helped build) was a 440 for my 4x short bed. At the time we couldn’t find a steel gear for the distributor so a bronze one went in and I’ll change it later. ::) Well I was getting great mileage out of it (many thousands) and kept telling my self that I’m going to change that gear real soon.
Real soon came.
Cruising to work nice and easy, give it a little gas and BANG,,,,,,BANG,,,,,, BANG. So loud I’m sure it woke up any boozers sleeping it off and definitely gave me a butt pucker. Key off coast to side of road. Easy diagnosis. Luckily a fellow camera guy was going to work and spotted me. He pulled over and waited with me for the tow, then we went to work.
Moral of the story, real soon does come. Get off yer ass.
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Cruising to work nice and easy, give it a little gas and BANG,,,,,,BANG,,,,,, BANG. So loud I’m sure it woke up any boozers sleeping it off and definitely gave me a butt pucker. Key off coast to side of road. Easy diagnosis.
Ignition can cause all sorts of drama...lol
I had a 302 Maverick a long time ago. I was driving home one day when all of a sudden the car started losing power. Within seconds there was a loud BANG. As loud as a shotgun! Within seconds, it did it again. But the car kept running, and since I was just a few miles from home, I decided to just keep going. All the way home, about every 4-5 seconds...pop....BANG....pop..BANG....pop...BANG. I'm not exaggerating when I say that every BANG sounded like a 12 gauge shotgun going off right next to you! After scratching my head from not being able to find any mechanical problem, I changed the condensor just as a guess. That was it. Car ran fine after that. I still imagine the reaction of people as I drove by houses...blasting off shotgun rounds every few seconds. ;D
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I took my '93 Lightning to the strip for the first time with drag radials on it, it launched fine on street tires and slapper bars, but with the drag radials it would axle hop pretty bad. Ran it three times then called it a day, didn't seem any worse for the wear. It wasn't my daily driver, but the following weekend I took it to pick up a hoard of parts I found in the Autotrader...ended up with 4 complete 460 longblocks and a complete 9" Versailles rear in the bed....WAY overloaded. Drove it home easy until a steep hill right by my house, bang...clang clang...engine running but lost drive...then I could hear something rolling, which was my aluminum driveshaft torsionally twisted in half. I figure the axle hopping tweaked it and the heavy load finished it off. This is on a country road with a steep drop to the right, which I didn't trust the Ebrake to hold the truck, so I just stop it in the middle of the road and hit the flashers. Walked 2mi back home and called my old man to meet me, drug it home with my '76 F250 which didn't have fenders or hood on it at the time.
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I took my '93 Lightning to the strip for the first time with drag radials on it, it launched fine on street tires and slapper bars, but with the drag radials it would axle hop pretty bad. Ran it three times then called it a day, didn't seem any worse for the wear. It wasn't my daily driver, but the following weekend I took it to pick up a hoard of parts I found in the Autotrader...ended up with 4 complete 460 longblocks and a complete 9" Versailles rear in the bed....WAY overloaded. Drove it home easy until a steep hill right by my house, bang...clang clang...engine running but lost drive...then I could hear something rolling, which was my aluminum driveshaft torsionally twisted in half. I figure the axle hopping tweaked it and the heavy load finished it off. This is on a country road with a steep drop to the right, which I didn't trust the Ebrake to hold the truck, so I just stop it in the middle of the road and hit the flashers. Walked 2mi back home and called my old man to meet me, drug it home with my '76 F250 which didn't have fenders or hood on it at the time.
Had a driveshaft fall out this past week. Took the wife to get a sonogram to see the baby on the way and truck started having a slight vibration about halfway there. After the appointment I told her we were going to stop by the tire shop because I had some tire noise going on for a while now. Got about a mile from the doctor and all hell breaks loose. The front ujoint broke going 45 and was beating the hell out of the underside of the truck because it was still attached to the rear end. Had to pull it and change the ujoints on the side of the road. Was a major pain and im lucky that all the damage was to the underside of the truck and not the shaft itself except a few scratches.
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I'll consider myself lucky, I've never had a catastrophic failure with an engine. I've had typical minor things happen, but never a "boom" except for a transmission.
I've seen some horror shows though. I gave a friend of mine a nitrous kit back in 2008 or so, he installed it, didn't check the nozzle size, and blew his intake up into the hood. He replaced the intake with an aluminum one, exploded that. He tig-welded the intake back together (blew the lower plenum) and went to the track with us the next day. His car was bone stock except for the nitrous kit and slicks on the back. He managed to pop the front end about 3' in the air, and before he was even 60' down the track, an explosion blew the hood up, front end came slamming down. We had to tow the car back to the pits where we checked it out. Not only did he manage to ventilate 4 cylinders of the block, but every piston and rod was damaged to some extent (didn't know that until we were back at the shop of course), the intake mounting flanges were in place but the body of it was gone. The nitrous plate was danging behind the engine with the throttle body and upper plenum still attached. It had no nozzles in it whatsoever.
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i had someone watching over me one day.near my house is a two lane road that goes by a golf course.it has a good 1/4 mile straight,low traffic.i got my comet out and ran it down the straight away about 100 mph.i forgot to mention there were 10 feet deep drainage ditches on both sides of the road at the time with no guard rails.i got slowed down to about 10 mph at the end of the road and i noticed something in my side view mirror beside my rear driver side quarter panel. it was my wheel.my bearing had come loose off the axle and the whole thing slid out about a foot or more.good thing it came out while i was putting along at 10 mph instead of a few seconds earlier when i was doing over 100 by the deep ditches.
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Years ago with my F250, I pulled out of an intersection and the 460 finally overcame the driveshaft and the it broke in two. Both halves were clunking away underneath. The truck is 4 wheel drive, so after I coasted past the fire station, bang bang bang, I drifted into the school parking lot. It was Saturday so no school. I then walked to a hardware store and bought you guessed it a 1/2" open ended wrench. Removed both pieces of the broken driveshaft, shifted into 4 wheel drive and drove home. The whole event took less than an hour.
JWR
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It was 1982 and I was in my early 20's.
I had a '63 Falcon Sprint with a hopped-up 289. I home ported my cylinder heads and had Chevy valves installed as was common in the day. It had the early small block heads that had the closed slotted holes for the pushrods. I installed the Mr Gasket screw in studs myself, just used a stack of washers and some adjusting nuts to pull out the studs, tapped the hole free hand, and screw the new studs in. Simple.
A pal and I decided to drive the Falcon to the Street Machine Nationals in Springfield Ill. We took off from my house in LA without a care in the world. We were young so we'd sleep 'till 10, have breakfast, and hit the road about noon, and drive 'till after midnight. If you're going east from the west coast it's a few days before you get to much civilization, with many hundreds of miles of open desert to travel.
Anyway, it was around midnight and we were about 30 miles from Albuquerque, New Mexico. My pal was driving and all of a sudden BANG...BANG...Bang. My friend shouted at me "What doI do?" I said as long as the car will go forward, keep driving. About 10 miles out of town we saw a motel sign and told my pal to head there. Off Highway 40 we passed a small junk yard on the way to the motel. When we got there we decided there was no urgency to find out what was wrong with the car because we were so far from home, so we got a room and some shut eye.
The next morning I pulled the plugs and valve covers. Sure enough, I had tapped an exhaust rocker stud a little crooked, and the slot in the rocker arm was sawing on the stud and finally broke it. We asked the motel clerk if there was an auto parts near by and he said about a half mile up the road. We walked there and as luck would have it there was a set of those same Mr Gasket studs hanging on the wall. Thank goodness they're the same part as a sbc uses.
We walked back to the motel and then over to the junk yard. There we found a '63 Fairlane wagon with a 260. Pulled all the rocker arms and pushrods from that motor and headed back. When we got to the Falcon, I vise gripped the broken stud out and screwed in a new one, put a "new" rocker arm and pushrod, and started 'er up. Ran fine. It became the new morning ritual of the trip, pull the valve cover and change out the rocker stud, rocker arm, and pushrod. After a full day of driving the rocker stud would be sawed into about a quarter way.
We never even thought of turning around and going home. We had made it this far and were going to the Nationals. The car ran fine the rest of the trip and we had more fun than mortals should be allowed to in Springfield.
When I got home I pulled the heads and had a machine shop install proper screwin studs and guide plates.
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I guess the first one was my Mustang when I first got it 427 stock 428 SCJ torque converter and 3.00 gears. Talk about top end. I was on Ocean parkway doing 125 and saw mist on the windshield I asked the guy in the passenger seat is it raining I see mist, he said with a smile from ear to ear dont worry keep going. Well I never drove my car in the rain and it wasnt supposed to so I pulled over and the top radiator bracket cracked and the fan went through the first tube of the radiator. Had to have one of my buddies tow me home and boy was I nervous trying to explain what happened to my dad.
Was driving my buddies 77 t bird 302 and wasnt beating on it but all of a sudden I took off from a light and heard heavy deep banging like hitting a block with a sledge. Well the crank snapped right after the first 2 cylinders. It was funny it cranked but the front of the motor wasnt spinning.
My other buddy had a 72 pinto that was going to the junkyard someone t boned him. Well we figured we would drain the oil out of it and drive it around till it blew up. Wouldnt ya know it we drove that thing for over 2 hours and couldnt blow it up. We were driving it normal thinking it wouldnt take long well we had to drive around in 1st gear at 4000 rpm and even then it was tuff. We finally got it to go but it was a good 3 hours. Talk about Ford tough.
Boy I could probably rattle off a couple more but those stick out.
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My first time was in 1975, Cleveland Ohio, $300 65 Mustang, going down the freeway at about 65, auto tans locks up, car spins sideways ,Trans unlocks then shoots into the center divider.
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Late 70’s I’m driving my 69 cyclone spoiler II to Atlanta from Cincinnati for the nascar race (which was back when I could like it). I’d transplanted the 428scj/4speed in it from the cyclone CJ I’d crashed.
Saturday afternoon as I’m getting closer to Atlanta I thought I could hear what I thought was wheel bearing noise. I’m not gonna spoil my evening so I continue to the track. Slept in the car and watched the race sunday. Headed back home after the race and made it to downtown Atlanta before the rf wheel bearing gave up.
On the side of the highway with minimal tools I get the wheel & rotor off and found the inner bearing junk and stuck to the spindle. Walked a mile or 2 to a parts store a couple times to get bearings & seal and a hammer and some other things. I worked on it a couple hours but couldn’t get the race off the spindle. So I spent the night in the car and called in sick Monday morning.
I’d seen a Goodyear tire store while walking to get parts and figured they could help. So I walk there and explain my dilemma. They said they’d be there shortly with their wrecker. Their guy arrived shortly in an old crappy pickup truck wrecker. He towed me in and backed it in the bay. He did an excellent job of cutting the old race of with a torch and cleaned up everything & put it back together. The total bill for the tow and repair was $44!!! I was ecstatic
The car also cracked the timing cover that trip which made a huge oil leek but that didn’t get fixed until I got home. Still have the car today and will drive it in a week or so.
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My longest trip home: Once in the mid-'80s my fancy schmancy Accel Lazer (late B.E.I.) ignition system stranded me on busy Woodward Ave late on a Saturday night with a sudden engine shut down. The coil wire spewed a constant high voltage arc when cranked - I could have tig welded with it. Ten minutes of cool down restored triggering function - let's head for home! Three-four minutes later: second verse same as the first - shutoff and coast to the shoulder. I made it home but the 45 minute trip took over 4 hours. That damned system is still on the shelf unrepaired - I hate it as much today as I did 35 years ago. Randy M
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When i was a boy,my dad had a collection of 56 fords,about 12 or 13.i had my eye on a vic ht.it had a 352 3 in the floor with a black diamond int. two tone pink,white.it had a big holley 4 bbl on it.previous owner swore it would do 115 across a near by 1/4 mile bridge.i took the carb off to have it gone through.i put it back on and got ready to crank it.i was only 13 or 14.i could not wait to get this thing out.i got in it and turned the key and all of the sudden BOOM! the backfire blew the valve covers loose,all but 1 or2 bolts,shot the dipstick through the tree tops like a bow and arrow,and blew the breather cap into the neighbors yard.that was the last time i touched that car
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Two years ago, I was out for a Sunday drive in my Cobra. Ambient temp was warm, maybe 82. About 30 minutes from home, my temp gauge started creeping up from its normal 180-190. Naturally, I ignored that little voice in my head until it hit 205. Just as panic set in, the temp shot up to 220 and I saw steam...I quickly pulled into an abandoned lot, not noticing a 3 foot diameter puddle. It was not a puddle. It wasn't a pothole. It was a sinkhole over a foot deep and I crashed right through it. The impact tore off the lower radiator hose, instantly dumping all the coolant. Oh, and bending a rim. My electric fan relay had burned out. Moral: listen to the little voice.
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Another one of mine.... ‘92 when I was racing sprint cars, it was the last race of the season and I only had to show up at the track to be track champion. It was about a hundred miles to the track and we were on our way. I’d had numerous troubles with the Michelin xch4 tires I’d bought, belts would break, tread would separate, I thought I was buying decent tires when I bought them. My brother was driving and I’m in the back seat. About 1/2 way to the track I felt the vibration and before we could get stopped the RR tire slung about 2/3’s of its tread. No big deal, fire up the compressor on the tongue of the trailer and got it changed quickly. We went 11 miles and I felt the vibration again, before we could stop another tire slung about 1/2 it’s tread off. No more spares and I’m gonna miss out on the track championship because I can’t get there. After a few minutes I said let’s go, the carcass still held air and we had about 25 miles to go. We made albeit a little late. Track championship secured & I borrowed a spare to get home on. I bought new Goodyear’s the next week & never had another problem
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Old vehicles and break downs. Hmmm, got a few stories through the years.
'69 F100/428. Started having random issues. It would start to cough and go from 8 cylinders down to 1-2 and not run at all. Would never figure it out. Typically would "fix itself" and make it to where I was going. One day, it didn't. Was couple miles from home, pulled into grocery store lot. Neighbor just happen to be there. Gave me lift home. I got Mack out, unloaded wagon from trailer and went down and fired truck up and loaded it. It was fine from then on. I still have never figured out what did/was failing. That was many years ago. I would swap ignition parts, coil, dist, etc and could swap back and it would run just fine. Hmmmm.
Few years back, it's midnight, coming home from buddies place and I hop on the highway and black car starts stuttering and stalls. It has snorted a few times before getting on highway, but thought I could make it home. Nope. Called buddy, he comes down and I ask if he has a strap? Yup. I told him latch to his hitch and I will hook to car. We drug it up the highway(no flashers on a '64) with a 4ft strap. All I saw was his taillights. I told him to leave his flashers off because they were blinding me. I get it home and remove blower to see the points are junk. It made it 13 yrs. I hit Azone and install new parts. They last about 100 miles before condenser lets me down about 20 from home. No way to keep it running I have it towed. By the time we unload it, it starts enough to drive it into the garage. I through an old rusty condenser on it and drove it for years. A few years ago I say screw the points and install a Unilite conversion I had. That lasted ONE summer. Last spring, the day I unloaded the black car from the trailer(winter storage) I take it for a cruise. I get 15 minutes from home, it dies, hard. Ya, Unilite failure. My free towing can't seem to get me a hook, so after 2 hours I take a shot at driving it home. It runs, so I make quick short blasts and shut it back off before anything gets warm again. Home sweet home. I then get a crab cap tach drive distributor set up for it and runs better then it ever has.
Rusty tank on black car, I have always runs an extra plastic filter back at the tank. Replace it randomly for the last 20 yrs with no issue. Until last summer. Seems the last time I couldn't get a clear filter so I got a metal one. Yup, you can't monitor how full it is. I was out for lunch on a Saturday and it starts to stumble and run out of gas(clear filter up front runs dry). After sitting for 10 minutes it would fill up again and go 1-2 miles before stalling. Once I get it home, I cut that filter open and it's packed full. No wonder it would run out of fuel. I have since put a clear filter back on and have plans to just put a new tank on the car.
Don't get me started with Mack stories. I usually don't fret over break downs and vintage equipment. I usually get it handled, though it may be a slight PITA at the time, the vehicle gets home again.
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I've never had a Ford let me down.
Had a '73 Vette and a new Mallory distributor/coil leave me stranded though.
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At least you looked cool setting along the road. (cough, cough)... never figured you as a..a...Mallory guy.
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At least you looked cool setting along the road. (cough, cough)... never figured you as a..a...Mallory guy.
Speaking of Brand X's on the side of the road, I used to do hot weather testing at Arizona Proving Grounds while at Ford. We would do the Davis Dam run with our test cars, which was a LONG brutal grade in 115 + temperatures. Often there would be a dyno trailer hooked to the car. These trailers were just what they sound like - Big generators driven by the trailer wheels with banks of resistors on top to dump the energy. You could dial in whatever load you wanted.
We would often see coolant temperatures exceed 240 - 250 degrees, but our Fords took it quite well. I do remember one glorious day as we rolled past a team of Buick guys with their hoods up spraying steam. There were plenty of single-digit salutes exchanged as we passed :D
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Update to my post - yep, the bracket and the top bolt are still on the old trans. Still have the shifter hanging in the shed too.
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I bought a new ranger in 1987,drove it 19 years to work and back.only put battries and wiper blades and front brake pads on in the first 19 years.the front brake pads lasted 135000 miles and the shoes on the back are still on it.its a 4wd and the general tires that came on it lasted 80000 miles.i gave it to my son several years ago.now has over 300000 miles on it.best little truck i ever seen
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I keep making noises about a Ranger extend cab as a race car for the wife but so far she's not having it. We've had two Rangers, should have kept the last one. Great little trucks. The 4.0 towed a race car on an open trailer, 5000 lbs worth.
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Hate to talk about it but Oct 2019 at the end of the track throttle stuck at 120, got it slowed down to maybe 80 before I went off the track and ramped two dirt mounds and almost crashed into a dump truck. Banked it hard to the left and came to a stop semi safe. To boot it was my fault air cleaner gasket got sucked into secondary Venturi and jammed the carbs open. Very exciting!!!
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I also have a wheel bearing story:
I was a mechanic, when I got drafted and my MOS, in the Army, was as a mechanic. When I got back from VN, in July of '67, I bought a '64 Fairlane, with a K code engine and top loader. I had to report at Ft Lewis, 1200 miles away, from SoCal.
For about the last 200 miles, I could hear the rumbling of the LF wheel bearing but, I said to myself, "I'll make it". I did get about 15 miles from there, before the inter bearing seized. I pulled over and I always carried a small tool box, pulled the wheel and saw I couldn't do anything with it.
Left my wife in the car and walked to a phone booth, called a wrecker and after he got hooked up, I asked him where a good place would be, to take it. He took me a shop and they cut the bearing race off, let me fix it, in their parking lot and didn't charge me!!! I did have to pay the tow truck but, I was very happy!
In about '71, I stop after work and got beered up, with the guy's. I had my '65 1/2 K code Mustang, pictured in my avatar. About 3 blocks from home, I was in 2nd and reved it and popped the clutch. The U-joint broke and left my drive shaft on the street, had to walk the rest of the way.
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I have plenty of car breakdown stories. But the best of them (and there were several) are from a long time ago now. Back in my street racing era it was a fairly common deal for me to have to call my long time friend "Dr Tim" and wake him up in the single digit hours of the night. My car would have scattered something - U joints, axles, engines - whilst emptying out a nitrous bottle in a scruffy neighborhood or industrial park somewhere in the city.
He would roll out of bed, hop in his truck. Drive to my parent's house where I kept my trailer in their backyard. Wake one of them up to get the keys so he could move a few cars. Snag the trailer and drive down into the "hood" to meet me in some parking lot somewhere to help winch the wounded machine up onto the stretcher and bring it home.
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I can identify with Dr. Tim - I used to be the one that got the door knock at 2:30AM "Johnny spun out and hit a curb, can you come get him." It was like Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry some weekends. The totally folded up right front suspension on David's dad's 62 Falcon was one that didn't get repaired by morning.
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I had a throttle cable break on the way to work on a mile long bridge one morning.
A sammy hagar cassette case under the idle adjustment screw was about 4500 rpm- perfect! I slammed gears and rode the brakes to work but had to cycle the key on and off at stop lights.
The sheriff next to me at the stoplight thought I was insane to rev my engine to 4000rpm next to him waiting on a green light especially since my headlights also cycled on and off too- the sun wasn't up yet.
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About 15 yrs ago, I flew to San Diego to help my son move back to Iowa so he could go to grad school. He had two vehicles, a '99 Ranger and '06 Fusion. After he picked me up from the airport I thought there was extra noise from the left front of his Ranger but chalked it up to some uneven tire wear, big mistake. We traded off driving both vehicles on the way back and on my turn going into Las Vegas, I noticed increasing noise from that front end, was worse when swerving to the right. We got to the motel, settled in and then went to nearest parts store, got inner and outer wheel bearings. Next morning, a Sunday, went looking for shade since it was August and pretty hot, found an industrial park and a building facing west and great shade right next to the building. We started pulling out my sons limited tools and fortunately, jack stands. All went well until trying to get the caliper bracket off and the little 3/8 ratchet didn't have enough leverage.
Just then, a guy came out the front door and asked what's up? I told him the situation and he asked if we needed any tools. He came back with a length of pipe to slip over the ratchet, wished us good luck and said just leave the pipe under the bushes by the front door. He said he came in to work just to get ready for a convention set-up his company was doing later that day. We ended up having to replace the inner bearing and race but got it done.
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I got a few stories ;D The one including a 66 Galaxie a serialkiller looking guy with a dead cow
In his van i believe i have told here before.
Well, same friend with the galaxie found a 71 Thunderbird. T-bird owner accepted to trade even
for the friends german ford Granada .......Granada was a pile......so was the T- bird ::)
Well we set of in a snowstorm....strange that is always a snowstorm when you go after a car.
Anyway we got the T-turd, started the trip home, first redlight it dies. Flywheel is missing a lot
of the cogs, me running out twisting the fan to find fresh cogs. It starts, run to the midle of the
intersection and dies :o twisting the fan.....Oh no empty battery .....i stop a taxi ask if he can jumpstart us
It starts run 100 meters out of gas ::) we can se a filling station problem is, walk along the road it is
probably half a mile ,as the birds flies it is 50 yards through the snow. So we chose the shortcut
through the snow we got gas but shoes full of snow. Back at the turd, stop another car for a jumpstart
now it runs, we drive to the filling station fill her up buy a battery and start our way home. First the fan dies
so no heating in the car exept for the exhaustsystem that ends under my feets somwhere then the car dies me twisting the fan restarting every other mile untill we came out of the town so it got dark. In the dark i can see sparks between the coil and fuelline
Twist the coil out of the way problem fixad, now it runs. By now my feets feel like solid wet ice, pushing on through
the snowstorm on slick summer tires, the mighty thunderjet roaring unmuffled to me through the rusty floor, we hit a
mega bump in the road and the fan came to life now we got heating and defrost so we can actual se the road ,life is god
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LOL...Heo, I was going to say "Where's Heo when you have the perfect thread for him?" ;D
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LOL...Heo, I was going to say "Where's Heo when you have the perfect thread for him?" ;D
Well Doug i got stories to have this thread run for atleast a couple of months ;D but thougt i let
others make their voices heard once in a while. But if you want to hear them just tell me
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LOL...Heo, I was going to say "Where's Heo when you have the perfect thread for him?" ;D
I'd like to have Heo as a neighbor. Always willing to lean on the fence and spin you a yarn.
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66 Galaxie a serialkiller
Anyway we got the T-turd,
,life is god
I’m rolling Heo.
I want you for a neighbor also.
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I’m rolling Heo.
I want you for a neighbor also.
Add me to the list of interested neighbors!
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Heo, you are one of the best "natural" storytellers ever!
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I've had a lot of unfortunate breakdowns too. Things like busting the caps off an 8" rear end and still making it 20 miles home with the pinion just barely grabbing (and breaking off) teeth on the ring gear which was scraping a trough in the back of the housing.
Same car (200 six,with nitrous 65 Falcon convert) broke the flexplate at the dragstrip in Seattle. I drove the 140 miles home with the engine freewheeling for several seconds then catching with a crunch. I found if I kept a steady load on it it was fine, but can't coast or it comes undone, so I used the parking brake on downhill areas. I get to the border and the thing revs and sits there making grinding noises. I got out and pushed and the border guard came out of the booth and helped! When i sat in to steer it over to the side it caught and i made it home. Just a small lip of sheetmetal otherwise the 5" diameter section bolted to the crank was perfectly smooth and spinning inside the rest of the outer flexplate. A bunch of metal shrapnel in the belhousing.
I broke the right rear leaf spring front perch off my early Bronco off roading 40 miles away and had to drive home completely across the city with the left front tire off the ground.
I've had to replace electric fuel pumps on the side of the road in my V8 Pinto (in Seattle's ghetto area!) and V8 Ranger. In both cases covered in gas near the start of long hot day of driving.
Broke a valvespring and dropped a valve in my ramptruck's 428. Then the towtruck driver never mentioned the huge increase in resistance when the tranny seized third gear onto the mainshaft and spun the engine over at 4000rpm for fifteen miles with the valve cover and rocker shaft laying on the floor.
Same truck broke all three u-joints at once racing it at the track. It's a custom length two piece driveshaft and pulled one of the loops open for the bearing caps and took a chunk off the pinion yoke. I called a classified ad for a guy parting out old trucks and had him deliver a driveshaft to me at the track. Right length but a scrawny 2" diameter thing with smaller U-joints. I walked a mile or so to the parts store to get adapter U-Joints and filed the burr off the yoke so the Ujoint would fit and made it home. Spent all day and cost a hundred bucks but towing it home would have cost more hundreds.
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In 91 i got a virus infection in my brain and was hospitaliced for several weeks
Was close to dying the first week, got medicine and nourishment intravenously
hallucinated and saw visions. Saw a man in working clothes ride a bicycle past my bed
a couple a times a day. A maroon 60s
Dodge polara was a reacuring hallucination ???
Anyway when i got better i got a friend to take my car to the hospital i was feeling
just fine but got to take medication intravenously every third hour. Between that i was
free to go outside and go for a walk or......no no not drive around in my car.
One sunday i got an acute cravings for pancakes, i figured when the bottle is empty
I jump in the car drive home let the wife make pancakes drive back and get a new bottle
a Little delayed but.....So of i go,about halfway home i see a big cloud of smoke in the rearwiev
mirror :o check the dash just as the oilpressure drops. One of the hoses to the oilcooler had
popped of, a pressed hose, i have 3 compressed air fitting in the trunk with hoseclamps on and
the biggest Bacho monkeywrench about 2 feet long the clamps are for a screwdriver ::)....I find a coin that
fit the clamp twist it with the monkeywrench, manage to fix the hose,find a oiljug in the trunk with 0.5
liter oil get oilpressure. Now I'm covered in black wasteoil from a dieselengine drives to a gasstation
buy oil and a screwdriver the guy behind the counter looks att my needle for the intravenous and the
by now black gause and ex white hospital shirt :o. I go home ,wife not happy with my escape i get my
pancakes takes a shower and try to wash away the oil manage to go from pitchblack to light grey
Go back to hospital much to late, The headnurse chew me out where have you been you are 3 hours late
we thought something hapened to you then she sees my grey arm shes about to explode :D :D :D ;D
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE :o :( Ohhhhh that...I helped a Lady that had car trouble down by the park
when i vent for a walk ;D ;D ;D ;D
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You're killing me Heo! That was funny ;D ;D
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My tale of woe ...
In 1982, I got laid-off from my railroad job in Michigan, and went to stay with my brother while collecting unemployment benefits in Las Vegas, Nevada. I had been looking for a job, to no avail.
After 6 months, with benefits running out, I rented a small U-Haul trailer, and headed back to Michigan, pulling it with my 1979 F-150 4x4. I had special ordered it new, and it only had 40,000 miles on it.
On I-70, about 7 hours out from Nevada, and a short distance from Green River Utah, the engine quit. There was a hole in the side of the block, by the distributer casting bulge.
I made a sign, with "Send Help", and a wrecker from Green River took me to the S & S Garage & Diesel, a shop that was owned and run by the mayor (a good omen to me).
They started pulling the engine the next morning. Cores for a 300 I6 were in short supply, and they were charging (a huge at the time) $750. They told me they could get a short block from Salt Lake City the next day.
I did not have a charge card at the time, so I called my dad, and he gave me his card number. To save me some money, the mayor/owner said they had a city truck that they could pull the engine from, and use to get me home. He said an employee had driven the truck without an air filter, but it would get me home (where I had a 428 I could install).
They finished the swap the next day, and the rebuilt 300 I6 for their city truck showed up. It had a patch welded on the block, in the exact same place where my block had a hole! I didn't get a core credit for my block. I had taken good care of the truck, being my first (and last) new vehicle purchase. The cylinder walls still had hone marks, and there were no ridges on them.
Mr. Mayor was correct - their engine did get me home, but not without some added expense. After leaving Green River, I stopped at the next exit to check the oil. There was NONE on the dip stick! Green River is at 4,000 feet in a dry, windy, dusty desert. I surmised the rings and cylinder walls had been blasted by sand intake.
The "good" news? K-Mart and Walmart had oil on sale that weekend. It took me 40 quarts to get home!
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That's a good one and I have a similar story.
In 1985, I took my F100, 240-6, on vacation, 700 miles away. Every thing went fine until about 150 miles, coming home. I noticed a little smoke and checked the oil. It was a qt down. Put a qt in and at the next stop, it was 3 qt down and smoking pretty bad. I still had 300 mi to go. I then put 4 qt, to replace the missing 3 qt. The next 150 mi's ate that up, plus more, the oil light came on. I put 6 qt in and got 2 extra. I had to use all 8 qt to get the last 150 mi. Huge smoke out the back.
It was Labor Day week and hot! I didn't have A/C in the truck so, running with windows down and I had to roll them up for the last 200 mi's, because there was so much blow by, that the smoke was coming up the steering column, choking me so, I had to roll the windows up. But, I made it home!
I ordered a short block and pulled the engine, the next week and it had 1 broken ring land on one piston and 2 broken ring lands on another.
But, it wasn't over, my wife to be car was a Honda Civic, after pulling the engine on Fri night and driving home, the timing belt broke on the Honda. So, then I had to barrow one of my mom's cars, tow the Honda and fix it, before getting back on the truck. Got it all done, between Fri at 5pm and Sun night.
NOT Fun!
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First burn out in dads 1960 rambler wagon wheel hopped and shoved fan through rad.It had a closed drive shaft broke both engine mounts dad was super pissed but never did know how i did it.