When you Jinx yourself.....

[BattlestarGalactic]

So, last Saturday I get the black car out and go to lunch at "the shop"(place that does my motor work).  It's been a routine thing for about 3 decades now.

Meet a fellow that has a vintage 215 Alum Olds motor on the dyno.  Stock rebuild with FiTech FI on it.  Friend is doing some fine adjustments and getting it all broke in.  We get to discussing driving our toys and he mentions he like to go long distance with his.  I make comment that is nice to know that you put it together right and can drive it without worry(stupid, stupid thing to say.....LOL).

We go to lunch, after which I head north to the house.  I get about half way there and suddenly the car snorts and dies.  WTH?  A quick glance at my fuel filter(on right side of blower) I see no fuel.  What?  I'm able to coast off a side street and assess what happened.  I remove the rubber line from the pump to make sure it's not collapsed.  Nope.  I reassemble and crank.  Suddenly I get fuel and it lights off.  Hmmm.  I quickly get turned around and continue home.  I get maybe 1.5 miles and it snorts and dies.  Yup, no fuel again.   Oh jeez.  I tinker with fuel line and try again.  Once again it fills up and starts.  Whew, the battery is starting to sound a bit weak.  I again head out, but like before I go about 1.5 miles and it quits again.  Man, this is going to be a long trip home.

I again tinker and get some fuel and it starts.  I then quickly decide if I can make it the last 5 miles to home or do I detour about 1 mile to a friends house and then get assistance.  I chose the friends place.  I zig zag through the neighborhood, doing rolling stops at every corner to make sure I can get up the last hill before running out of fuel.  I JUST make the grade, get one block away and it quits.   I shimmy in my seat trying to make it roll up the last bit of grade and make the corner and roll up in front of the house.  Oh, man.

Sadly, no one is home.  I forgot they mentioned going away after lunch.  Ugh.  I make a call to a buddy, no answer.  I make a second call and they answer and head my way(just a few miles).  Friend rolls up, we head to my house to get supplies.

I had already checked Azone online to see that NO pumps are in stock.  So my best choice was to steal the pump off the blue truck.  I do so, along with a toe strap and some tools.  We get back to the car and install the pump and the car starts quickly.  Okay, head home.  Friend follows me just to make sure.  I did notice some bubbles in that front filter, so I was leary of other issues.

Due to the tank being a bit rusty back in '96 when I bought the car, I always had a "primary" filter back at the tank to be my first line of defense before the pump and my other filter up at the carbs.  For the last 20 yrs I've always bought those cheap opaque filters so I could quickly see when they were used up.   The last time I couldn't get one and had to get a metal version(hmm, anyone see what is coming).  So Sunday morning I get up and go pull that filter off and cut it apart.  Yup, it's near clogged solid with crap.  Ya, that will cause fuel issues.

I reinstall the pump from the black car onto the blue truck and run it to Oreillys and pick up another clear filter for the back.   With that installed, the car starts and NO bubbles in the front filter anymore.  Fixed!!!

Just when you talk about "being dependable", your bound to get screwed over!!  I don't fret much, just like last June when the Unilite module tried to die.  I got the car home, with little fuss.  No harm, no foul.  Just a little inconvenience.  I got rid of the Unilite and put dual points back in so I don't have to even think about electronics failing.  I also put a clear filter on this time so I can monitor it and eliminate getting stranded.

Ain't home built hot rods fun!!

[jayb]

The difference between a real car guy and an "enthusiast" is that the real car guy finds and fixes his own problems.  Here's to next 10K trouble free miles on the Gal, Larry 

PS - Hope that doesn't jinx you LOL!

[WConley]

It may be time for another MacGyver side-of the road fix thread!

[BattlestarGalactic]

A lot of truth there.   Many people just have to sit and wait for a wrecker.  You have to be able to think on your feet and have some basic knowledge of how everything operates.

If you ask certain friends of mine, they will tell you my nickname is "McGyver".  LOL!!   Though I have never welded a connecting rod back together with a portable generator, a set of jumper cables and two quarters!!  ( An old scene I've watched and still laugh at).


Heck in the last 20 yrs, I'm not sure I've put 10K miles on the car?

[RJP]

As an avid long distance road tripper I carry a few parts that might be problematic. Since I use Pertronix ignitions I carry a set of points, condenser and 2 extra plate screws since the Pertronix only needs one. Extra rotor too. I carry a Airtex [read cheap] fuel pump with fittings and extra fuel line. Also in my travel box is a Holley 4150 carb kit...just in case. I carry enough tools to do just about any minor roadside repair and maybe a few 'not so minor' repairs as well. For example: I had a front wheel bearing go bad on my 66 Galaxie as we were coming thru Grant Pass, Oregon on our way home from Canada. Got off the freeway and as luck would have it there was a auto parts house about 1/4 mile away. Pulled into the parking lot, pulled the wheel and found the outer w/b and race wiped out. Parts house had the wheel seal but didn't have the bearing, out of stock. The parts man suggested I call the wrecking yard that was about a 1/2 mile down the road. The yard had a complete wheel hub, bearings and drum and offered to deliver it since he was closing in a few minutes and would be driving by the parts house on his way home. Few minutes later he pulls into the parking lot and hands me the drum, I ask what do I owe you and he says "How 'bout $15 bucks?" I gave him a 20, and told him "no change needed" and was more than happy to do so. Got it back together and on the road once again. Cost? A little over an hour and about $35 since I bought a few things from the parts house and the cost of the brake drum.   If you are going to drive old cars you better be prepared to do things like that.

[Heo]

Came to think about when me and Ollie was going to look at a 34 Roadster about a 300 mile trip
We had my Mercedes Diesel,about 10 miles in to the trip just as i passed a bus Ollie said, this German
runs very nice, yes i said it totaly problem free i just fill up and drive. And it starts to shudder and loose
power like its out of fuel. opens the hood trys the handpump yes its getting fuel opens the drainplug
on the fuelfilter out comes pure water. Had pumps the filter full and it starts right up, runs fine passig the bus
again. Says to Ollie Ohh it was just water that had acumulated in the filter during time, should run fine now.
And it starts to shudder and loose power...Repeated it self for the whole journey down everytime i had passed
that buss. The buss started to honk and wave at us when they passed us stoped on the side of the road with
the hood open. At destination i bought a new fuelfilter changed it, filled up fresh Diesel added half a liter metanol
to mix with evetualy water left. Same procedur all the way home exept passing the buss, until i dropped of
Ollie at his place. I told him you jinxed my car you litte evil Finn  He is know to bring demons and bad weather
where ever he goes. When he landed in Phoenix it snowed for the first time since 1948 When he was in Los Angeles
it was this big flood, when we saw in the news cars floating down the streets

[WConley]

I think Ollie poured some water into your fuel tank when you weren't looking 

[Bolted to Floor]

Came to think about when me and Ollie was going to look at a 34 Roadster about a 300 mile trip
We had my Mercedes Diesel,about 10 miles in to the trip just as i passed a bus Ollie said, this German
runs very nice, yes i said it totaly problem free i just fill up and drive. And it starts to shudder and loose
power like its out of fuel. opens the hood trys the handpump yes its getting fuel opens the drainplug
on the fuelfilter out comes pure water. Had pumps the filter full and it starts right up, runs fine passig the bus
again. Says to Ollie Ohh it was just water that had acumulated in the filter during time, should run fine now.
And it starts to shudder and loose power...Repeated it self for the whole journey down everytime i had passed
that buss. The buss started to honk and wave at us when they passed us stoped on the side of the road with
the hood open. At destination i bought a new fuelfilter changed it, filled up fresh Diesel added half a liter metanol
to mix with evetualy water left. Same procedur all the way home exept passing the buss, until i dropped of
Ollie at his place. I told him you jinxed my car you litte evil Finn  He is know to bring demons and bad weather
where ever he goes. When he landed in Phoenix it snowed for the first time since 1948 When he was in Los Angeles
it was this big flood, when we saw in the news cars floating down the streets

Sounds like Ollie is a bad choice for a travel partner!!!

[Heo]

Came to think about when me and Ollie was going to look at a 34 Roadster about a 300 mile trip
We had my Mercedes Diesel,about 10 miles in to the trip just as i passed a bus Ollie said, this German
runs very nice, yes i said it totaly problem free i just fill up and drive. And it starts to shudder and loose
power like its out of fuel. opens the hood trys the handpump yes its getting fuel opens the drainplug
on the fuelfilter out comes pure water. Had pumps the filter full and it starts right up, runs fine passig the bus
again. Says to Ollie Ohh it was just water that had acumulated in the filter during time, should run fine now.
And it starts to shudder and loose power...Repeated it self for the whole journey down everytime i had passed
that buss. The buss started to honk and wave at us when they passed us stoped on the side of the road with
the hood open. At destination i bought a new fuelfilter changed it, filled up fresh Diesel added half a liter metanol
to mix with evetualy water left. Same procedur all the way home exept passing the buss, until i dropped of
Ollie at his place. I told him you jinxed my car you litte evil Finn  He is know to bring demons and bad weather
where ever he goes. When he landed in Phoenix it snowed for the first time since 1948 When he was in Los Angeles
it was this big flood, when we saw in the news cars floating down the streets

Sounds like Ollie is a bad choice for a travel partner!!!

[frnkeore]

I had a front wheel bearing go bad on my 66 Galaxie as we were coming thru Grant Pass, Oregon on our way home from Canada. Got off the freeway and as luck would have it there was a auto parts house about 1/4 mile away. Pulled into the parking lot, pulled the wheel and found the outer w/b and race wiped out. Parts house had the wheel seal but didn't have the bearing, out of stock. The parts man suggested I call the wrecking yard that was about a 1/2 mile down the road. The yard had a complete wheel hub, bearings and drum and offered to deliver it since he was closing in a few minutes and would be driving by the parts house on his way home. Few minutes later he pulls into the parking lot and hands me the drum, I ask what do I owe you and he says "How 'bout $15 bucks?"

Was the parts house behind a ARCO station?

I got 2 stories:
First, I got back from VN in July of '67 and bought a '64 Fairlane Sports Coupe, with a factory 271 hp 289/4 sp. I was in Orange Co and had to drive to Ft Lewis, WA (Tacoma). I heard a noise in the Rt front, about 100 miles from where I was going. The car was only 3 years old and I couldn't imagine a wheel bearing going out. I pushed it to within 10 miles of Tacoma and the enter race, seized on the spindle. Off ramp was close and went to a phone booth a called a tow truck. He took me to a garage and they let me use a floor jack and their cutting torch and only charged me for the wheel bearing. 

In '78, I had a '67 Cortina (loved that car) and when on I5, in the Sacramento Valley, 40 mi from anything, it rolled to a stop! I always carried a tool box, in those days. I opened the hood and looked around. I couldn't fix it with tools!!! The pressed in inlet to the carb, came out. I knew if I just pushed it back in, it would do the same thing 

I looked around and found a alum beer cans, I then formed it into a shape that would push and hold the line in. I made it another 500 miles, to where I was going.

[gregaba]

In 1972 i was driving with my brother to San Diego from Oklahoma to find a job [hopefully]. We got to Amarillo Tx when I noticed I was having trouble steering the car, while driving on the bridge going over a dry river the LF wheel bearing siezed.
I couldn't believe it- a low mileage Lincoln MK 111 I had just bought.
So there I was in the pull off lane on a bridge on I 40 changing the LF wheel bearing with cars and semis passing about 6 inche's from my back at 70+ mph.
I was in the middle of the bridge and looked to the north and saw a sign for a NAPA auto parts store about a 1/2 mile away.
Walked over there and they had a bearing and race but no spindle.
 I bought 4 sets and used the new bearings on the ruined spindle. Got to California after replacing the bearing for the 4th time on the pass going to San Diego.
A real fun trip. Owned that car for another 26 years and never had a major problem with it again.
Greg

[RJP]

I had a front wheel bearing go bad on my 66 Galaxie as we were coming thru Grant Pass, Oregon on our way home from Canada. Got off the freeway and as luck would have it there was a auto parts house about 1/4 mile away. Pulled into the parking lot, pulled the wheel and found the outer w/b and race wiped out. Parts house had the wheel seal but didn't have the bearing, out of stock. The parts man suggested I call the wrecking yard that was about a 1/2 mile down the road. The yard had a complete wheel hub, bearings and drum and offered to deliver it since he was closing in a few minutes and would be driving by the parts house on his way home. Few minutes later he pulls into the parking lot and hands me the drum, I ask what do I owe you and he says "How 'bout $15 bucks?"

Was the parts house behind a ARCO station?

I got 2 stories:
First, I got back from VN in July of '67 and bought a '64 Fairlane Sports Coupe, with a factory 271 hp 289/4 sp. I was in Orange Co and had to drive to Ft Lewis, WA (Tacoma). I heard a noise in the Rt front, about 100 miles from where I was going. The car was only 3 years old and I couldn't imagine a wheel bearing going out. I pushed it to within 10 miles of Tacoma and the enter race, seized on the spindle. Off ramp was close and went to a phone booth a called a tow truck. He took me to a garage and they let me use a floor jack and their cutting torch and only charged me for the wheel bearing. 

In '78, I had a '67 Cortina (loved that car) and when on I5, in the Sacramento Valley, 40 mi from anything, it rolled to a stop! I always carried a tool box, in those days. I opened the hood and looked around. I couldn't fix it with tools!!! The pressed in inlet to the carb, came out. I knew if I just pushed it back in, it would do the same thing 

I looked around and found a alum beer cans, I then formed it into a shape that would push and hold the line in. I made it another 500 miles, to where I was going.

Its amazing how creative one can get when there is no other alternative. RE: The Grants Pass episode. No, there was no ARCO station, no nothing on that end of town except a few old houses, the parts house and the wrecking yard about a half mile away. I wasn't about to go on a sight seeing tour of G.P. on a bad wheel bearing. Another "Make do with what you have" story... 4th of July weekend at Lake Tulloch towing my boat with my Lincoln MKIV...We were leaving Sunday AM to avoid the 3 day weekend traffic. I get about a mile from the resort and something just doesn't feel right. Pull over and check wheels, Driver side rear is dripping oil, uh oh, not a good sign. Pull the wheel and drum and I can wiggle the axle about 3/4 of an inch up and down.  A friend was with me towing his own boat so we left my wife with the car and went into Oakdale. Called a local guy that was working in his shop...He was listed in the Yellow pages. Called him but he refused to help claiming that his weekend is his and his alone. I then asked him then why did you answer the phone? He snapped back and said "habit" and then hung up...What a guy! The local Napa store had the wheel bearing but no seal...[Hummm..Is there a wheel bearing pattern here?] With new bearing in hand we found a local tool and equipment rental store open, went in and asked if they have a press? The very nice lady at the counter said yes but I don't think it works but you are welcome to try. Press has 2 leaking fluid lines so after repairing their press I got what was left of the old wheel bearing off [Just a bare race] New bearing pressed on but no seal to install. Back to the car, axle installed and didn't give the seal another thought as the brake shoes were already oil soaked so no matter. New bearing got me home with no more drama. Do I feel like I'm a 'Mac Gyver'? Hell no...This is real life, not television.

[WConley]

Speaking of boats, I had a memorable MacGyver moment in one.  An old friend of mine (ex-girlfriend's father, relationship didn't start well but another story...) was an engineer.  Ed was developing a new type of wave-piercing offshore powerboat.  It was a radical knife-shaped hull that would split the water apart instead of getting tossed over the waves.  He had built a 40 foot prototype powered by two 300 HP Mercury outboards.

One day he called me over to go on a test run with him.  The seas were heavy - perfect!  Ed and I set off into Long Island Sound at high speed.  All was well.  The boat was impressive at 80 mph!  As we got close to shore at the New London submarine base, The engines started losing power.  Hmm - plenty of fuel in the tanks, but it sure felt like fuel starvation.  Eventually they both stalled out.  As we were troubleshooting the problem, the waves were pushing us towards the rocks at the mouth of the Thames River.  With 5 - 10 foot waves it was not going to end well for the poor boat (or us!).

I asked Ed if he had a pocket knife and he did.  I sliced the rubber fuel lines off at the filters and bent/ broke off the ends of the barb fittings for the filters.  With that I shoved together a straight shot fuel line.  After some frantic cranking the engines came back to life and we limped home 

I would say Ed and I were even for the earlier "misunderstandings" about his daughter.

[jayb]

"Misunderstandings" LOL!  I can just about imagine...

After Heo's story about Ollie I'm wondering if Heo's real name is Stanley...

[Heo]

Both Doug and Barry have met Ollie. Wounder what disasters that hapened to them
after that The latest disater he caused about a year ago was he spread mud
and stones for 6-7 miles along the highway. Beacuse the tailgate on the truck was
slowly leaking hydraulic pressure and slowly opened. And since he had loose mud
on the bed it seaped out. He hear on the radio how they warned about a truck
had spread mud along the highway from mal of scandinavia and forward in the
direction he was driving.  ohhh oooo is that why so many cars have honked and shaked
fists at me? so he stopped and checked, yes only half full truck bed and a trail of mud
as long as he could see