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Piggy Back For The First Time...


Cpt.Fred

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Hi Folks,

 

hope you're all fine!

 

I did some work on the Plymouth and already put lots of miles on it,

until last friday when i got proof this car is actually a living thing and not just a machine.

It's a crazy story so i figured i'd share it here, where lots of people will have made similar experiences...

 

My girl and i had stuffed the car with food and drink and went off to visit an 1/8 mile race over the weekend.

Since it started dawning i turned the lights on, but noticed that nothing worked.

I figured i had blown the main fuse in the light switch, so we took a turn into the next small street and stopped

to fix it.

The second fuse blew instantly after turning the lights on, and i began to wonder.

I said "lets head back to the garage and have good look at this" and wanted to roll up the driver's side window

when the crank handle snapped right through in the middle!

My girl said "i think the car wants to tell us tell us something?" and i thought, well, maybe it's just that it doesnt want do be

driven anywhere today... i put in the 3rd fuse and told her to step on the brakes and i went back to the rear to see if the

stop lights worked.

They didn't.

But i heard a sharp hiss and saw white smoke coming out from under the car right above the rear axle!

I realized the brake line was damaged very close to the exhaust knee going over the axle housing and i saw a 50m

trail of brake fluid behind the car, leading to the big main road we had just left just to fix a fuse.

 

Thank god this didn't happen at 60mph while approaching the tail end of a traffic jam...

It's like the car tried to stop us before anything worse could happen.

 

So we called the towing service for the first time in 15 years since i own old cars and got home on piggy back.

 

15056778vg.jpg

 

When i got under the car the next day i saw something quite embarrassing: the exhaust had kind of filed its way through

the brake line over the years, and i had not noticed it since it only happend when the car was fully packed and literally

tail dragging. i ripped out every old line now, put new ones in and re-routed them to safer places. i will vent the system this evening

and hopefully be back on the road tomorrow, since we're planning a 900km trip over the next weekend.

I'm also saving money for a dual-circuit master cylinder now...

 

Other than that the car is running strong and i hope it will for the rest of the year,

since we want to go on a 3000km trip to visit some hot rod meets in sweden at the end of the month. already booked the ferry, so...

 

15056814zc.jpg

 

Best,

 

Fred

Edited by Cpt.Fred
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That is a lucky story Fred. Glad you've got it all sorted out. I know your pain all too well. This was me last fall 300miles away from home. Thankfully the rental trailer was available and father in law wasn't working so he could tow us back home. Mine was due to ujoint failure.

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Good to hear from you again glad you got it sorted before a bad incident. I guess that one reason we submit our cars to an annual safety inspection. Get another pair of eyes looking at thing we don;t notice. Glad you and yours and your car are OK.

Edited by greg g
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Safety inspection, yes, but from now on i'll triple check everything i mod on the car, and then check again.

If i hadn't lowered it so bad, and added the full split dual exhaust, brake lines would still be fine. I always thought i had done a decent job...

Well, i guess now i did. New linings are in and look much better.

 

The fuse... well, it seems like it was the dimmer switch. Simple as that. I measured and checked every cable under the dash, and then a friend

walked in and said: "Oh i know that one, had it myself, just push the dimmer swich all the way through." I did it twice and everything was back to

normal. I feel i should get a spare, but maybe it was just stuck between the two stages or something?

 

And good thing i had a spare window crank as well ;)

Edited by Cpt.Fred
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Good to hear from you all again :)

I now realize i haven't been here a real long time! Have to go browse the board for your car updates tomorrow...

 

Bob, how's your coupe doing?

 

Thanks, Don, that's good news. I'll have a beer in the car tomorrow pumping the dimmer switch for the next 70 years.

 

Just blead the brakes, everything seems fine. I'll let it sit for another night and then check all the flares and fittings again before i go for a test ride.

 

Nighty-night. Wash my hands and that's it for today ;)

Edited by Cpt.Fred
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:)  Hmm, i promise to leave it in the shop during and after service procedure...

 

Just went for a test ride, brakes are fine now. The new linings i put in some weeks ago do a good job, too,

so i hope this whole brake thing is now covered for some time.

 

There are other issues, though, leading to new questions... but i open a new thread for those, i think.

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