Pantyhose Pandimonium

[Frank Elder]

Iwas just talking with Don C. on his observations thread, and he told us how you can convert a dual point to a single to get home in a pinch. I have'nt used too many roadside emergency "FIXES" in the last 30 years, ie pantyhose for a fanbelt, but once I had to adjust my throttle speed on the d-100 to drive home with a snapped throttle cable! It was a pain when coming to a stop. Because it had to be set somewhere between turtle and hare so I would have enough to go fwd but not over rev between shifts! The looks I got at the red lites were punishment enuff. Longest 6 miles I can remember!

SO WHAT BROKE AND HOW DID YOU GET HOME?

I'm sure norm just walked back from the end of the driveway...lol..sorry norm.

[Don Coatney]

I once had an International 1600 series truck. I was about 20 miles and 4 stop lights away from home when I lost the hydraulic portion of the clutch and had no clutch pedal. This truck had a creeper gear so at the only stop light that I did not catch green I killed the engine, put the transmission in creeper gear and started the engine when the light turned green. I shifted all gears sans clutch and made it home.

[Kustom52Mopar]

I had a '79 Firebird that snapped the pivot ball on the block at a stop sign. I was 17 and had no money or phone to call for help so I started it in 1st gear and made it home. 6 miles takes a looooong time in first gear.

[WatchingWolf]

Had a full sized 84 Olds in the early 90's. I worked about 30 miles from home (29 of which were highway) and as I was getting to work one morning the gas petal dropped to the floor. Seems there was a ball pressed on the petal end of the cable that had pulled off. All the local parts stores said 2 to 3 days to get the replacement cable in. The return spring and connection were 100% intact under the hood so at lunch break I not to gracefully removed a 5 ft pc of speaker wire from the trunk and knotted the end to the broken cable.

I found a suitable chunk of wood for a handle and knotted it to the other end. I got pretty good at smooth take offs with a hand throttle and would loop the wood over the automatic shifter on the highway for makeshift cruise control.

Drove for two and a half days that way until the new cable came in.

[captden29]

at 17 i was showing off my 54 chrysler to a girl in an empty parking lot. the linkage to the tranny fell apart . in those days girls used bobby pins in their hair, so i borrowed one from her for a makeshift cotter pin repair and we took off for the beach.maryann jaeger. if anyone knows where she is today let me know so i can return her bobby pin. dennis

[mackster]

I had a 64 VW and the belt ripped out, it was old and brittle I should have replaced it earlier, but i had girls to chase...the broken belt left me with no alternator so I was driving using the battery only....The throtle linkage broke too a mile later, because I was driving it like I stole it...My friend, duck taped a pencil to the carb and we cruise down home. we were cool!

[Don Coatney]

I had a 64 VW and the belt ripped out, it was old and brittle I should have replaced it earlier, but i had girls to chase...the broken belt left me with no alternator so I was driving using the battery only....The throtle linkage broke too a mile later, because I was driving it like I stole it...My friend, duck taped a pencil to the carb and we cruise down home. we were cool!

Mackster;

On a VW flat 4 engine did not the belt driven fan also supply engine cooling? If so how were you COOL:D Is this a girl friend clothes on (or off) related thing:confused:

[daddyo23]

Had a '64 chebby p/u with a 3-on-the-tree. Was out running around one day and the shifter handle broke right where the pivot ball goes into column. Looked in my toolbox in the back (always carried tools with that truck) and pulled out my six inch #2 phillips. Fit in perfect. Picked up another lever, same thing happened. After that, I just used the screwdriver. Worked fine. Good anti-theft device, too. When you parked, just put it in your pocket. Wayne P.

[mackster]

Mackster;

On a VW flat 4 engine did not the belt driven fan also supply engine cooling? If so how were you COOL:D Is this a girl friend clothes on (or off) related thing:confused:

That's the beauty of VW's, Internal cooling with an invisible radiator and fan!!!! I Should have been "Coatney" enough to convince her to take her clothes off as this migt have help to keep the car cool. I was a good boy back then:rolleyes: I had to wait till we got to her house!

[Don Coatney]

Get with the program:D

[mackster]

Get with the program:D

too late for me. I am married it was fun while I was single...

perhaps I can get away with it.....

[Plymouthy Adams]

and then you wake up...!!!!

[Don Coatney]

and then you wake up...!!!!

When did you wake up mister two wives:D

[Plymouthy Adams]

Don...who me?...tell me, just what would you do?

[mackster]

Mackster;

On a VW flat 4 engine did not the belt driven fan also supply engine cooling? If so how were you COOL:D Is this a girl friend clothes on (or off) related thing:confused:

Just in case this was a real question I want to add that this was a 1600 cc size engine and I had put an offset decklid along side an external cooler. . . Ugly but did the job just fine. I had the additional quart of oil due to a larger bolt in type of sump. that gave me more oil and thus keeping the engine cooler. I was going to put an additional electric fan but I did not see the need. after a while I cut out a whole under the license plate to allow even more air to flow thru. . . So a short drive wit hno internal fan turning was not a big deal...the engines were meant to run hot all the time. I blew out my spark plug later on but that's another story;)

[Robin (UK)]

Some years ago, I drove my brother-in law to his wedding in my P15 coupe.

I was his best man so I'd emptied the trunk completely to have space for bringing home presents.

The next day, my wife's cousins all wanted to go for a spin in the car.

A few miles from home, I lost all gears at the traffic signals. The shifter just moved around all over the place.

Lifting the hood, I saw that the linkages had come apart completely and the rubber bushes were long gone.

I went to the trunk...

All I had was a pair of scissors and the wedding ribbons from the day before.

My passengers laughed when I said I thought I could fix it, but I tied the linkages together with the ribbon and it worked fine - and got us all home.

I have another story about a fix in a MK1 Ford Consul - it's a bit longer, so I'll post later if I have time.

[Frank Elder]

These are really good! If anyone else would like to join in please do so.

FRANKIE47

[CNP934DC]

In my high school days I drove a 60 Stooty Baker Lark before my first Plym. The Stooty was my Dad's car. Driving along I hear a bang and then a rapid clang, clang, clang from underneath. Turns out the Stooty had a cast iron transmission housing that protected the front universal joint and had a fitting where the speedo cable attached. The bang was the cast iron breaking apart and sliding to the rear of the drive shaft. The clanging was the speedo cable wrapping around the drive shaft and slamming against the floorboard underneath. I crawled underneath with a pair of side cutters that I had in the trunk, (just luck they were in my trunk), unwrapped the cable which was now shredded with razor sharp edges sticking out all over the place, and me with no gloves, and snipped the cable off short just to get home. Didn't tell Dad right away. He took the car out that evening and discovered blood on the seat, steering wheel, arm rest etc. and no working speedometer. After I explained, he sent me on a junk yard search mission to find replacement parts. Would have been easier if he asked me to find the Holy Grail.

[Plymouthy Adams]

I glanced back over this thread to see what our boy Norm Coupe may have experienced..NOTHING..then I remembered..stuff like this usually happens a tad further than the driveway..

[greg g]

Set the way back machine for 1967. Scene bright fall friday after noon on a rural college campus. Characters, a charming sophomore nursing student and your's truely.

I had made arrangements to borrow my buddy's across the hall MGA for our outing. The MGA was 7 or 8 years old, pretty well used up, but ran well and was less threatening than my 1960 Dodge with the cavernous back seat. So picked her up at her dorm (this was back inthe days where the girls had to sign out if they were leaving campus with the why's wheres' and who's all filled out in the log in the office) and drove off. Made a short stop at the liquor store for a bit of Boones Farms (it gotta be the Formaldehyde that makes you feel that way) and proceeded out to the country. Found a field with a farily decent road into it, and a couple strategically parked loaded hay wagons for screen from the road. did some talking, did some walking in the woods, drank some wine and got friendly.

As it happened we found ourselves positioned so that the bulk of our combined weights was taken up by the passenger seat. After a period of rather rambunctious activity, the seats foundation (having been exposed to 7 years unprotected from road salt, gave up it tenious grip on the rest of the floor pan. This sudden failure, caused the seat to fall to the ground, causing the young lady to loose her concentration and call a sudden halt to the festivities.

Once our composure was regained, we began to look around for something to hold the seat up so we could get back to campus. One of the hay wagons provided a piece of side board that when broken in two provided enough area to support the seat.

When I got back to the dorm and returned the keys to the owner, I began to explain what happened. He reached under his bed and pulled out a piece of 3/4 plywood that had a very familiar shape to it. Said "I was wonder about how long I could put off pulling out the seat and putting this in." He nearly split a gut laughing when I explained the circumstances of the failure.

We took the Dodge on our next outing, but that's another story having to do with an early snowfall, a slippery road and one snow tire.......

[Robin (UK)]

Approx 1989:

I borrowed a 1955 Mk1 Ford Consul from an ex-girlfriend, to take new girlfriend to a dance in a hangar at a disused RAF airfield that had been converted into a Training Center for the motor and freight haulage industries.

The gig was about 150 miles from home.

We arrived OK, unpacked our bags in the on-site accommodation, got ready for the dance and headed off through the countryside (single track roads) to hunt down a country pub for dinner.

Dinner fine. Car still OK.

Heading back to the dance there was a loud bang from the back of the car.

I recognized the noise immediately - a broken top leaf on a rear spring - and knew that it would start to curl upwards and foul on the emergency brake linkages, pulling the rear shoes onto the drum.

This was before the days of cellphones being common, so we were left with a choice...

Leave the car and walk for help...

or

Drive back to the airfield...

We chose to push on, racing against time to try to avoid the rear shoes engaging on the drum.

We didn't make it in time.

The brakes started to bind and got gradually hotter. Heat expansion made things worse and before long we were seeing smoke from the rear hub.

We pushed on and made it back, but I knew that the wheel cylinder rubbers would be cooked

We enjoyed the dance then had the problem of getting the car home.

In the morning, sure enough, I could see brake fluid seeping down the inside of the wheel.

So... broken spring and leaking rear brakes.

Fortunately, at that time I worked as a Training Manager in the Motor Industry so I knew the managers of the Training Center.

I tracked someone down and got him to open a workshop for me.

I found some scrap and made a a couple of very simple clamps from flat pieces of steel and some old bolts.

I reversed the car against a kerb, to push the spring back together as best I could and re-align the rear axle (got it to within about quarter of an inch) and fixed the clamps onto the spring.

I then used another clamp to close off the rear brake hose.

The drive home was hairy!

Worried about the spring, and only having front-wheel braking, we kept to a sensible speed and got home OK, but exhausted.

I then had the problem of explaining everything to my ex-girlfriend and getting everything fixed up properly.

She was OK about it and the car was soon up and running again.

Here's a picture of the actual car.

[claybill]

after midnite,in chicago burbs, i lost my carb springs...and the motor went racing way beyond its limits...i cut off a tree branch and duct-taped it to the gas pedal and finally got home with a hand held, reverse operation, stick unit!!!!!

wow! ever again i hope.

claybill

[P-12 Tommy]

Back in the late '80s I had just picked up a load of coal in a semi-dump out of East Liverpool, Ohio to Cleveland, Ohio when my clutch pedal dropped to the floor. I had to take the back roads. Almost got stuck at a red light in Middlefield but I managed to get back. I had 25 tons on the box. 120 miles of anxiety:eek:

Edited January 1, 2010 by P-12 Tommy

[TodFitch]

Seems like clutch problems are common on this thread. I've had that on a few vehicles. In the 1970s a broken clutch cable on a 57 VW Beetle. In the 1980s with a 1963 Dodge D200 pickup, lost the hydraulic clutch slave cylinder. In the 1990s with a 1991 Jeep Cherokee hydraulic clutch slave cylinder (several times, design was a piece of ****). In all cases was able to drive the vehicle long enough to get home and/or a few days until I was able to repair it. Having a 1933 Plymouth with no synchronizers in the transmission does help: You get a lot better about double clutching to match up the speed of the gears and that transfers to other cars when the clutch is broken.

Also had a problem with the throttle cable on the '57 Beetle. Turns out that on that car the hand choke advanced the throttle plate enough to allow me to get up to maybe 35 MPH. Enough to get it to a place to get repaired.

[JIPJOBXX]

I had a 1928 Ford Model A Roadster in high school and one day the main clevis pin that operates the mechanical brakes fell out and I was with a girl going back to school after lunch. If you know anything about mechanical brakes is that the pedal went strait to the floor and lucky for me there was a big field right next to where I was driving. I just turned into that field at probably 25 mph and came to a stop. After stopping I checked out the problem and the main pin had back out of rod but was still there. So I ask the girl for a hair pin and used it to hold that pin in place like having a cotter pin but a hair pin. O the good old days.