i made it to the car show barely

[scottyv47]

i got the 68 to the show, using only the e brake, i backed into my spot, and the car died before i could shut it off, water pump went, i guess the temp light doesn't work, i tried to crank it over, but nothing, thought i seized it, because i couldn't get it to turn even with a bar on the crank bolt, after i cooled for a couple hours i tried again, and it cranked, it must have been vaporlocked, from being so hot, aside from that it was a great day, saw lots of cool cars, and met some great people, heres a few pics of some of the mopars in attendance, and one ford 5 window with a 53 dodge 240 hemi

[Plymouthy Adams]

vapor lock will not cause engine to sieze..could be the heat of the block was that the internal swelling of the pistons was the problem..resulting cool down allowed items to return to normal size...or seneraio two is that one cylinder filled with water due to blown gasket and the engine hydralocked..the water on the piston top could have seeped by the rings during cool down and allowed the engine to again spin over..

[dezeldoc]

Good call Tim, I'm thinkin the water in piston myself, most times when they overheat and seize they won't come back when cool, unless it is a slant 6, it is hard to kill one of them dang things!!

[Rodney Bullock]

Scotty, you were very lucky. I have been that lucky just trying to get to the show. I guess you made it home ok. The club I use to belong to had guy's that would bring a car to an event broke so someone in the club would fix it. I was at a show yesterday and while the car ran flawless in the back of my mind is always the possiblity of a problem.

It does help that you make it there and had a good time then the car starts at the end of the day. That's the old car hobby I guess, thanks for those cool pic's.

[Don Coatney]

Is it a common thing in Georgia to drive a car to a car show using only the emergency brake? If so I will avoid any car shows in Georgia

[Norm's Coupe]

Is it a common thing in Georgia to drive a car to a car show using only the emergency brake? If so I will avoid any car shows in Georgia

:D My feelings exactly! I can understand having mechanical problems like the overheating. But..........if one has no brakes when he starts out, one should stay home and fix said brakes before driving it.

ADDED: As for the temperature light on the dash. We've always called those warning lights "Idiot Lights" since the day they first started putting them in cars. Same with the oil pressure lights. If it were my car, I'd convert both to gauges. That way you can see the heat rise or oil pressure drop, before it gets to the critical point.

Edited May 10, 2009 by Norm's Coupe

[dezeldoc]

Refer to your first post as to what to use the car for!! glad my famly don't have to be around a place where cars are driven without brakes, no matter how short the drive or what kind of road, all it takes is one kid or person to not see you and step out in front of you it is over for them and you, got any ideas of the legal troubles you would have with getting into that situation!

Edited May 10, 2009 by dezeldoc

[scottyv47]

checked over the whole car today, no water in the oil, no blow by, good compression in all cylinders, and she starts right up, and runs perfect, the only thing i found was bad water pump, weeping out the piss hole, i checked all fluids before i left for the show as always, the water pump shouldn't have weeped enough in 9 miles to cause the car to get hot enough to expand the pistons and seize, but i guess thats what happened, as far as the brake thing, i ran all new brakes, including all lines, wheel cylinders, and master cylinder, bled them 4 times, and still only have pedal for a few minutes, i must be sucking air somewhere, because i never lose any fluid, that said, it was only 9 miles on a back road with no traffic at all, my town population is only 302, and its the only show all year, and i wasn't going to miss it, i'm thinking now that maybe the proportioning valve may be cracked, its the only thing i didn't replace

[Norm's Coupe]

Good to hear you found out what caused the overheating. That said, I still would not have driven that car to a show with no brakes. Even if you only have 302 people in your town, that's a 301 to 1 chance of hurting someone, or even yourself, not to count any property damage that would go with it. I would not drive a car without brakes, except the mile down the road if I wanted to have the shop fix them. Otherwise, the car would just sit until I fixed them myself, regardless of how many shows I missed. Statistics show that most accidents happen within 5 miles of your home, so you don't need to go far to have an accident.

[steveplym]

Scotty hoped you had a good time at the show, sorry you had trouble. Glad you found out what it is.

If you drove really slow and were really careful you shouldn't have had any trouble driving it less than 10 miles without brakes. I drove a truck to a car show several years ago that had brakes on the way over, and lost them on the way back. Drove 25 miles on the two lane highway with traffic, nothing but an emergency brake. Was not fun, but didn't have much choice as I didn't want to tow it. Wheel cylinder went bad and I replaced it and it fixed the problem.

In these rural areas sometimes you can drive 10 miles and not see another house let alone a car. Just get those brakes fixed so you don't have to keep your fingers crossed the next time you get it out.

[scottyv47]

there only 2 houses, and no traffic ever its a back woods road, and i've never even seen a dog on it before, if anything jumped in front of me i would have ditched the car in the woods and not hit whatever jumped in front, it wasn't the smartest thing i've ever done, but i've been driving 24 years now and the only accident i've ever been in, i was hit from behind at a traffic light, i am normaly a very fast offencive driver, not defencive, i dont give anyone a chance to hit me, i pass them, and get away from them, and pay very close attention to my surroundings, people i drive with sometimes get mad at me, because i rarely even talk while driving, i guess it comes from riding a harley for so long, for some reason everyone is out to hit guys on motorcycles, and you can't let your guard down for even a second, anyway its over, and no one was mamed or killed

[Don Coatney]

In describing your driving habits there is one descriptive adjective you omitted. FOOLISH! Driving any where without brakes is foolish.

[radioguy7]

I was at a cruise night once where a guy lost his brakes in a 50 chevy and plowed into the front of a parked 66 GTO that was on display. Inspection of the 50 chevy's brake system had people shaking their heads in disbelief since it was obvious the brakes were totally in need of rebuild. In short the poor owner of the GTO got screwed since the guy was driving the chevy with no insurance either. I never did find out how that situation was resolved, just thank god nobody was hurt.

In short, don't hit the road until you know you have a sound braking system! everything else is secondary!!