Update on the movie

[Brad Lustig]

The good news is I made it back alive...

Starting off in the morning, things were great! Temp was about 50degs which my car loves. Got to about 65 and clear skies, a beautiful day. Anyway, I guess it was probably about a 30 mile drive to get there. I felt like I could have driven to California it was driving so nicely. Got there and they filmed 5 different drive-by scenes about 5 times each. Then got in and filmed several scenes inside the car. Got some great footage. It's really cool to watch the car drive. The older gentleman that drove it in the first scene was having such a good time driving that I let him drive it for all the scenes. Anyway, after a little more than 2 hours, the filming is done so I start to head home. So, this is after almost 3 hours of stop and go driving. I get to about 10 miles from my home and I know something isn't quite right. A little history. After driving for about an hour or so, the brake pedal would always get a little higher and tighter so I know that one of the pads was probably a little close to a drum and was heating up. So, now, I'm 10 miles away and decide to press on and just stay away from traffic. 5 miles away and it hasn't gotten any worse so I cross the cooper river bridge (the big one down here). About half a mile away, the brake pedal sort of pops and drops halfway to the floor and I'm able to pump it back up. Whew! Too close to stop now! I turn onto my street and smoke starts pouring out of the back of my car. Pure white smoke that looks like a blown head gasket! But it's on the wrong side of the car. I coast into the driveway and it looks like my car is on fire. The rear driver side brake had gotten so hot that the cylinder blew. I put a slowly misted the drum with water to slowly cool it off and make sure it didn't catch fire. I haven't popped the wheel off to see what the damage is yet. Just glad my stupidity didn't bite me in the butt harder than it did. I should just about break even with the payment for use of the car.

The screening for the movie will be on the 22nd and the director has promised me a copy when it's all done so I'll keep y'all updated.

Oh yeah, as for the radio. The director did get in touch with John Munz and may try to get up to his house and film his radio. But, it may not be necessary. While I was cleaning out the car, I looked at the two knobs on the dash (dash light brightness and map light) and thought he could probably use those as a radio. Before I could say anything, the director looked in my car and said the same exact thing. So, he filmed the guy using those knobs to tune in the stations.

[BobT-47P15]

My car had a bad rear brake hose (the inside had collapsed) and it would pump brake fluid to the wheels, but not let it back thru very well. Once I stepped on the brakes hard at a light.....the brake locked up tight, and I had to keep driving it for a ways til I could get off the street. It was a-smokin' then..... Have you replaced that little short brake hose in the middle at the rear?? Just a thought.

[Plymouthy Adams]

Brad..sure glad you made it across the bridge..they don't play games there..I think it is still an automatic tow and that is not cheap...

How you gonna sleep at night knowing that your car is somehow deceiving the geneal public with that faux radio scam...I'll have to send you one of my infamous "Geebo" anything for a dollar certificates. If you see PJ with the red Tiger..he should know about the certificate and also the drawing of him in his BMW..however I think he still gets a bit red about the face on that one. Bloodpressure is an awesome tool if you know what I mean.

[Rodney Bullock]

I am glad you made it home, the brake problem is very common on the plymouths. Don't feel bad, even the big production co. have problems with movie cars. That's why they have alternative ars on site, as an owner I have had cars on ythe set that are not used and those cars gewt the same pay as a car that has been in ten shots. I blew my head gasket on a set and was crushed, it cost twice as much to fix then what I received. It's funny if it gets hit in the shot they will fix it, not with mechanical failure. go figure;)

[Plymouthy Adams]

I can see their wisdom in that...they are renting a running car...that is an owners' expense..when you rent a car from Avis and it breaks down, who do you think ought to pay for the repair...you on the other hand provide insurance to protect them from loss due to you putting their property at risk.

[Brad Lustig]

Yeah, I have no regrets for doing the movie. The brake problem was my fault. I had fun doing the movie. The fact that doing the movie will help pay for a problem that came to a head is icing on the cake for me. It was something I would have had to take care of eventually (just didn't want to deal with it right now:p )

Oh yeah, Bob, all new hoses about 2 years ago. Just poorly adjusted brakes. I felt the hubcaps on all the wheels and the other three were ice cold.

[Plymouthy Adams]

Brad..seeing as how just the one brake messed up and the flex lines are rather new...chances are you had a piston stick in a cruded up cylinder..it was a ticking bomb and could have given you trouble anytime..chances are with the just the short runs you had been making it was not enough to rear its ugly head...may explain your low gas mileage and the fact you can only beat 3 out of 4 j-cars off the line...fix the brake and beat them all...lol

[Brad Lustig]

All new cylinders 2 years ago, too. May have been a bad cylinder, came from Kanter. The only thing I didn't replace at the time were the pads. They were older, but not many miles. Last time I checked them about 9 months ago they still looked good. Guess it's time to go ahead and replace them as well.

As for going faster, I've tinkered with the idea of cutting a hole in my floorboard. That way my gas pedal can go twice as far, that should make my car go twice as fast, right?