Cpt.Fred Posted July 3, 2013 Report Posted July 3, 2013 (edited) 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. 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... Best, Fred Edited July 3, 2013 by Cpt.Fred Quote
Young Ed Posted July 3, 2013 Report Posted July 3, 2013 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. Quote
1940plymouth Posted July 3, 2013 Report Posted July 3, 2013 Thanks Fred for sharing your story. Although she was going through a bad time, she made sure that you and your girl were safe. Have fun on your 900 km trip that is coming up. Your car looks great 1 Quote
_shel_ny Posted July 3, 2013 Report Posted July 3, 2013 Long trip coming up. What was the cause of the fuse failure ???? Quote
greg g Posted July 3, 2013 Report Posted July 3, 2013 (edited) 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 July 3, 2013 by greg g Quote
Cpt.Fred Posted July 3, 2013 Author Report Posted July 3, 2013 (edited) 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 July 3, 2013 by Cpt.Fred Quote
BobT-47P15 Posted July 3, 2013 Report Posted July 3, 2013 Glad things are now back to normal. Amazing that the car gave you warning signals and all turned out OK. Hopefully your upcoming long trips will be without problems. Quote
Don Coatney Posted July 3, 2013 Report Posted July 3, 2013 Dimmer switches have a self cleaning function by design. With the lights off pump the dimmer switch 30-40 times and you should be good for another 70 years. Quote
Cpt.Fred Posted July 3, 2013 Author Report Posted July 3, 2013 (edited) 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 July 3, 2013 by Cpt.Fred Quote
Don Coatney Posted July 4, 2013 Report Posted July 4, 2013 Be careful, that German beer will get you into trouble Geez officer, I was only servicing my dimmer switch....... Quote
Cpt.Fred Posted July 4, 2013 Author Report Posted July 4, 2013 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. Quote
Frank Elder Posted July 7, 2013 Report Posted July 7, 2013 Send photos from Sweden! Forget that....send girls from Sweden! 2 Quote
1940plymouth Posted July 7, 2013 Report Posted July 7, 2013 Glad you got her under motion again. send both pictures and girls from Sweden LOL Have a safe trip and enjoy Quote
Cpt.Fred Posted July 9, 2013 Author Report Posted July 9, 2013 just saw you weren't quite finished with this topic i see what i can do... 1 Quote
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