Breakdowns

[Tooljunkie]

Hey thougt i would start a thead about the breakdowns we faced during our summer of cruising. 
i was very fortunate,only 2 first one was the little flat wound spring in my door latch. I did figure out how to keep door closed on the way to a car show. Push door shut and lock it. Was an easy fix at least. 
second was wiper failure,light rain about 60 miles from home. Little bushings failed. Still managed to make the trip,and made up a permanent fix. Will attatch photo of the bushing. I deleted the little hex bushing and made one to replace rubber and hex combined. 
 

as i said, i got lucky this year. Hope next year goes so well. 

[plymouthcranbrook]

I haven’t had any.

[keithb7]

1,000 miles on my Plymouth this year.  Just the 1 break down.  Sort of. Newly rebuilt engine, test run. Block expansion plug fell out, on the hi-way. I was able to tap it back in on the side of  the road.  I drove it away,  until a later time when I scheduled the repair.

2 cars, thousands of miles of trouble free driving. When something happens and the car goes down, so far every time, I have been able to address it and drive away. Lucky? Maybe.

One time, I swapped fuel lines from stock mechanical pump to a 6V electric pump. Roadside. The pump's fulcrum arm pin fell out. I smiled when I won that one and drove away.

 

A multi-tool in your glove box goes a long ways in these old vehicles. I enjoy the car's simple systems and design. Encouraging me to drive it more, and further with confidence.

Edited October 24, 2022 by keithb7

[Merle Coggins]

4 hours ago, keithb7 said:

A multi-tool in your glove box goes a long ways in these old vehicles. I enjoy the car's simple systems and design. Encouraging me to drive it more, and further with confidence.

 

I keep a small basic took kit under the seat in my truck. (As a life long professional mechanic I must have tools on hand at all times) It saved my bacon once when I had to swap out my fuel pump,(the dreaded pivot pin failure), after a kind passer-by towed me out of traffic and into a nearby parking lot. (I also had a spare, rebuilt, pump under the seat) I have also dug it out on occasion for minor maintenance on the road, or to assist a fellow vintage motorist at an event. 

Edited October 24, 2022 by Merle Coggins

[oldodge41]

Like Merle I keep a small toolkit in each of my vehicles. Saved my bacon, and some other folks bacon, a few times over the years.

[Tooljunkie]

I do carry a tool kit as well. And fluids, a few spare parts. I keep a large tote in the box. 5 gallons of water as well as a fire extinguisher. 
probably 3,000 miles travelled as well. 

[Pete]

My worst breakdown happened on a club tour a few years ago. We were about 3 hours from home up in Vermont's Champlain Lake islands. The cotter pin and bushing failed in the shift linkage and fell out somewhere along the way. No way to get it out of neutral. Stopped at a very busy intersection. Not a popular thing to do.

 

I made a temporary fix by using the ring from from my car keys to replace the lost cotter pin. I finished the tour and made it home. I now always carry spare bushings and cotter pins in my toolbox.

 

Pete

 

[oldodge41]

My last breakdown was a year or two or three ago, not sure, time flies. Anyway, as I rounded a corner thru an intersection the '41 just died. No sputter, no miss-fire, just silence. I coasted as far to the right as possible. Narrow shoulder as I was right at an on-ramp to an interstate. I checked for fuel in the fuel filter and the carburetor. I had fuel. Pulled a plug wire, put a screwdriver in it and then laid it on the head. Had my wife crank it over, no spark. I pulled the distributor cap  and had her crank it again. No spark at points. I took a nail file to the points and tried again. Now I had spark. Replaced the rotor and cap and it fired right up. Drove home about 20 miles without a hiccup. I replaced points, condenser and cap later at home. I had points and condenser with me but didn't have to use them to get home. One person stopped, a frantic lady who wanted to know if I knew where the closest restroom was. LOL, I directed her to the burger King she could clearly see just ahead of her. Maybe I am odd, but I was hoping no-one would stop. But I was also hoping someone would stop that could help if I needed it. I think I was more embarrassed than anything else. Kind of like when you fall, and if you can get up, you look to see if anyone saw you.  All part of the old car game I guess. Cool part of old cars is their simplicity when something does go wrong.

[Dan Hiebert]

Our good ol' D24 has yet to leave us stranded anywhere, although it has "broken" four times while out and about.  All in its first ten years under our care and feeding.  First was a general issue when we lived in Horizon City outside of El Paso, TX.  The Sisson choke wasn't working and someone had to hold the choke open when the car was hot to get it to start.  Second was after I put a new fuel pump in it, still in TX, and we drove to one of the sets where they were filming that Jeremy Irons and Dominique Swain remake of "Lolita" in El Paso.  (We had the car in the movie.)  When we got there, gas was spewing out of the carb, the fuel bowl needle had been jammed open by metal shavings.  The transportation crew for the movie fixed it by installing a filter in the line between the pump and carb.  (They fixed anything that went wrong with any of the cars that were on their roster while on set, for free.)  Third time, still in El Paso, but a couple years later, one of the rear brake springs broke, made awful noises on the way back home.  Fourth time was after we had moved to Carlsbad, NM when one of the front brake springs broke (after the last one, I had replaced all of them, but I don't remember where I bought them) and I had to nurse the car back home using the hand-brake, since using the service brakes would lock up that front tire.  That's it.  Although I had some tools with me for each occasion, none of them would have helped.  I keep a go-bag of basic tools to toss in whichever car we're taking out, better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.   Three of our other old cars did leave me stranded, one time each, but that's a different story. 

[Sniper]

The only tools I keep in my rides involve being able to change a flat tire.  I trust my mechanic to do the job right, lol.  Said mechanic being me.

 

Now back in my youth I had some real beaters that taught me the lesson of doing the job right, maybe over doing the job, and to be real finicky about the work done.  Which is why I am the way I am about things.  I'd rather do the job in my garage with my things about me than on the side of the road with traffic whizzing by.  That said, if I was to go to the DFW area to visit my daughter I would not take the 51.  Several reasons why, the engine is tired, no AC and primarily  is the speed limit most of the way is 75 and even doing that your taking the chance of being run over, lol.  I'll just take the Bimmer for now.  Maybe once i get the 230 done, the AC fitted up and maybe OD added I'll consider the 51.

[Los_Control]

40 minutes ago, Sniper said:

The only tools I keep in my rides involve being able to change a flat tire.  I trust my mechanic to do the job right, lol.  Said mechanic being me.

 

I kinda feel the same way on my daily drivers. .... I expect my B1B to be a daily driver when it hits the road.

 

I really do not have a tool kit I carry in each vehicle. I feel bad about it, sometimes just a screwdriver or a pair of pliers could become handy.

 

While rebuilding my tool supply I did tell my wife one day I needed a 10mm socket to complete a job. I came home with a suitcase full of tools.

Just saying Ace Hardware had a combination set of tools in a case. It reminds me of a older sears craftsman starter set of tools. It was over $200.

Same time it is like carrying a 20# suitcase around, takes up too much room .... I will throw it in a car for a trip, otherwise it sits in the garage.

Just too awkward to keep in the vehicle.

 

Probably be nice to see a thread on what everyone carries in their roadside tool kit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[oldodge41]

I even have minimalistic "tool kits" in my 2019 F-150 and 2020 Hyundai Sonata. I obviously don't trust my mechanic (me) as much as @Sniper trusts his!   LOL!!  I have on occasion been able to help someone else out by having a pair of pliers, screwdriver, crescent wrench or hammer in the right place at the right time. Not always on vehicles, I was visiting a friend recently who needed a light switch replaced in his home. I was horrified to learn he didn't even own a screwdriver!!! No sweat, I got one in the truck..........

[Sniper]

I do occasionally have issues, which just reinforces the pay attention to detail philosophy.

 

As I have told my son, I am inherently lazy.  I prefer to do the job once and do it right rather than do it over and over, moral of the story?  Be lazy,lol. 

[Los_Control]

I love that attitude.  ..... I'm going to do it now so I do not need to do it later.

 

 

[LazyK]

2 hours ago, Sniper said:

I do occasionally have issues, which just reinforces the pay attention to detail philosophy.

 

As I have told my son, I am inherently lazy.  I prefer to do the job once and do it right rather than do it over and over, moral of the story?  Be lazy,lol. 

when working, I was always dumbfounded by the people who never had time to do a job right, but always had time to do it over.

[nonstop]

Over the years, I have learned to do the job once and right.  I started like many teenagers and slapped **** together.  Once I started becoming the go to guy, I realized my reputation counted on it.  With that said, I carry tools in all my cars.  Not that I do not trust the mechanic, but I do not trust the parts.  We all know what part quality is like now days!

[Dan Hiebert]

14 hours ago, Los_Control said:

Probably be nice to see a thread on what everyone carries in their roadside tool kit.

 

We did that at least once, several years ago.  Good posts if I remember correctly.  I'm not gonna search for it, but there's someone's prompt to go looking if they get bored.

[ggdad1951]

25 minutes ago, Dan Hiebert said:

We did that at least once, several years ago.  Good posts if I remember correctly.  I'm not gonna search for it, but there's someone's prompt to go looking if they get bored.

 

I'm sure someone will!  LOL

 

I have a 2 ton hydraulic jack and tire chainging equipment I haul around in FEF along with a spare fuel pump and a small kit of tools geared towards these beasts.

[Dodgeed]

I have basic tools, in plastic cases, that I've given myself for Father's day, for each of my 5 vehicles. I've used them for myself sparingly, but have helped a few others here and there. Basically though, I would rely on my phone to call Roadside assistance which is part of my insurance policies. 

[Tooljunkie]

I have a rather large tote,tools and fluids with some spare parts.fire extinguisher, small first aid kit, a jug of water. Mostly because i live outside of the city, and lots of backroad driving. Never know what could happen. 
 

im just so pleased with my truck, travelling long distances is becoming less of a concern. This has always been an important thing. Daily driver gets loaded with tools for long trips as well. 
and winter on the doorstep, its time to load up the winter gear.

i have been stranded in the past,i take precautions. 

[Dodgeed]

Ha, wouldn't you know, after posting the above yesterday, TODAY, while attempting to start the '51 pickup in a remote garage, it wouldn't. So, I needed to drag out the tool kit to get the battery hold down off, which was difficult in the near dark, and remove the battery so I could walk to a nearby outlet to plug in my charger in yet another remote garage. I probably haven't used that particular tool kit in two or three years, but, after posting YESTERDAY, I did! Just figures. 

[Sniper]

10 hours ago, Dodgeed said:

Ha, wouldn't you know, after posting the above yesterday, TODAY, while attempting to start the '51 pickup in a remote garage, it wouldn't. So, I needed to drag out the tool kit to get the battery hold down off, which was difficult in the near dark, and remove the battery so I could walk to a nearby outlet to plug in my charger in yet another remote garage. I probably haven't used that particular tool kit in two or three years, but, after posting YESTERDAY, I did! Just figures. 

 

I think that falls under the "speak of the devil and he appears" scenario