Don't have my Ol' Man to call anymore to bail me out.
"Dad? That fuckin' coupe quit on me right in the middle of (blah blah) Boulevard!)"
"Well, check the fuel filter- if it's got one - and call me back, and if it's not that, I'll come over there..."
Usually didn't have to call him back because it was always "DIRT INA FUEL LINE".
Remember C.W. Moss in "Bonnie and Clyde"? It's amazing.
Thought we had run out of gas the other day in a piece we hadn't driven much, so threw a gallon in and.......ran out again. Later we put a stick in the tank and there was about 5" of gas in it....so the gauge has proven good but....dirt in the fuel line.
But then we find the wire to the electric fuel pump is dangling by about 2 strands....we're over qualified to fix that.
Test drive, "Hey Mitch! Hear that? That's the coupe runnin' after about a 5 minute fix !! Too easy, Man." "Wha'......what's that? It's crappin' out again. Call ya back"
Shouldn't-a bragged.
Took it back (on a rope), and went ona hunt for the 'dirt ina fuel lan' and came across the fuel pressure regulator and...blew air through it, just like all the other pieces, just for drill. Well. Shoulda said 'tried' to blow air through it.
Musta had a marble in it.
Had a new regulator on hand, plunked it in there, set 'er on 2 lbs. and oua la.
Suck. Squeeze. Bang. Blow. Cool-livin' Daddy.
Next?
Added a fuel filter the next day too..........Just 'cuz.
If weda done preventative and maintenance stuff when we were younger, weda broke down less.... And weda prob'ly had fewer reasons to call Dad. So, if I had it to do over? I think I'd settle for the breakdowns.
If a roadster is a roadster and a cabriolet is a cabriolet...then why did we see a roadster called a 'convert'.
Even thought Datsun convertibles made in the 60's were called 'roadsters'? Wrong.
Even though the unwashed call any hot rod a 'roadster'? Wrong.
Even though they call some Corvettes 'roadsters'? Wrong.
We hate having to literally spell this out: roadsters DO NOT HAVE ROLL UP WINDOWS!!!! Thus, they are not convertible to closed cars, and are not ....converitbles.
It's not good enough that folks here know the difference. The correct nomenclature is being hijacked by neuvos, and their progeny will adopt the wrong words and some day some pseudo-hip 'expert' with an inflated resume..... will correct you. That might get ugly.
Return whatsawhat to it's rightful owners.
And why are some roadster clubs (like some with the most anal/narrow/elitist rules in the world about what they'll let in to their show) letting cabriolets be a member club car? Cabriolets are not roadsters.
See? It's about WHO not WHAT.
So all that fix-up malarkey above reminds us that if you've had your car a long time and it doesn't get much use - for whatever reason - it may just require more that a jumped battery to reasonably take it out for a tar-squallin'.
Part of the satisfaction of these wrung-out scrappers...... is found in being sure that stuff is properly tended to before the ride. Among all the vitals..ya just gotta love wheel bearings.
Pack 'em.
We left dinner one night last year with a bunch of roadsters and the car in front of us - built a long time ago, we'd reckon, but a nice enough piece - made a puff of smoke and pulled over.............. with the right front wheel . I mean, spindle broke right clean off. This, after a 300 mile trip, plus another hundred or so miles of running around the hills and dales of where we wuz. Wheel bearing had seized - maybe had been forecasting it with some noises - we weren't in it - and we wonder when the bearings were last checked/packed/replaced?
It turned out fine, the good friends in the car weren't too terrorized by the events. But it put us more tightly than ever into our proposed pre-check routine. That "ride 'em, wreck 'em, and never check 'em" routine of P. Wood was true back in those infamous 3 window days but......we rather think he checks 'em today.
Change your own oil; it makes YOU get under there... and you can do stuff like look for tell-tale fluid leaks from wheel cylinders, twist the tie rod to see if it's loose, inspect jointed steering shafts, and how bout the nut that usta hold the pitman arm on? We oughta carry a fire extinguisher; reconsider seatbelts..and about a hundred other things...especially if the car don't get much use. This sure as heck isn't a complete list but we think we should have a list.
We're sayin' all this to ourselves especially, ya know?
> Don't stand so.......
Don't stand so...
Don't stand so close..to me....Sting