[george kujanski]

I have a few........Coming back to San Diego from Yosemite one time in a 70-ish Lemans. 3 couples. Dash goes full red around Sun City Ca. I take a look, distributor isn't turning when cranking. Ask driver how many miles on the odometer..50K. Timing chain, I say, you are done. CHP comes along takes us to Sun City, it's after 9 PM sidewalks are rolled up. He takes us back on the freeway, following a Firebird Sprint driving erratically and pulls him over. It's a Navy guy heading back to San Diego, finds out he's sleepy. CHP convinces him to take all of us back to San Diego, probably about 60 miles, listening to Uriah Heap.....loudly....not our style, but we got back.

Back in the 70's my wife had a '65 Mustang, and we took a trip to the Black Hills. Going uphill in the Black Hills the oil light comes on. That's strange, i say, didn't burn a drop on the way here. opened the hood, oil everywhere. Turned the car around coasting downhill to a convenience store a few miles. Attendant tells us there's a service shop further down the hill. Filled up with oil, coasting except to get over small hills. Turns out is was the pressure switch that gave up, put a pipe plug into it, and replaced the switch in Rapid City.

Back when going to college i had a part time job driving a truck. Was on the south side of Chicago one day, yes the SOUTH side, the clutch goes bad. I call up the truck owner and he asks if i can get the truck back to the north side. I say, sure, it's your truck. I then drove the thing back on the Chicago expressway, thankfully a minimum of stops, cranking the starter to pull away from traffic signals, etc. Made it without a problem.

Also had a few times picking up clutch linkage parts on the street when the welds broke on the Z bar on my '67 Lemans Sprint....more clutchless driving.....

george

[Elarson]

1994...on the way back from Arnie Beswick's farm with the old hulk that would become the Grocery Getter. My 3/4 ton Suburban pulling a flatbed car trailer, middle of the night somewhere on I-74. I'm asleep in the back seat, Mike is asleep in the front and Wayne (our 3rd partner, now deceased) is driving. And did I mention that it was raining?

I wake up and notice that the windshield wipers are running slow. Wayne is kinda glazed over and doesn't seem to have noticed. I see that all the lights are dim, voltmeter reads under 12 volts so I know the alternator isn't doing it's job. Knowing that we have to keep running till we get off the highway, we shut off the wipers and lights and I shine my Maglite out the window to light up the lines on the side of the highway. We limp into a rest area and find that the alternator belt is gone. I had a spare and some tools so we put it on and now need to find somebody to help us with a jump start.

Did you know that approaching people in a rest area at 3:00 in the morning scares the h*ll out of them? We finally got a volunteer to gives us a jump and we finished the trip with no further stories.

Eric

[geeteeohguy]

Was on a trip from Oakland, CA to Yellowstone NP in 1988 in my '67 GTO ragtop. Started having fuel starvation problems around Winnemucka NV on the second day. Surging at cruise speed. It would come and go. Made it to Yellowstone with an additional fuel filter added to the line right in front of the pump. Still surged, not as bad. Ended up dying out completely at Craters of the Moon in Idaho, temps in the 90's. I disconnected the fuel line at the pump and blew it clear with my mouth until I heard gurgling in the tank. That bought us about 10 miles until it happened again. And again. Ended up in Jordan Valley Oregon at a NAPA store, and bought and installed a carter electric pusher fuel pump and 10 feet of rubber fuel line. That helped, but It still trailer-hitched. Got back into Nevada and blew the line out with compressed air at a tire shop. That got us 100 miles or so. All the way to back to Oakland, it was go 20-50 miles, coast dead to the side of the road, pull and blow out the fuel line, and press on. Half the time I'd have to wait a half hour to re-start the car due to heat soak of the starter. Total drag. When we finally got home, I dropped the tank and discovered that the fuel sock at the pick-up was wadded up into a ball, blocking flow. Every time I blew out the line, it would unravel like a party favor and allow me to proceed. I cut the sock off, and never had an issue again. Awhile after that, after dealing with the hot-start heat soak many times, I finally got fed up and fixed it. It was a bad wire at the ignition switch running to the solenoid. The pink wire. Replaced that, and all issues were fixed for good. 100,000 miles and 30+ years later, I still have that same stock starter on the car, and it fires up every time, even in 100+ degree heat. Still running no sock. Got rid of my add-on filter and went back to the stock fuel vapor return system and filter that I had stupidly removed long before the Yellowstone trip. Car has been on many cross -country trips since then without a hitch. Turns out our timing at Yellowstone was perfect: the whole park suffered a massive wildfire about a month after we got back home.

[David Jones]

I might have considered setting it on fire.......glad you didn't.

[Heybuck]

Not really a break down - more a keep it going story.

Good friend worked with high end medical equipment. MRI machines etc. Gets an emergency call to service a unit in a remote hospital 1100 kilometres from home. It's in a far distant outback town which is rife with indigenous people, huge drug, alcohol and bored youth problems. Every shop front has heavy roller shutters so you get the picture.

Just when he gets the call, he was about to say goodbye to his wife, she is flying to New Zealand. She had a newish Diesel VW Toureg. Keyless start. Decides to go with her to the airport in the VW, drop her off and make the 12+ hour trip to the service call. Off they go, she gets out at the airport (bit late) and rushes off. Straightaway the dash starts beeping at him "no key" and he realises he does not have a key for the car and she has disappeared into the the airport. Car is still running so he thinks, just keep driving and don't turn it off. The car had started because her keys were in her hand bag.

Made the trip, filled it a couple of times without turning the engine off, got into the town and went in to see the local police. They locked the car in their secure yard all night - engine still running. Did the hospital repair with someone guarding the car, left the car in the police yard for the second night then drove it back home. The engine was running for something like 50+ hours. As he pulled into his driveway, he saw his car keys on a table where he had put them...

[hgerhardt]

In my '66 GTO hardtop (the car which made my AAA Plus membership totally worth it):

1. When I first installed the 200-4R/3.73 12-bolt, I had a hard time getting driveshaft vibration under control. Finally did so with a 3-1/2" alum shaft. Anyway, I had towed the car to Wichita for the GTOAA Nats in '98. Made a couple passes down the strip and noticed a smoke cloud forming near the top end. Turns out the driveshaft yoke bushing had worked its way out of the trans casting and thru the seal, allowing fluid to hit the exhaust crossover which was right behind it. The driveshaft vibration must have loosened the bushing.

2. Same car, at Carlsbad, CA strip, soon after I installed the 428/E-head. Made a pass but noticed steam out of the hood on the return road. The LH center block freeze plug had blown out. At the time I had a "standard" cooling arrangement with t-stat and RH-only heater core fitting from the back of the head. When I started the run, the t-stat was closed and apparently the water started boiling in the LH head and the freeze plug was the weak link. Since, I've added a coolant crossover tying the water outlets from both heads to the heater circuit. I also added a couple 3/16" dia holes in the thermostat to ensure that SOME water flows all the time. Not a problem since.

3. Same car, driving back from LACR after racing all day; it was at night, on SB 405 near the 105, and some slowpoke was in the fast lane. I stepped on it, which made a 4-2 WOT downshift, and instantly had "neutral". Coasted 7 lanes over to the shoulder and called a tow truck. Intermediate shaft broke in the 200-4R. Nice clean break so it didn't hurt anything else; got 'lucky'.

4. Same car, driving back at 70+ mph from Fullerton BOP show; noticed some slight ticking that was coming and going, like a dry speedo cable. The speedo needle was twitching a bit so didn't worry about it. Got off at my off-ramp and at the red light, still heard ticking and now occasional misfire. Drove across the street, listened to the engine at idle, and figured out it was valvetrain noise on the LH side. Turns out both inner and outer valve springs on #5 Intake had broken. For some reason, the valve never touched the piston and no other damage occurred, other than the bronze guide and spring seat and Ti retainer having been chewed up. Crazy lucky. That was with a .630 (gross) lift solid roller. Found several other broken inner springs too. From the looks of the broken springs, it appears harmonics and fatigue were to blame. The new springs have a damper, so we'll see if that helps long-term.

[Half-Inch Stud]

Ahem, that reminds me of the time on route 322 W, headed to Penn State College, only this time for my Brother's only Wedding. Well it was Summer 1987, July i believe, and 5 people in the 68 GTO with AC working good off the 455, but i had a Mechanicsl flex fan.

Well as it happens, and so it happened i passed a car and the mighty TH400 down-shifted smartly only to upshift all too well. The iron water pump cracked-out at the neck and the result was a not-so funny grumbling under the hood the likes i couldn't figure.

Then it hit me, as the Power Steering was lost and the grumbling got worse. Fnally i make mention to pull off and take a look. Id say 12-15 miles had passed when we pulled over, popped hood and saw garden hose level of coolant was pouring out the front pump. I cracked the radiator cap, slammed the hood and kept driving. "its not good but i thinkif we keep driving we'll be okay"

Well the notorious uphill portion of 322W was my big concern. Been watching the Temp Gauge and my gosh its holding fine. I think we're going to make it. Then we loose the AC belt. The wobbly fan cut it while going up hill. Ah geez now we're all sweating. About 45 minutes later we get to State College, Park the GTO, coolant pours out for an impressive puddle, and we go to the rehersal dinner on time but a little creased for the wear.

After the reception, we got a lift to get the parts store pump and RTV and we drove home 3+ hourss just fine.

[Half-Inch Stud]

I go to Norwalk (2012-2013?), feeling kinda white& nerdy because i didn't bring the GTO. But i did bring some parts, and a Q-JET.

Got roped into a beer and cigar evening, as the cool guys were jawing away about all they knew for sure, there's me not wanting to sit quiet and trying to think of a seyway into a cool story, so simply mentioned that " I got a good Q-JET in the trunk to fix that".

well that got talked-up to TH400 tweaks and put the Q-JET on. So the next morning we r&r the Holley for my Chevy Q-JET (low 12s on my 68). He goes from mid-17s to 14s to low 13s after a couple runs. Holy craaap! we were all "believers after thaaat". So i said no need to touch the TH400, just dial for eliminations.

I forget how he did in elims, but the fella i had built a TH400 did win the Norwalk event and was featured on the Summit photo rotation. So the Q-JET goes back to Michigan as a loner, then shipped back to me a few months later.

...needed that Q-JET back, but listed & Sold it on PY 3-months ago.

[77 TRASHCAN]

Originally Posted by Half-Inch Stud

I go to Norwalk (2012-2013?), feeling kinda white& nerdy because i didn't bring the GTO. But i did bring some parts, and a Q-JET.

Got roped into a beer and cigar evening, as the cool guys were jawing away about all they knew for sure, there's me not wanting to sit quiet and trying to think of a seyway into a cool story, so simply mentioned that " I got a good Q-JET in the trunk to fix that".

well that got talked-up to TH400 tweaks and put the Q-JET on. So the next morning we r&r the Holley for my Chevy Q-JET (low 12s on my 68). He goes from mid-17s to 14s to low 13s after a couple runs. Holy craaap! we were all "believers after thaaat". So i said no need to touch the TH400, just dial for eliminations.

I forget how he did in elims, but the fella i had built a TH400 did win the Norwalk event and was featured on the Summit photo rotation. So the Q-JET goes back to Michigan as a loner, then shipped back to me a few months later.

...needed that Q-JET back, but listed & Sold it on PY 3-months ago.

Saw that ad, wondering why? Thinking maybe you’ve created a better monster? Lol

[Mister Pontiac]

Enjoying these stories.

I'm reminded of another one... Early 90's, and my brother and I are driving his 65 LeMans (215 6 cyl, 3 spd) from Colorado to Chicago in the dead of winter. Somewhere in the middle of nowhere Nebraska along I-80, the car just shuts off. Coast to the shoulder, and nothing but crank. No spark, no sputter, nothing.

After a quick check for fuel (got it), and spark (don't got it), I pull the distributor cap and have him crank it over. Uh oh, no rotation. Interestingly, I can hear compression pumping when we pull a plug. So I yank the dizzy to find that the gear, while still on the end of the shaft, has sheared the roll pin!

About that time, Smokey Bear pulls up. We explain the situation, so he takes us into the next town and their local auto parts store. A quick $0.86 and one roll pin later, he takes us back the many mysterious miles and turns to the LeMans still waiting patiently on the shoulder. Away he goes, and back to work we go.

Hmmm... no timing light in our stash of hand tools, but after a quick crank to set before TDC #1, I drop the dizzy in, snap the cap on, and get it running again, but just "okay." We drive to the next exit looking for another auto parts store or auto shop in search of a timing light, but none to be found. So I'm resigned to play around with the timing a little more, by ear, and get it running better. Good enuf. We hit the road again, and many hours later we roll into Chicago.

Fast forward till early the next summer, and my brother is back in Colorado with the LeMans. I ask him if he ever set the timing correctly after our tune by ear adventure.

He says, "what?"

[Jay S]

I enjoyed reading through these break down stories. I will add a couple of mine that were memorable. My Pontiac break downs that left me stranded are pretty boring, fuel pumps, electrical, water pump ect, ect.....One of the most memorable (not a pontiac)was a rear end locked up rolling at a good amount of speed, decimating everything behind the engine. My brother and Dad watched it happen from about a 1/4 mile back. Debre flying all over, oil film all over dads pickup from it. We went to fix it later, my brother got under the car and immediately announced “I am done”. I looked from the top and said, looks like I am done too. Transmission was shrapnel. Even the exhaust went bye bye . Saved the axles and the engine

And then there is the 76 Ford F-150 4x4 we drove for 430,000 miles....

Stud that holds the air cleaner on broke off and fell down the carb jamming the carb 2/3 open on the way to College for a major exam. It was too long to fall into the engine apparently. Going along and all of a sudden the truck wanted to go 80, and rev to 4K when clutched. Pulled over and found we did not have the tools or the time to fix it. My brother and I could not miss the exam, what do we do??? Drive the remaining 40 miles to the University of Nebraska in the middle of town with the engine trying to run full throttle.

We built a special engine for that truck, it was an 11:1 scr 300 cid 6 cylinder, mostly ran it on propane, which will lead into the next break down. We towed tons of cars to race tracks, from our street cars to our 10 second bracket car. All the tracks were several hours away. Pickup ran good for a 6 cylinder, one night out on the highway in 4x4 (not towing of course) we cleaned out the front and rear drive shafts at the same time. No crutching that home....

One weds night we towed our Chevelle down to Kansas City for some 1/4 testing. Jim Hand was doing his intake testing with his wagon the same night, so it must have been in the late 90s. On the way back about in the middle of the night 40 miles to go the fuel filter plugged up on the truck, crutched it home on back roads (380 mile round trip). If that wasn’t bad enough, 15 miles from home we lost the headlights, drove home in the moonlight on back roads. To tired to fix it, and couldn’t go over 20 mph anyway. Dimmer switch went bad...long night.

Another trip to the same track...On the way back from KC pulling our 69 charger, I was driving and all of a sudden the engine cut out. Still rolling 70 mph, then all of a sudden BOOOM! Flames shot out the hood, my brother was with a friend a 1/2 mile behind and they say a big flash of light. It happened as I was going by a rest area. I rolled into the rest area. The coil quit. It blew the propane mixure off the top of the engine. Apparently the coil had one last spark to give and created a bomb. Nothing caught on fire, robbed the acceleration super coil off the charger, bolt that broke had just enough threads to get the mixture back on. Away we went again...

[67drake]

My grandfather left me his ‘62 Mercury when he passed away around 1980. After owning it for about 20 years I lost my storage for it and felt guilty leaving it out in the Wisconsin weather all the time. I “loaned” it to my sister in Hot Springs SD indefinitely. Well when I found out she was getting her house foreclosed on a few years back I set out for Hot Springs in the middle of January to get it back.

The trip out there was uneventful in my ‘99 Suburban. I stopped at an exit on the interstate on the way back home to fill up the Suburban with the Mercury on a car trailer. There was like 4 gas stations at that exit, but I pulled into a seedy looking old Sinclair station. My best friend is a Sinclair junkie, so I figured I’d buy him a souvenir hat, t shirt, whatever, as we don’t have Sinclair in Wisconsin. Well I filled up and was on my way. About 300 miles later the Suburban just dies,so I coast over to the shoulder. It cranks, has spark ect. Acts like it’s out of gas. BTW, gas gauge doesn’t work on my Suburban, but I’m thinking with a 40-42 gallon tank I should have another 100 miles left even at 10 mpg right? My buddy has a smart phone and says there is a gas station about 3 miles up the highway. I told him stay with the cars and I’ll hitch hike up the road and come back with gas. About 5 minutes later he comes up behind me in the Suburban saying it started for him! Ok. We drive up the road to get gas at that next station and it dies again right before the ramp. We coasted up the ramp and into the station to fill up.

I topped the tank off and it only took about 30 gallons. Hmmmm. I threw a can of Heat in thinking maybe water in the tank. Suburban started right up and ran fine. Not trusting it yet, I drove around this little Indian reservation town for awhile to see if it acted up again. All seemed good after putzing aroud for about 10 minutes so we hit the interstate again.
About 150 miles later we’re in Minnesota and it’s snowing like crazy- Suburban stalls again. We just let it sit for a few minutes and it started up. I filled up again at the next exit and added 2 bottles of Heat! I ended up just stopping every 100 or so miles to top off the tank till we got home.
My Suburban never did this again and I just sold it last year. I think that run sown Sinclair I stopped at for my friend had more water than gas in their tanks.

[Will]

Getting my Formula running after many years in storage involved some trial and error.

The transmission had been rebuilt many years previously but never used. On the car's maiden voyage I'm driving through a rundown neighborhood known as "rat city" when the car starts missing and large clouds of white smoke start coming out the exhaust. I'd noticed the transmission didn't want to upshift under power, either. I pull over in a shabby business district and pop the hood to see if I can figure out what the heck is going on. Before I have much time to inspect things the neighborhood vagrants are starting to assemble, drawn to the unusual sight of an old muscle car pulled over on a street in their hood. One fellow who appears to be struggling with gravity comes up, looks into the engine bay and then asks "Does that have a 440 six-pack in it? I used to have a 440 six-pack!" I think to myself that he probably used to have a bit more than a six pack.

Knowing that burning trans fluid often causes white smoke I pull the vac modulator line off the carb and sure enough, it's wet inside. I then look under the car and see the hose between the modulator and steel line is off the modulator and there's fluid dripping out there. I really don't understand this but not much I can do but see if it'll make it home. At the time I only lived about a mile from there. I had some tools and various items including some small hose clamps with me so I put the hose back on the vac modulator and used a hose clamp to secure it, fired the car back up and drove off, still issuing clouds of white smoke. Got to the next intersection and had to stop for the light. When the light turned green I tried to go again and the car rolled out into the intersection and then it was like the trans went into neutral so I coasted across the intersection and pulled over at the side of the road. When I got out I was rather horrified to see that pretty much all of the fluid in the transmission had pumped out onto the road in the middle of the intersection. People making left turns were sliding on the slick and almost hitting the curb, and the trail of drips led right to my car. At least I'd gotten away from the bums.

I called AAA and they were there in about a half hour to tow me home.

I discovered that the valve that goes in the transmission behind the vac modulator had somehow been left out and the only thing that had held the fluid in for the first part of the drive was the diaphragm in the modulator. Once I sourced a valve and put it in there the trans worked normally.

[Shiny]

I think Plymouth forgot to put a cooling system in our 88 Voyager, resulting in this priceless gem of a car stalling in the middle of the Eisenhower tunnel (1.7 miles long at an elevation of 11000 ft).

Worst car day ever.

Probably had traffic on I-70 backed up for 1/4 mile behind us in the tunnel while the alarm lights were flashing. Like being inside a mile-long giant sewer pipe with yellow strobe lights telling you to feel good about it. Wife and I shared some thoughts about the vehicle and pissing off hundreds of other drivers along with the odds of getting out alive.

Fortunately the car cooled off a little and started again so we drove out on our own.

This was the promise:



This was our magic moment:

[Elarson]

If there's lots of traffic in a tunnel, the tunnel air starts moving along with the traffic. So instead of 65 mph air impinging into the radiator, the relative air velocity may only be half (or less) than that and they won't cool as well. If the cooling system was marginal to start with, then the trouble starts; as you found out. Trains in long, tight-fitting tunnels have that problem too.

Eric

[SRR]

Had a 73 Chevy p/u that used to stall out only when my ex was driving it. When I would show up to rescue her it would start right up. I had inadvertently wired the HEI to a circuit breaker...oops.

Was driving my 01 Grand Marquis on the highway a couple of months ago and went to pass a truck and noticed white smoke belching from what I thought was the right tail pipe...then I smelled coolant...temp. gauge climbing...killed the engine and managed to coast off an exit and called AAA. The heater hose nipple broke off the back of the intake.

[george kujanski]

Jay's event prompted this other one I had somewhere around 2010.

'86 Chevy van, had it all those years, it was kept outside in later years. My son just bought a house, we were going there to paint, etc. Went to the house took out the tools and we decided to get a bite to eat before starting, is was late afternoon, but dark, prob late in the year.

Driving along, I accelerate to the 45 speed limit and find out it's not slowing down when I get off the pedal. Find a side street, pull off heavy on the brakes and shut it down. Go to restart, it's racing. Try several times, same thing.

Ok, Chevy van, has this doghouse on the inside covering the engine. Tools? back at the house. Thankfully, I never got around to installing the floor bolts so I just had to get the philips screws off that hold the doghouse to the dash.

Found some useful tool to get the screws out, begin checking the throttle linkage...seems fine. start it up, racing. Check for choke sticking, etc. nope. Got to be something binding the linkage tho.

It's dark, only the courtesy lights working, can't see the top of the engine well. One of us gets out the smart fone, using the flashlight function. There in the dark, under the throttle linkage is a walnut from the tree on our property! Some critter's stash.

So I figure, accelerating to 45 allowed the walnut to get between the linkage and manifold and bind it up. We all had a good laugh and meal and went back to the house to work.

Another one with my '67 Lemans Sprint...making a hard right turn would blow a fuse, no radio. I need my radio. Make an easy turn ok.

So for a while i was driving around making easy right turns. Finally, one day I was doing some maintenance and noticed my battery was a bit loose.(passenger side). Also found the lighting harness was frayed, looked like it was being pinched to the core support by the battery. Tightened up the batt, fixed the wiring, back in business with hard right turns!


George

[geeteeohguy]

1982-ish: Getting on the freeway on-ramp in my tripower 428 powered 4 speed '65 GTO...stuck behind a Volkswagen Rabbit Diesel, which is entering the freeway at about 11 mph. I stab the throttle to the floor, opening up the outer carbs as I speed-shift into second, passing him on the left, leaving him in the dust. As the front bearing retainer exploded into pieces and 4th gear came out of the case, hemorrhaging gear oil, I manage to coast dead-stick it to the side of the road as the VW passes me at 22mph, happily on it's way. I inhale diesel fumes and 90 wt fumes as an ominous pool of oil grows under my car. It's a 2 mile walk to the nearest phone booth for a tow. A new bearing retainer, transmission overhaul and some thread-certs and I was on my way, about a week later. Same car, 1987: Very early Saturday morning on the way from Oakland to San Jose for work, on the 880, just north of the NUMI plant in Fremont where this car was built: downshift into third to pass traffic and a shift into 4th at close to 100 mph at an indicated 7,000 rpm on the rally tach..........20 miles later, low oil pressure at the first stop light and a light rod knock. Work all day, verify rod knock, so install 2 pints of STP for the 51 mile highway drive home. I go 45 mph and make it. On teardown, the crank is blue, the bearings are toast, but non are spun. I have 4 or 5 broken pistons at the ring lands from detonation I never heard that had probably been going on a long time. That engine never ran again. In went the '65 389 that was in my '66 GTO....I got a '66 block for it and was back in business. Fast-forward to 1989: late night ice-run for a house party. Showing off acceleration of the '65 to an uninitiated party-goer. Chipped tooth on spider gear that actually went through the back cover of the diff. I did not know this at the time. Parked car in dad's garage for 2 months as there was no room for it at my place. When I got in it to drive it, didn't realize that all the gear oil had drained out of the diff through the hole in the cover. Drove it from Oakland to Concord, about 15 miles. Ran a lot of errands , went out to Pittsburg to go junk-yarding, etc. The rear end started squeaking the following week. Removed the rear end, put it in the trunk of my '66 GTO, and hauled it down to Fremont for Larry Woltzen to rebuild. He changed out the trashed 3.55 gears for 3.36 and rebuilt the posi unit. I have not broken anything on this car since then. And don't intend to!!

[unruhjonny]

This thread is a good read.

I don't have anything good/funny to add at this time, but I did want to say that this one was to date the neatest one for me:

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

...I had a '31 Ford rumble seat coupe, restored to stock. ...
... it quit. Just shut off, like you had turned the key off. ...

... I managed to get that all apart (front end of car and engine) and was sitting there contemplating my next move when I absentmindedly reached up to touch the cam gear with my finger. *Plink* the whole outside of the gear fell off onto the pavement. The center of the gear had broken loose such that the outside of the gear was spinning with the crank but the inside wasn't turning.

Here's my favorite part: the gear had a manufacturer logo embossed on the perimeter. The manufacturer? "Formica". Both in terms of the people that made it and the material used.

Needless to say it went back together with a "hot rod" bronze gear. I never had any more problems with it.


Here's a pic, pretty much in the spot where it quit running.

K

What a neat read;
I had to google formica, because it sounded familiar, but I was drawing a blank - wowzers!??!
It's crazy that a timing gear was made from that!!

I have recently been getting more and more interested in older cars - so that plays into my interest in this one.