OT, getting them home stories, Car stories Options

[r_towle]

OT! So move it if you feel the need.

I laugh more now when thinking of the crazy stuff I did when I was young and broke just to get a car home or repaired.

One night, heading up to go skiing with a buddy, by beetle accel cable broke.
It was super cold, dark and we were in a section of NH that has about ten exits of nothing....so remote.

Thankfully there was a gas station about 2-3 miles ahead.
I put on my winter ski clothes, goggles and all.
I sat sideways on the rear bumper with my hand hugging the upright fan and I drove the carburetor while yelling when to shift etc...

What could go wrong......??

How about you guys?
I have a few more stupid stories that make me wonder why I am still here at all.

[2mAn]

My old Jetta Diesel coupe. Ignition switch died, so I hotwired the car to start the fuel pump, car fired to life and I started driving. The keys to the ignition were in my pocket and as I went around a turn the steering locked and stopped turning. Ive never moved so fast in my life.

Same Diesel Coupe. I forgot to torque the wheels down and I had the wrong lugs on the car so they only threaded into the hub maybe 10mm-15mm max. Drove about 80 miles on the freeway and as I exited I heard a weird sound, then made my right turn onto the street and BOOM wheel falls off and I see it rolling past me. I had to chase that thing down. Made a trip to home depot racing and got for bolts of a different pitch and not tapered (no idea where the old lugs were) and used those to temporarily hold the wheel onto the hub. I destroyed that hub, among other things, but I got it to the shop where it got all the correct parts installed.

A common problem on these MK1 watercooled VWs was that when you upgrade the clutch the clutch cable mount breaks and mine did too. I used this old skateboard wheel as a "temp" solution that stayed on the car until I sold it and Im sure its still there

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/img.photobucket.com-16644-1466457955.1.jpg)

Im sure there are more, but those were the first ones that came to mind

Said vehicle...
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/img.photobucket.com-16644-1466457955.2.jpg)

[iankarr]

I lived in the Virgin Islands for a while in the 80s before the Internet and FedEx made getting parts easy. I had a Toyota tercel and the hilly roads tore through brake pads down to the rotors. The local dealership was out of replacement pads for at least two weeks, but I still needed to get around...so the 21 year old me decided it was fine to drive the car using the hand brake. With those ridiculously steep roads, it's amazing I'm still alive.

Also...

On the way to my high school prom, the gas pedal on my 1977 Fiat X 1/9 dropped to the floor and wouldn't spring back. The linkage blew apart on the Hutchinson river parkway...with no shoulder to safely do anything. In my tuxedo I macguyvered a spare nut and bolt to secure the cable wearing all black with cars driving at 50 mph around me. Good times.

[Olympic 914]

going up a big hill, I floored it to get around a pokey driver and after getting by left off the gas only to find it was stuck to the floor. throttle cable had busted. luckily it was early in the morning, I worked nights then, so no traffic. Knowing there was a VW dealer about a mile ahead over the hill I tried to calculate how long to hold on before shutting it down. coasted into the dealership, kind of like landing a glider, you have one shot. didn't have to push at all. then left a note on it and walked five miles to my parents house,

I had pulled off the air cleaner to check things out after I got to the dealership and was pissed that they charged me extra to reconnect the vacuum lines.

[Olympic 914]

I was having the dreaded fuel pump vapor lock, my pump was in the original location then, and it quit. reached under with a soft drink and ice I purchased and poured it on the fuel pump. got it running again. just trying to get it home, couple miles later it quit again. I noticed a soft drink vending machine across the street. bought one and shook it up real good walking back to the car. aimed it at the fuel pump and popped the top squirting soda all over the fuel pump. that cooled it enough to get me the last couple miles home.

after that I moved the fuel pump to the front and had no more problems with it.



living with ancient Harleys you learn a lot about roadside repairs. if this were a motorcycle forum I could fill pages with stories of getting home on a wing and a prayer.

[DBCooper]

Thankfully there was a gas station about 2-3 miles ahead.
I put on my winter ski clothes, goggles and all.
I sat sideways on the rear bumper with my hand hugging the upright fan and I drove the carburetor while yelling when to shift etc...

I just put a stick under the throttle stop so it was at maybe 3000 rpm, then over-used the clutch and brakes, but only for a couple of miles. More clever was my son and his friends when they cut out the rear window molding and removed the rear window, then did what you did but from inside the car reaching out to the carb. They went almost 90 miles that way, and the replacement molding to put the glass back in was only like ten bucks.

Not a car story but my first motorcycle was a BSA Bantam "Trials" two-stroke, 175cc. It had rained a lot and the rivers were flooding so I went out riding levees, just to see. Came to a place where the water had risen over the top of a levee and was flowing into an orchard. It wasn't much, fifteen feet across and looked shallow, so I rode through. Except I didn't. There was a lot more water going through than I thought and it had washed out a lot more levee than I thought, so I went underwater, and when I stood up I was being washed into the orchard and couldn't find my motorcycle. Went back in, groped around underwater and finally found it, dragged it with the current and then around and out, back onto the dry levee. Took off the cylinder head, pumped it dry, drained the crankcase into a side cover to separate out the water, put it all back together and rode home. God bless two-strokes.

[sb914]

OT! So move it if you feel the need.

I laugh more now when thinking of the crazy stuff I did when I was young and broke just to get a car home or repaired.

One night, heading up to go skiing with a buddy, by beetle accel cable broke.
It was super cold, dark and we were in a section of NH that has about ten exits of nothing....so remote.

Thankfully there was a gas station about 2-3 miles ahead.
I put on my winter ski clothes, goggles and all.
I sat sideways on the rear bumper with my hand hugging the upright fan and I drove the carburetor while yelling when to shift etc...

What could go wrong......??

How about you guys?
I have a few more stupid stories that make me wonder why I am still here at all.

I've done the same thing. Driving home from the beach my friends Baja bug broke throttle cable, I sat on the rear cage of moter, using carb by hand all the way home.

[altitude411]

Not really a "get it home story" but... !990 or so just after moving back to Montana from Hawaii. Last day of the hunting season and my "buddy" didn't show up with his 4x4. I was pissed and wasn't going to miss last day of elk hunting so I fired up the six and proceeded to find a suitable canyon I could access with about a foot of fresh snow. After trying a couple of places that I couldn't get to I ended up around Reynolds Pass at a spot called Mile creek. Drove as far as possible towards the foot of the mountain and stuck the six in the snow. Knowing another hunter would surely show up I climbed the mountain and hunted most of the day. Returning to the car stuck in the snow I was amazed that no one had shown up to help... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/idea.gif) so I applied a little hand throttle and put the six into gear. Tires spinning in the snow I got out and started to push the car from the rear bumper. A little pushing and the car "hooked" up and started across the field towards the highway that was a few hundred yards away. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif) I had been climbing in the snow all day and was pretty exhausted. I barely had enough in the reserve to sprint to the drivers door and get the car back under proper control.
I sat in the drivers seat for a minute laughing and realizing how fuching ridicules it all must look to anyone that may be witnessing this stupidity (IMG:style_emoticons/default/popcorn[1].gif) (God?)
Youth... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cheer.gif)

[Darren C]

OT! So move it if you feel the need.

I laugh more now when thinking of the crazy stuff I did when I was young and broke just to get a car home or repaired.

One night, heading up to go skiing with a buddy, by beetle accel cable broke.
It was super cold, dark and we were in a section of NH that has about ten exits of nothing....so remote.

Thankfully there was a gas station about 2-3 miles ahead.
I put on my winter ski clothes, goggles and all.
I sat sideways on the rear bumper with my hand hugging the upright fan and I drove the carburetor while yelling when to shift etc...

What could go wrong......??

How about you guys?
I have a few more stupid stories that make me wonder why I am still here at all.

I had a Beetle accelerator cable break many, many years ago when I was about 18 with a car full of friends.
We all took out our shoe laces and tied them together, Knotted the first lace to the carb and fed it through the fan housing tube and the connecting laces via a rust hole under the rear seat into the car and drove home on a lace hand throttle :-)

[flyer86d]

About six years ago I was working late at the shop and left for home at about 9:30 PM. I had sold my daily driver and had just started to drive a 1982 280 CE that I had taken on trade and was working the bugs out of it. The car had almost 300K on it but it looked good and ran strong. Halfway home on my 40 mile commute, it quit. When I cycled the ignition key, I did not hear the fuel pump or the fuel pump relay click. Fortunately, I had my jumper box, and a couple of long test leads with alligator clip ends in the trunk. The fuel pump is located under the car behind the rear axle on the right hand side. I crawled underneath and tried to power the pump from the jumper box and it ran. So then I ran one test lead thru the drain grommet at the bottom of the rear fender and attached it to the positive terminal on the pump, used the other to ground the negative side, placed the jumper box in the trunk. I connected it up and drove home the remaining 20 miles. I drove it back to work the following morning the same way and fixed it by replacing the power supply wire to the relay.

It gets pretty dark and lonely here in the valley in central Vermont after 9PM so I was glad it worked out.

Charlie

[Mark Henry]

The shakedown voyage for my freshly restored 1967 bus was a 3700km (2300 mile) trip to PEI and Halifax. Finished putting it back together just 2 days before leaving.

A bunch of minor issues on the way,
I had a rim come loose due to paint in the hole and ruined the lug holes, so I was on the spare.
Top of a carb came loose, lucky it didn't catch fire.
By the time I hit PEI my tie rods were shot, fedex had me complete new rods the next day.
On the start of heading home the shifter rod coupler broke, stuck in 2nd. I asked the wife to search the ditches for some wire, she came back with a paint can handle. it was a total bitch to bend but it did the job.

Leaving the Bay of Fundy, full load, trailer, 65mph, the spare tire totally exploded, lucky that it was on the rear, but still a harry ride.
Had a 125/15 temp spare, had to drive 60 miles to the closest tire shop. They ran out saying they didn't have a tire for the bus, told them to remove the tire from the rim with the bad holes and put it on the blow out rim. The rim was so badly bent we had to take turns with a sledgehammer to it to straighten it out.

Fun trip (IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif)

[Amphicar770]

Had a 1965 T-bird in the mid 1980's. Probably a bad relay but it had a habit of randomly turning off the headlights.

Driving across Route 22 from NJ to PA. My friend Len hanging out the passenger window with a large flashlight.

So close to a Darwin award. Fortunately we are all immortal back in our teens and early twenties!

[DBCooper]

No wheel, steering with vice grips on the steering shaft. Glad I didn't meet a cop, I'm sure he would have had a very dim view.

[altitude411]

Sweeping left hander coming off the Golden Gate Bridge when the driver seat bolts broke free... almost strangled myself with the seat belt. Macgyver wire to get back to the garage (IMG:style_emoticons/default/dry.gif)

[ThePaintedMan]

Two years ago was flat towing the 914 to JetsetSurfShop (Shane's) place in Naples, Florida behind my beater 1981 F-100 with super low oil pressure, a slipping transmission and dry-rotted tires. What could go wrong? I made it almost 2 hours out of town and came over a hill when a pothole caused one of the truck's tires to blow, so I was lucky enough to be able to pull into a weigh station several hundred yards ahead of me. I had no spare, but the truck did come with a spare rim in the back. With limited space in the 914 and limited time on a Sunday, I unhooked the 914 and drove it (with no tag) to the nearest WalMart. Had them mount a new tire which was probably worth more than the truck, and I stuffed it back into the 914. Drove back to the truck stop and went to change the tire.... OF COURSE IT WAS THE WRONG LUG PATTERN. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif) Luckily I had no passenger seat in the 914 (race car), so I then stuffed the brand new tire/rim, PLUS the blown out tire/rim in the car and drove back. The guys chuckled at me, and were nice enough to swap them out. Turned a 3 hour drive into a 6 hour drive.

Also drove 4+ hours without a clutch cable on my Mustang in college. It broke as I was leaving to go home for sister's birthday the next day. Luckily my dad taught me to shift without using the clutch when I first started driving. Got it rolling and jammed the car in first, and just timed the lights on the way out of town as well as the 3 small towns along the way until I got all the way home.

FWIW, an appropriately sized socket also comes in handy if you need to reconnect a broken heater hose temporarily.

[Root_Werks]

1990, had a buddies baja bug we swapped some wheels around on. Took it out to grab some burgers in town. On the freeway he took his foot off the gas when we both saw his front wheel keep going! I remember he stepped on the brakes, the RF corner went down hard, we quickly let off the brakes. We coasted to a stop, tracked down the wheel, noted we forgot to torque both front wheels. Robbed one each from the other wheels, TORQUED and away we went.

[r_towle]

I once purchased a car for 75 bucks.
Bolted on my plate, not yet in my name.

Made it about 5 miles when the rear axle pulled out of the rear end, and what I see is a wheel rolling by me with an axle sticking out of it as the back of the car drops to the ground, blowing Sparks out the back.....

Plus (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smoke.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smoke.gif) way too much.

I rolled over to the side of the road, took a look at my situation, pulled the plates and hitch hiked home.

I never will admit to that event, I was never there and it was never technically my car.
(IMG:style_emoticons/default/shades.gif)

[914werke]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/evilgrin.gif)
So this was ...some time ago. Preface: My first "car" was was a 65 Ford F100 pickup. 3 on tree. Big block 352 with a bottom end worn out so being a broke youngster I looked for a cheap replacement eng. & found a sm. blk. 260 out of a Fairlane, dropped it in, oil pan on the X member, chained it down, cheap dual exhaust , it was old ugly & loud but it kept the rain off the ladies, & hauled my bike when necessary (IMG:style_emoticons/default/flag.gif)

Anyway... come wintertime a couple of my buds & I decide one eve we wanted to go night skiing (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif) we piled gear & beer in the bed climb into the cab & away we go. The truck had oversize tires none of which matched and all were bald (IMG:style_emoticons/default/happy11.gif)
As we were climbing Stevens pass its icy as sh*t and I was getting a workout feathering the throttle & working the enormous steer wheel to keep it on road and moving forward. We were maybe .5 way up the pass when I hit a ice patch lost traction & over revved that little V8 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/headbang.gif) which was followed by a loud bang & some very bad noises under hood. We pull over lift the hood to see ..blackness, oil everywhere and HORRIBLE clacking and clanking, as the truck was barely running I grabbed a couple qts of spare oil I had behind the bench seat pour it in & reason with the guys "were .5 way lets go skiing!" we limped it to the pass lot killed the motor downed some beers & went skiing (IMG:style_emoticons/default/aktion035.gif)
When we finished we gathered around the truck and in the light of lot lights overhead we could see the carnage ...a large hole in the side of the motor with a rod end poking out.
Considering our plight, we decided to see if it would again start & run, so we canvased the lot begging every driver we encountered for any spare oil they may be carrying. We poured in 3 or 4 qts keyed it and BANG, BOOM, BANG BOOM, 7 cyls fired to live one last time. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/w00t.gif)
It was all down hill so got it home killed it & started looking for the next SB donor mtr.

[914_teener]

Here is mine...air cooled.

Got this car back in 72 as the "gas crises" forced me to sell my big block Ford.

Started out as a dual port Type 1 1641 and ended up 2180.

Friend and I started up to Big Bear in January during a big storm to go skiing. Since nothing else mattered except looks and power....( 17 years old is a scary age) we figured that we could make it in my car as it was light enough and handled great in the snow..no chains.

Blithering white out near the top of the mountain and a flat tire on the front during the height of the storm.

I had decided to run a spare...but...NO JACK.

Both of us were able to lift the front end enough to pile some rocks underneath the beam front end of the bug...get the spare on...and hit the powder all be it a little late.

Enjoyed fresh snow all day as nobody else could get up the hill.

Here is the car in 1977.

[oakdalecurtis]

As a newly elected Councilman in a small rural central California city, I was asked by to bring my '76 teener to drive in the annual city Christmas parade through town. I pulled into the parade line and began slowly idling down the main street route with another Councilman in the passenger seat. We hadn't gone far when a man on the sidewalk approached the side of our little yellow ride and told us we were "leaking water under the car real bad". That's an interesting comment since there is no water onboard a 914 to leak! I opened my door and leaned out to look under the car, only to see gasoline spraying down mid tunnel and rapidly pooling under the car! I quickly told my Council colleague to get out of the car fast! Then I franticly waved to onlookers to create an opening among the sidewalk crowd of people, and drove the still running 914 into a dirt field and shut it off. I left a trail of gasoline on the ground behind the car at least a foot wide as I went toward the field.
After having my 914 towed to my mechanic, as you probably already guessed, the fuel line, under pressure from tank in front to the engine in the rear, decided to split after 30 years, at that opportune moment during the parade. I had the fuel line repaired and all was fine.
I was invited to the city Christmas parade again the following year. When I pulled up in my teener to get in the parade line this time, my Council colleagues were standing nearby on the curb with lighters, flicking them repeatedly and saying they were "ready for me this year!" That's how you know who your friends are in politics!!!!