I guess I should be discouraged. And maybe I am, a bit. But it seems that
no matter what happens with my GT6+, I'm willing to go at it and make it
right again.
My car was back on the road after the cracked head incident, which went on
far longer than it should have. I have almost everything working on it, even
the speedometer, which is an lbc rarity. I was proudly driving it to work
on a regular basis.
Then, as I drove home last night, the brakes felt really spongy. They never
completely went out, but got pretty scary. No problem, I was almost home.
Then, driving out on the rural blacktop on the way to my house, something
went bang. Big time. I thought the front end had exploded. Then I realized
that: 1) the engine was still running OK; 2) the transmission was still
shifting OK; 3) the car handled normally; and 4) it made a horrible noise
when turning right.
As I was almost home, I drove slowly on. When I got home I examined the
car carefully. The front valance was bent back and the noise was my tire
rubbing on it. One headlight trim ring was gone, the other was dangling.
There was a horrible dent in the bonnet where the bumper had hit it, and
the left front wing was kind of buckled. Also, the scuttle had chips where
the bonnet had obviously hit it. The left front headlight was ou;t of the
bodywork.
I looked at the suspension and steering, etc., carefully. It all looked OK.
So it looks like I hit something that bent the valance and hit the bummper.
The impact caused the whole bonnet to bounce back against the scuttle and
driver's door.
What really bothers me about this, is that I have no idea what I hit. Other
than the damage to the car, there is no evidence that says I hit anything.
I drove by the spot this morning on the way to work (in the pickup) and I
found my missing trim ring, in perfect condition. At least I saved that $20!
Because the damage obviously was done when something hit from the front of
the car, I assume it couldn't have been anything other than a foreign object
on the road. But whatever it was, I never saw it! And I didn't see it this
morning, either!
So, now my list includes front bearings, brakes (figure out what's wrong),
adjust chokes and balance carbs, and get bonnet and valance repaired and
repainted, along with whatever needs touched up.
Aw, but what the heck. I'll be back on the road in no time!
Here's to a cheery weekend,
Larry
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