Hey!
I was recapping some of my early experiences with my 1st roadster with a
friend and thought some of you on the list might get a kick out of them as
well - I couldn't stop smiling when I was typing the note...
I had a '69 2000 when in high school/college - that was in '75 thru '83. One
of the reasons I purchased this car again was because I think I know just
about everything that can go wrong with one of these little puppies - I could
actually pull the engine in just over 2 hours to replace the clutch (when I
was young and nimble - or should I say younger and more nimble). Carried
almost a complete tool box with me everywhere I went. Warped a head on the
way to Sun Valley Idaho once and did the repairs in a parking lot outside the
machine shop that shaved the head. I wasn't to Sun Valley when all of this
started either - I was out in the middle of nowhere. I recall pulling over
near any ditch I could find to get water and having these huge clouds of steam
pouring out of the exhaust. When I pulled the head, the cylinders were all
full to the top with water.
Then there was the time when my voltage regulator overcharged and I blow out
every light that was on at the time (including the clock). All headlights,
taillights, in dash lights, clock - everything. Ever tried replacing bulbs in
the dash?!
Oh, then there was the time I was going through the Ellensburg Canyon (a
fantastic and curvy road that runs next to the Yakima River) in the middle of
the night when my headlights suddenly went out. No street lamps and no moon
on the canyon road and many curves. Needless to say, I wasn't driving 40
either. I got very lucky that night - gently hit the brakes and held a
straight line and managed to stay on the road. Roadsters tend to have
problems with their headlight wiring. Pull the cover off your fussbox
sometime and put your figure on the fuss when the lights are on. Tell me,
does it get hot?? There are many roadsters out there with this particular
portion of the fuss box melted....
My final notable experience was when I decided to race a 911. I had just
replaced the throttle cable and hadn't cut it to fit - the cable extended too
far past the circular cable attachment between the two SU's. Well, when I
shifted from 1st to 2nd, I missed the shift and the throttle cable hung up on
the manifold. The tachometer buried - I mean all the way around - pointing
straight down! I freaked (and forgot that all I had to do was turn off the
key)! The engine continued to scream while I rolled about 3 blocks into a
store parking lot. I opened the engine hood to find the exhaust manifold and
the intake manifold glowing red (it happened at night). I ran around to the
fuss box and pulled out all of the wires in attempt to stop it but the damn
engine kept running. By this time the guy in the porche that I was racing
came back to see what was up. Also, my girlfriend at the time was in the car
initially but by this time had gotten out and stepped to the side. I'd say
that about 10 minutes had gone by by now. When the guy looked into the engine
compartment and saw the glowing manifolds, he yelled "It's going to blow!" and
tried to pull me away. I would have nothing to do with that! This was my
baby! I still clearly remember though, when he yelled that, my girlfriend
decided she had to save her purse, she quickly ran to the car, grabbed her
purse out of the luggage area in back and then she ran about 30 feet away.
The guy also stood his distance but kept screaming " the distributor wire, the
distributor wire" over the noise of the screaming engine - well, it finally
sunk in and I pulled the coil wire. The engine finally shut down but dieseled
for a good 3 to 4 minutes - maybe longer. Well, the porche guy was pretty
smug at this point. He was sure that I had blown my engine. I spent the next
ten minutes or so mourning my poor car and talking to him while repairing the
wires in the fuss box. When I had decided enough time had gone by, I turned
the key. The car started right up and ran perfectly! The porche guy
couldn't believe it (nor could my favorite parts guy at the local dealership).
Me. while embarrassed, I was also pretty proud. I had just rebuilt the engine
about 5000 miles prior to the incident and the parts guy said, I must have
done a damn good job - one minor little thing out of whack and the engine
would have ripped itself apart. I drove that car for another 3 years without
experiencing any problems. and I know that I cleared out any carbon that had
built up in the cylinders too. I must admit now, though, that the oil
pressure was never quite as high as it was prior to that little incident.
However, now that I have another one, it sat just about where the needle sits
in my new roadster so maybe that's normal? It was pretty stupid of me to
freak so badly that I just didn't remember to turn the key off..... Live and
learn.
Are you a member of 'The List' yet. This is a bunch of roadster owners from
all over the world the send emails to a 'distribution center' - a mailbox? It
is a fabulous resource. You have a question or a problem and ask a question
to the list and you'll get 15 valid answers within an hour. It great! I wish
it had been available 20 years ago. If you're interested, I'll send you the
link to sign up.
What is the link anyway?
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