Sometimes you get a less than great day.....
Got up this morning at 4 a.m. and woke my 14 year old son (those of you
with 14 year old sons will know that this is not a pleasurable
experience....) showered, laundered me barnet and put on as many clothes
as i could manage to move in since it was about 15 below this morning and
the heater in the 69 is of the ornamental variety just now.
On the road by 5 with about 150 miles to cover to get to Rick Browns in
jersey by 7.30 - no problem eh??!
The car was slow to warm up - a bit of missing and coughing which i put
down to the extreme cold but after about 20 miles started to suspect that
it might be something else - after about 70 miles i thought "well this
just isnt going away - better turn aroungd and try again wit h the GT" -
pulled off the highway and the car just dies - coughing spluttering, no
power - its pitch dark. i cant feel my feet or fingers and there is
nobody around - great!
I take a very cursory glance under the bonnet and decide its too cold to
start buggering about so i try to call AAA - cant get through...... after
a few mins i decide i might as well try and start her again and to our
surprise it fires up - a bit lumpy, still missing a little but i manage
to get it back on the highway to head home - go for about 20 miles and
just as im getting to NY it all goes wobbly again - dies right outside a
hilton hotel - i pull in and at least its light now so i try and check
connections, fuses etc - all seem ok and once again - i try the starter
and it fires right up! - running well this time - no backfires or misses
and all the power is back - Now im not new to this hobby so i still start
heading for home which is about 45- 50 miles - the car runs great and
after 30 miles or so im beginning to think im a sissy and should have
pressed on - dumb thought - dies right in the middle of nowhere - this
time ALL the power is gone, radio goes off the lot - well at least i know
its electrics! and if i had any feeling in my fingers id check the
connections again but i didnt need to - without any help from me - it all
comes back on again......
Well the upshot is that the car finally died for good less than one mile
from my house so son ans i trudged the last part on frozen feet - after
an hour or so i can just about feel my extremities - and its too late to
start all over again so ill do a bit of diagnosis this afternoon -
Hope those that made it had fun - i tried!!!
mike robson
Damn 69 roadster
70 BGT (wouldnt have treated me this way- and the heater works!)
53 Riley
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