Great stories! Now I don't feel so bad about some of the stunts I pulled in
my youth.
Like the time I got bored (and drunk) at an apartment complex pool party,
drove my '58 TR3A between the buildings and up to the edge of the pool,
squeezed 10 people in and on the car (most of them wearing bikinis), and
went for a drive. The next day I discovered that the loud clanking noise
that I had begun hearing from the rear axle was because several teeth had
sheered off of the ring and pinion gears. That quickly ended a fun weekend!
Or the night I was driving down the highway, paying attention to the knobs
on my radio and not the road, drove onto the gravel shoulder at 70mph, and
began fish-tailing uncontrollably. Rather than trying to regain control
properly, I remembered seeing something on TV once that I was pretty sure I
could do, so I turned the wheel hard and slammed on the brakes to put the
car in a 180 "power slide". Well, the car turned 180 degrees, slid right
off the road and into a ditch, tipped up on it's side, and then flopped
over on it's top. After I managed to crawl out from underneath (still don't
know how I did that), I got help from some buddies, flipped the TR over and
back on it's wheels, took off the bent and broken windshield, knocked out
the dents in the fenders and front cap with my fist, put on a motorcycle
helmet, and started the drive back home. At one point, a state trooper
pulled beside me to pass, looked over at me driving in 35 degree weather at
2am with the top down and wearing a helmet, noticed the clouds of smoke
bellowing from under the hood where the oil had spilled all over
everything, shook his head and kept going.
There was another incident where I decided to show off to my buddies and
peel some rubber. The only problem was that I was in a parking space in
front of a building, so I had to do it in reverse. I sheered off 4 reverse
gear teeth and 2 idler gear teeth in the process. No more reverse for a
while, and I had to make sure I parked where I could leave going forward.
As a cruel joke, my buddies used to find my car in the parking lot, and
push it into a parking spot that required reverse to get out!
There was a time when my parking brake did not work at all, so I carried a
brick in the car that I used to chock the wheels when I parked. On more
than one occasion, I had to explain the presence of a brick on the
passenger floorboard to the police.
One night a buddy who worked at the local airport, decided he wanted to
race my TR3 with his '72 Toyota Celica. We filled up both cars with
"aviation" fuel and went for a fast drive. My speedometer wasn't working,
but he said I passed him at over 120mph! I didn't know a TR3 could go that
fast, nor did I know that the radiator could boil that hard!
At one point early in my career when I had no time or money, and the TR3
was my only car, I had to drive it for a week without a clutch.
Speed-shifting on the highway isn't such a big deal. But negotiating stop
lights without a clutch can be pretty tough! That probably contributed to
my burned-up starter!
I also learned the hard way the TR3's were not really built for towing
large heavy objects, such as a 19-foot fibreglass ski boat. Especially
up-hill. The other people at the boat dock were laughing hysterically as a
Jeep was pulling my TR3 and boat back up the launch ramp. On the way home
that same day, the police officer wasn't laughing at all as I plowed into a
stop sign because of the extra weight that was pushing me from behind! I
believe it was that stunt that contributed heavily to the eventually broken
leaf springs
Somewhere along the line, I also remember loosing my hood (and hinges) at
60mph, loosing a silentbloc bushing bolt (which led to NO steering) at
35mph, having to stop 6 times on the way home one night to unplug my fuel
line because I had used silicon sealer around the gas cap filler neck area,
and the time I lost some of my brand new interior pieces (rear carpet and
fender-well covers) at 70mph because I had forgotten to glue them down.
Sorry about the long post, but your post got me to reminiscing and
rambling. Thanks for the memories.
Jeff Williamson
Belleville, MI
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