Driving down I-65, doing about 70, everythings going good when we hear this horrible schreeching noise. Still had power but temp was rising quickly. Pull into truck stop and start looking. Theres antifreeze everywhere, smoking, im thinking we lost a head gasket, dad thought belt. While dad is in the restroom i start looking more. Belt was in tact but loose. Look closer the alternator is laying against my innerfender. Look at the bracket and its leanong to the side. Turns out one of the alternator bolts snapped, and the alt fell into innerfender causing said noise. So half the bolt is in the block, and all we have is basic and tools and a drill. So a generous pipe fitter gave us a new bolt, while the truck repair shop let me us a tap. Drill old bolt, tap new threads put belt back on and put the rest of it back together. Fill radiator and hit the road. Everythings good, nobody got hurt, and trucks running again. See everyone in bowling green! Ill add pics later
So where did the coolant come from? Overheat? But glad that everything worked out and lots of kind folks around to get you going again.
Overcoming a breakdown adds to the adventure as an unforgettable story. Glad you had whiling helpers and you are able to continue your adventure. Enjoy the rest of the ride with even a bigger smile : )
Good recovery D-man! That's the way to do it and get back on the road. Having suffered multiple similar experiences, I gotta give props to folks like the pipe fitter and the truck repair shop for letting you do your thing when needed and getting you back on the road. Folks just seem to want to help when your classic isn't working right. Michael
happy ending to Problem solved... Something to talk about... if you had made it all the way without a mishap it would have just been a cool ride... now you have stories to go with it.
nice recovery from almost catastrophe! When you get home, be sure to add another alternator brace, so it doesn't happen again
I was along way from home once and I had a nasty backfire on my blown car and it blew the vacuum caps off of both the carbs. I coasted into a little gas station in the middle of nowhere just as they were closing. They had no vacuum caps...they did have 3 or four cars for sale out front, the mechanice robbed caps off of two of the cars and said he would buy new ones Monday and replace them on the used cars! Four vacuum caps....twenty dollars I gave him..he tried to refuse the money...priceless!
Glad to hear you made it ok. I knew a Macgyver type guy once. He would never maintain his cars, even though he knew how. Once he had a u-joint going bad, so he keeps on driving till it falls apart in the middle of nowhere. He gets out and wraps a 3 foot section of chain around the driveshaft and rearend yoke, tightens them up with a nut and bolt he had in the trunk and limps back to town. Next time he heads out of town low on gas and runs out, in the middle of nowhere again. This time he gets in his trunk and has a gallon of coleman camping stove gas. Pours it in and limps back to town again, spitting and sputtering. Crazy....
It that was me.. something would have gone through the radiator. Small mishaps on the road are one thing... a massive steam cloud is a WTF moment. Good deal on getting it going on the road. Bob
Most of my on the road problems are fixed with a gas can! One of this days I will get a car with a working gas gauge! I catch a lot of flack from my brother over our trip to the Relix Riot last year. We just got back on the highway after making a stop when my cell phone rings. My wife was following in the 64' Dodge Dart wagon and she says "the car is sputtering but the gauge shows 1/8 of a tank. I started chewing her butt about paying attention to the gauges and then my 31' started sputtering. "I'll call you back" is all I got out before my car died and coasted to the side of the road. I had to call my brother who was leading our caravan; "Hey, the wife just ran out of gas! Can you run up to a station, grab a can, and get her some fuel?" He said "WTF, yeah I'll be back there in a minute!" I hated to say it but had to choice, "Since you're getting fuel how about bringing me some too, I'm out of gas also!" I never have lived it down and sometimes he still calls me "Petro Kid"!
Lots of us have been there.. cobbling something together from whatever can be scrounged from along the highway... of course in the rain or in the dark. Or cannibalizing something off the car that won't rendering it in-op. Bob
You don't carry a bag of spare bolts to fit every possible fitting on your car? You can just join them together with a length of the spare fuel pipe we all carry in our trunk. It'll smooth out the idle in multi-carbed motors too. You may have gathered I have no confidence in my vehicles, so carry enough spares to rebuild from the ground up. Or maybe I just like to be prepared.
Many of us carry a lot of extra parts and emergency supplies... until the day you clean out the trunk and the ONE item that goes back in the garage, that's the one you'll need when you are stuck. Bob
Thanks for all the well wishes guys. We made it to bowling green safely, had a great time, and now on the way home. Definately worth the trip, will be going back for years to come
I saw your truck in Bowling green and It looks good. Me and some of the guys I was with lusted over it.
I was going to the salt flats when I sprung a huge leak in the radiator of my motorhome/ AKA Grayhound bus. I found a radiator shop but no place to remove the radiator so I drove a few blocks into a very nice residential area and procedec to remove the radiator. I only took out one tool at a time so that it would not look like a major project and had a pan under the bus to collect any spilled fluid. I kept looking at the house that we were in front of and wondering when they were going to call the police. Then to my amazment, the woman came out with iced tea on a tray and offered it to us. It sure is nice that there are people out there like that.