What are the freakin' odds? Thanks to a good Samaritan.

Despite not having any windows or heat in my car, the first three hours into my trip to the Pileup hadn't been too bad. Hell, I had even managed to regain feeling in my left hand, once I put on two pairs of gloves.

Then it happened. I hit the worst set of railroad tracks on the planet. Roads in the Amazon jungle don't look as bad as that damned crossing. Of course I didn't notice how bad it was until the last second. My first thought after I hit it was, "huh, I don't recall seeing a puddle there, I wonder where all the water came from?" The second thought was "F#%$!&&#&^!!!"

I guess the clearance between the water pump pulley and the radiator wasn't quite enough. Ooopsie. It was nice to see that my newly installed windsheild wiper was working nicely though.

There was a gas station about a mile back, so I figured I better try some Bar's Leak or something, but looking at the damage I was pretty sure I was screwed. Where the hell would you get a '65 Mustang radiator in the middle of nowhere on a Saturday? Might as well try something, even if it probably won't work.

So, as I was pouring in the Bar's Leak, a guy walks up to me and checks out the car. He says, "I've got a shop just down the road if that doesn't work. I have a body shop, but I used to repair radiators for a living." What are the odds of that? I only had one guy walk up to me the whole time I was there, and he just happened to be capable of fixing my radiator. Freaking weird.

After idling a bit, the Bar's Leak had actually sealed it up, so I was ready to get back on the road and hope for the best; I didn't want to be too late for the show. Matt says "Good luck, but I've got a feeling you'll be seeing me pretty soon." He gave me directions to his shop, just in case, and then I headed out. Sure enough, about two miles down the road my windsheild is covered in antifreeze again.

Dammit. The wiper's still working pretty good, so I had that going for me, I guess.

I ended up in front of his shop soon after, dripping antifreeze everywhere and making a huge mess in his drive. He actually moves a car out of the way and clears a spot for me in his shop and lets me pull my junk pile in there to work on it. "Don't make any sense for you to be out in the cold, does it?" Awesome. I got the radiator pulled out, and he did a great job of repairing it for me. When I throw it back in, he goes out back and pumps me out some new antifreeze and gives it to me. When I got it back together and fired it up, it didn't leak a drop.

How much did it cost? "Just happy to help out a fellow rodder." How often does that happen? I can't recall the last time a stranger was that generous and helpful to me.

I ended up getting to the Pileup around 1:30, but they had closed it already and wouldn't let me in. It kinda sucked to drive all that way and have all that trouble, only to be turned away, but in the end I still don't think it was a wasted trip. I made a new friend, and that made it worth it.

So, that's my really really long way of saying thanks to Matt. If you ever happen to be in Gibson City, IL give him a shout. His shop is called Smiley's and he does a little bit of everything; paint, upholstery, and mechanical stuff.

Hope no one minds my long post; it went on a bit longer than I intended, but I'm really thankful, and it's always nice to hear something positive every now and then.

 

The Spaklemobile, when it's not hemorrhaging fluids everywhere. Thanks Spike for the photo:

 

Awesome story. That's what this addiction is supposed to be all about. Thanks for sharing.

 

given that you drove 10 hours from here on friday the fact that you even attempted to go to the pileup is awesome..

PS.. glad the wiper works.

 

Nice!

 

Cool story ,there are still good people out there!

 

Nice story...Hot Rod people are fantastic!!

 

Thats what Im talkin about !!!

 

You cant beat that...I've been on the side of the road before looking for a good samaritan. Its nice when someone stops to help. Glad to hear you made a friend in the process.

 

Glad to hear it! Send the guy a Christmas card this year!

 

great story and it renews ones faith in humanity!

 

"Ask and ye shall receive". A passage from a book I truly believe in. Sometimes you just got to know there is someone watching over you. I loved your adventure. I had almost the same thing in the "Bad Lands" of South Dakota. 110 degrees, me, the wife and 2 kids and a broken motor home. Out of no where a guy from Maryland, where we also lived, who knew just how to fix the problem right there. Cool ride - Mike

 

You do understand that now it's your turn to help someone in need, don't you? Wouldn't it be great if EVERYONE was as cool as your new friend, Matt?

 

Sparklemobile...must be full of mud.

Did you get licked yet?

 

Great story. Nice ride

 

Awsome.

 

Kind of hard to believe in such "good luck"--whats the odds? Shit happens and bingo- a man shows up out of nowhere with a shop and agrees to help...right now- for free? better than the lotto. The world is hard...Matt helped make it a nicer place. A tip of the hardhat to you sir!

 

Good stuff.Thanks for posting the story....did you turn Matt on to the HAMB ?

 

I've always believed good things happen to good people. Great story.

 

good Karma

 

Hell send me his address I'll send him a Christmas card.

 

The fact that I drove 10 hours from Hershey to go to the Pileup the next morning just shows that I'm not very smart. I still can't move my neck very well after sleeping in your cold, unlevel camper, imagine how pleasant my drive in the T was.

 

johnny sparkle is cute as a button, who wouldn't stop and help him?

 

What he said!

CB

 

had a nice lady stop and give my wife and myself a lift some thirty miles IN HER CORVETTE on a record cold day in Virginia when i THINK it was 11degrees.... and my old Ford suffered a clogged fuel filter.......... she was an angel. wouldn't take any money, just apologized for the cramped seating.... so YEAH there's some nice folks out there. i try to be one of them when i can.

 

Car people for the most part are good people. I've said it before and I will say it again.

 

I think you need to post Matt's address and we need to send him a care package. Or pm it to me and I'll gather some stuff for him. That's awesome.

 

Man, if I lived by Smiley's, I would bring him some business. Guys like him deserve it and more.

 

Hell yeah! I'd be down for that. Good Samaritan's are few and far between these days!

Speaking of which, I wanted to publicly thank Johnny Sparkle AKA Inkorekt for bringing me a 41-48 Chevy back glass from Sawzall in PA.... Thanks to Sawzall for arranging that as well!

You're lucky that didn't break when you hit the rails..... I'd rather thank your ass than kick it!

 

Actually, my third thought was "Hope the glass didn't break." I may have actually checked the glass before turning on the wiper.