|
|
Posted by Dave Horvath [12.130.9.139] on Thursday, August 19, 2010 at 17:40:54 :
I got a call today form the dentist in Chicago that bought my 1950 PW three or four years ago. It was my first restoration. He said he keeps the truck in a climate controlled garage at his summer place in Wisconsin, but he got in it and couldn't start it without grinding the gears or stalling it. He said it felt like the clutch pedal wasn't working. Turns out its been a humid summer and the clutch disk was stuck to the flywheel.
He was on his cell phone. I asked him if he was in the garage facing forward or backward. He said "Backwards". I told him to put the truck in extra low 4WD. He did. I told him to start the truck and it would back out slowly on its own. He did. It did. I told him to point the truck at the biggest tree he could find and drive straight into it. He asked if he would hurt the truck. I assured him he wouldn't. He ran the truck into the tree twice. All the while his wife was looking out the window of the house and shaking her head in disbelief. I could hear the thud and the truck stall each time he hit the tree.
After two tries, he said it was still stuck. I told him to run the truck into the tree one more time, but to make sure he depressed the clutch pedal so the engine wouldn't stall. He did. Well third time's a charm. I heard him shout with joy as the clutch became unstuck from the flywheel.
I told him to get a can of satin black paint and touch up the bumper of the truck. He asked me how to avoid this problem in the future. I told him to get a board that was long enough to stick between the seat and the clutch pedal when fully depressed and use it in the summer. Or just drive the truck more often.
He called me back a few minutes later and told me how much he appreciated the phone consultation and how much he loved the truck. He said he has won several trophies at car shows. He said he has had numerous offers to buy the truck, but refuses all offers out of hand. He told me "I could have a convertible Ferrari full of topless girls and it wouldn't get as much attention as this truck". He said he will never sell it. If he does, I get first refusal.
Makes me feel pretty good. I was looking at a picture of that truck here in my office as he was ramming it into that tree 500 miles away. None of this would have been possible without this forum. Everything I know about auto mechanics, and now everything the new owner knows, is due to the collective knowledge of this community. That and eight years spent tearing the truck apart and building it back together one piece at a time. Pretty cool stuff.
Follow Ups: