It was 4:30 in the afternoon on Christmas Eve , 1973 , when it all happened. The thermometre gave a reading of 35 below zero Fahrenheit and my Mom , Dad and I were anxious to get home before the 5 o'oclock traffic rush . After shopping at Place Laurier for last - minute gifts we trudged our way .... arms laden with our spoils..... through the crowds to the parking lot exit where I had parked my old 1964 VW. Once the packages stored away under the front hood ........ motor's in the back !..... we took place inside , Mom in the back , Dad riding shotgun beside me and myself at the wheel. I turned the key in the ignition , hit the gas ... and heard a loud "SNAP " .....and the gas pedal went limp !! The steel wire linking the pedal to the armature on the carburator at the rear of the car was broken beond repair. The motor was working fine... running smoothly .....but we could neither go forwards nor backwards because I couldn't give it any gas.
After uttering a few choice ones I looked at Dad , reached behind my seat and dragged out a bottle of vintage Navy rum we had bought to warm heart and body during the Yuletide season..... we each took a short swig , stepped out of the car to assess the situation ....... and one half hour later we were back home , the car parked in its usual place . We had made it home without any towing , pushing .... nor helped by a downhill glide .....as we lived about three kilometres from the shopping centre....... all three of us on board.
How did we do it ? Wat would you have done ?
Took a pair of plyers and pulled the cable by hand - this was told to me by 1 Cuban/Canadian who was the proud but always cold in winter and hot in summer owner of 3 VW BUGS.
ReplyDeleteLOL this reminds me of the time the fuel dealie went out and the Ol' Man blew into a long hose to the gas tank with a rag wrapped round it. Pushed the gas to the carb. He got the vapors tho LOL
ReplyDeleteThanks for coming by , Skylark.... the old fellow was better off blowing into it than inhaling vapours from it !~!
ReplyDeleteThe wire comes enshrouded by a long metal clinder ... from the carburator in the back ... welded along the floor and ends about 6 inches from the accelerator up front. My steel wire broke off inside the cylinder and I didn't have pliars anyways.... had the end been sticking out of the cylinder then your idea would have worked !! Great thinking ! Viva Cuba .......y los mojitos tambien !!
ReplyDeletePull out the seat and have your dad work the thing? LOL
ReplyDeleteHis other suggestion - stand on the back bumper holding the engine cover open and pull the throttle assembly my hand - not legal to do that and you could have been fined but if the QPF had stopped you. OR put it in first gear, letting the clutch out ever so slowly and proceed at idling speed... you never mentioned just how far you lived from the shopping ctr.
ReplyDeleteOR - leprechauns transported you all back home while you nodded off in a drunken stupor!
"as we lived about three kilometres from the shopping centre....... all three of us on board."
ReplyDeleteYes, Barb... in 2nd last line.... I forgot to mention much traffic and many stopsigns and traffic lights!!
At idling speed with clutch fully out I would have inched my way home !!
Skylark... good idea to pull out back seat I presume and yank on what was left of wire...... quite a job on a cold day back then with two elderly folks in your company !
ReplyDeleteI suppose it would be just a guess cus we have had to do that for locked keys in the trunk in the nowheres. I eagerly await thy answer. I must tendeth the homefires. Have a good eve sir.
ReplyDeleteBingo , Barb !! Go straight to the head of the class! I sat my Dad at the wheel with his window rolled down while I hunkered down... both feet heel to toe on the back bumper ......with one hand up underneath the open engine cover hanging on tight. With my free hand I activated the gas armature all the way home . My Dad took care of the clutch , brakes and gearshift. We had no rouble with la Sûreté du Québec nor any other local police that day and the other drivers honked us along , two of them even helping us get home safely by running interference and tailgating at safe distances.
ReplyDeleteAs for the leprechauns , Barb.. well , a couple did come by , drank our rum.... then disappeaded !
ReplyDeleteGood show! Good Eve.
ReplyDeletePolecat says that the leprechauns screwed up his typing too... [disappeaded]
ReplyDeleteBrilliant idea - I am hopeless with such things. I would have left the car and probably called for a taxi. We once did a two hour journey in our VW in Switzerland from Montreux to Solothurn with no brakes. There we just hoped that we would survive (had 3 kids in the car as well).
ReplyDeleteI know nothing about cars, never took driver license or even tried to drive lol. We used to have a yellow vw when I were little so I did knew that the motor's in the back!
ReplyDeleteYou two Irishmen obviously must be from a different Clan, or whatever they're called in Ireland, than the one my DH is descended from. He married me, so that he'd have someone to "change the light bulbs"! Since he seems to have difficulties with anything *that* technical! (rofl)
ReplyDeletePersonally, I wouldn't know that much about cars either. Although I drove VW's for many years. My knowledge went about as far as "being able to jump start" the car while having it roll downhill! ;)
hugs...
Well at least it wasn't a Banshee. "Mercy me" as my nannie would say - them followed by, Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
ReplyDelete