Crazy things my Dad has done to cars.

[PKRWUD]

Originally posted by The Fireman
One thing he did was back in the 60's, before I was born, on a 63 Galaxy 500 fastback with a 390 in it. He said the carburetor wasn't opening up all the way so instead of taking it somewhere to have it worked on he drilled a hole in the dash, and tied some fishing line onto the linkage with a piece of wood on the other end inside of the car. Whenever he wanted the carb to open up, he'd just yank on the fishing line.

LOL! Not long after I bought my '69 Chevelle SS, I was at a friends house, maybe 10 miles from home. As I was leaving to head home, about a mile away, I hit the gas pedal, and the throttle stuck open. Scared the crap out of me! I had my foot firmly on the brake, and the back tires were smoking! I finally thought to shut it off (duh!). Anyway, what had happened was the throttle cable had frayed, and was getting stuck inside the sheath. I tried peeling away the sheath, only to discover the cable was down to it's last strand, which broke the first time I tried it. I went to the toolbox in the trunk to see what I could come up with, and all I had was some fishing line and a few sockets. I ended up running the fishing line around the throttle lever on the carb, then through the hole in the firewall where the cable had gone, and up to where I could hold it comfortably. At my end, I ran it through a spark plug socket (kinda like the end of the rope that a water skiier holds on to). I then proceeded to drive it home, using my right hand for the throttle. This was much more difficult than it sounds because I wasn't bright enough to remove the throttle return spring, which made the whole thing very "jumpy". I must have looked like someone driving a stick shift for the first time! The worst part was where I was: in the San Fernando Valley. I was in Studio City, and had to make it to Van Nuys, and the traffic was thick. I made it, but it was definately an adventure!

Man. I had forgotten all about that until I read about your Dad. Go figure.



Take care,
~Chris