July 19, 2009

Truck Troubles

I was very proud of the assembly that held the clutch cable in in the Pickup of Peril. It consisted of several wood blocks bound by plastic twisty ties. This was due to the fact that....well, it's an '84 Isuzu diesel PUP ....which was banned by an act of Congress...and they just don't MAKE a lot of the parts for those anymore.

Alas, there is a reason that Isuzu uses a different method of fastening clutch cables in their production vehicles.
The whole thing fell apart...
...in the Downtown Tunnel
...as I shifted.

Fortunately, I was able to finesse the thing into gear by precisely choosing the correct speed to shift. My cunning plan worked for 30 miles, until, just short of the auto shop, I encountered a stoplight. Hilarity, profanity and much perspiration ensued.

To top off the day, while transferring the contents of the vehicle, I dropped my watermelon, which exploded most spectacularly.

 So I'm now alternating between pedestrianism and driving the big 12mpg van my folks never use...'cause...well...it gets12mpg....This state of affairs wil persist untill the old truck can be repaired....enough for me to insert the non standard bits. There is welding involved, in part because the auto shop expressed considerable disapproval at the unique ability the driver of my truck has to view the road directly below said truck from inside the cab. This will probably be a week.

Yes the pickup of peril is perilous, un-airconditioned and has, shall we say, "unconventional fastenings" in places...

.... but it is paid for and it gets 44mpg.

So neener neener neener!

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 02:45 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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1 Virginia doesn't have vehicle inspections? Something like that would never be relicensed out here.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at Sun Jul 19 16:32:56 2009 (+rSRq)

2 Actually we do, and they can be onerous in some ways and in others not so much. The jury rigged clutch is not an inspection issue as it is not safety or emissions related. There is now a hole in the firewall and a gap between the stick shift and the floor that you can see through, the former is a bigger problem than the latter ( which is a truly minor point...it can be fiberglassed).

On the other hand, expect to get new windshield wipers every year.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Sun Jul 19 20:30:24 2009 (Vn+9Y)

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