Thanks, Mark! Good to meet you, too. IF you're ever up Albany way, stop in!
jc
>John:
>
>Great story, glad you got home safely. Makes me wanna go RIGHT OUT
>and get stainless brake lines though.... Young son should be
>commended on such calm obedience. Driver is to be commended on calm
>thinking and what sounds like very deft tranny manipulation (only in
>a push-button!).
>
>MANY THANKS for bringing your "barbie-skin-pink" '61. Enjoyed seeing
>it immensely. And THANKS also for taking photos.
>
>Happy Imperialing.
>--
>
>On Sun, 14 Jul 2002 23:58:14
> John Corey wrote:
>>Well, fellow Imperialists, We did it!
>>
>>The IML had a great turnout of about 15 lovely cars. There was lots
>>of foot traffic and interest. We had represented years from the
>>early 50s through the 70's (hey, don't press for details, I'm just a
>>61 guy). The weather was perfect and the Imperial tent was ideally
>>situated to catch the breeze, so it was both shady and cool there.
>>
>>Young Son (Ethan, 11) and I took Pinkie (the Parts Car NOT) in for a
>>full once over & State inspection mid week, filled it with a full
>>travel kit (1 gallon each of all fluids, fire extinguisher, towels
>>paper and terry, muffler patch, some coathangers, FSM, and a good
>>tool set) and set out Thursday afternoon. We had a trunk lid in the
>>trunk (yes it goes IN the trunk if turned sideways) to trade with
>>Kerry P, some other bits to swap, some 1961 ads and literature, plus
>>a cooler of drinks and several boxes of cookies.
>>
>>It's almost 300 miles from home to Carlisle, twice as far as we'd
>>ever taken her before -so we expected a little adventure, and we got
>>it! Any of you who have ever travelled central PA know that there
>>are small towns, identified mostly by the signs (not actual sightings
>>of human habitation), very occasional truckstops, lots of hills, and
>>nothing else but trees, unless you count the perpetual highway
>>construction projects around Scranton (going on twenty five years
>>now, with no visible improvement and few changes!).
>>
>>Anyway, about 8 PM, almost 4 hours into the ride (at a pleasing if
>>not entirely legal rate of progress) and just past said Scranton
>>pylons and lane chicanes, the brakes failed. Completely. I thought
>>maybe a cylinder had let go or that the master had gone under, as
>>they seemed to get a little capacity if pumped. What to do? 5000+
>>pounds of Imperial with no brakes. Nowhere in sight to do work (it's
>>REALLY dark in Central PA). Well, what would you do? We just slowed
>>down and motored the last 50 miles or so at 45 mph. Hey, traffic was
> >real light and the low speed left us lots of front room. Our motel
> >was known to be just off the exit ramp, so if we could reach and stop
> >there, we could fill up the master in the morning, right?
>>
>>We did make it to the motel (an overpriced favorite of Class 8
>>truckers, called the Appalachian Motor Inn). Using the lower gears
>>and lots of advance planning to slow down as needed, with a final
>>punch to reverse and a stomp to the parking brake for the two
>>unavoidably required full stops (exit ramp and parking lot). Whew!
>>Young son, ever faithful, sat quietly as requested throughout, so Dad
>>could REALLLY concentrate on this task.
>>
>>In the AM, we checked the master cylinder. Yep, down to the sludge,
>>and fluid OVER the rubber air boot, too. Hmmm... We topped it off
>>and I got in to check the pedal for sponginess from air. The first
>>press felt good. Great! Minimal air. But as I held it, it suddenly
>>went down with a hiss audible under the car (door was open). Sure
>>enough. A puddle of fluid there revealed the line to the rear had
>>ruptured. Well, we DIDN'T bring brakelines with us (note to future:
>>a little solvent cleaner, 5-minute epoxy, SS foil and tie-off wire,
>>we could have patched this one - and DON'T forget the flashlight).
>>Back to the room to call for help. Lucky us! Just two miles down
>>the motel road (Harrisburg Pike, US route 11) was Eddies Auto Repair
> >and they could do emergency surgery. SO...
>>
>>With the left turn signal on and my left foot tapping the otherwise
>>useless brake pedal to simulate emergency flashers, one hand on the
>>wheel and the other playing a tune on the tranny pushbuttons, we
>>SLOWWWWLLLLLLLYYYY motored down the shoulder to Eddie's for a fix. I
>>only had to punch the reverse button once, where the shoulder was
>>crossed by the exit ramp for the Penn Turnpike, and a big truck (even
>>larger than the Imperial) insisted on his rights. OK, It stalled the
>>car, but it kept it straight.
>>
>>We spent about 2 1/2 hours at Eddie's, with a gas-station quick-mart
>>breakfast from across the street, watching mind-sucking daytime TV
>>(Eddie doesn't like a gallery when he works, so I didn't try detail
>>suggestions or assistance beyond the front counter explanations). By
>>noon, we had wheels on the ground again, with new line from splitter
>>to rear axle, all bled and stopping true. We are duly warned that
>>there's rust on those other lines, too. Less than $250 on our
>>Plastic (brakes that work: priceless!) and we're off to the
>>fairgrounds!
>>
>>Arriving for lunch we got the last slot of the lineup of
>>Eagle-crested Chrysler's Finests. We met old new friends never known
>>but by email. We toured the whole show. We found we had lost a
>>hubcap center eagle on the way, but replaced it with a reasonably
>>clean, matching hubcap for $20. We got a 'road sign' reading
>>"IMPERIAL DRIVE" for the barn road at home. We got two good photo
>>books for $30 total (Imperial Photo Archive 55-63 and 64-68). We
>>ate the usual fair food. About 6 that night, young son, ever patient
>>stated a strong desire to go to the drags so we motored on over,
>>leaving most of our Imperial pals basking in the cooler evening air.
>>That night we traded trunklids with Kerry P. in the motel lot. No
>>one could have confused that handoff for a drug deal!
>>
>>Saturday was more fun. We arrived a few hours earlier than Friday.
>>We met a couple more new friends, including a walk-in (and fellow
>>Licensed Engineer) who owns a beautiful Coronado Cream 1961
>>Convertible and lives just 10 miles from Carlisle! He'll be in the
>>lineup WITH car next year! I proudly bought an IML T-shirt and Young
>>Son found a vendor with a custom car model worthy of his allowance
>>(and retreated to the back seat of Pinkie to plan his project). I
>>found a vendor who will make us a whole set of new stainless brake
>>lines in exchange for sending him the originals as patterns (61
>>Imperials being not yet in his repertoire!). Toured the PT Cruiser
>>field with Young Son, picking up ideas for GoodWife's Cranberry
>>Flamed Chariot. Signed her up for that owners' club.
>>
>>We had to leave early, about 4 PM, to get young son home for scout
>>camp departure on Sunday morn. Bye to those that could be found and
>>off we went. At the filling station, top off the tank (we got 15 +
>>mpg - not too bad for 75-80 mph in hilly country - though it did
>>include that stretch of 45 mph, too). We also added a quart of ATF
>>and a bit of 10W-40. Did that ATF go out with the R-punch stops, I
>>wonder???
>>
>>About an hour down the road it got exciting again (what is it about
>>the Scranton area? Is it my personal Bermuda Triangle?). We were
>>just cresting one of those looong PA hills and I reached to adjust
>>the compartment airflow. Suddenly, the power just silently fades
>>away. I didn't lift right away, because the downgrade kept us
>>rolling with only a mild loss-of-push sensation. Very weird. Gauges
>>read OK, but (push, push on the throttle) no response. Shift to
>>neutral. Turn key off, then on again. KAPOW! I thought the
>>driveshaft had come free and whacked the floorboards, and I was sure
>>I saw the hood jump! Key off and glide to shoulder to check for
>>survivors. Quick visual under rockers showed no obvious parts
>>hanging off. Electrical power still present (lights work). Brakes
>>work. Hmmmm... Let's turn it back on, must've just been a backfire.
>>She fires up on the key as always, but.... RUMPA RUMPA RUMPA. Did we
>>forget to bring mufflers? It sounds like the MOPARS at the drags the
> >night before! Another look under , from the rear, tells the story.
>>The left muffler has had its entire rear plate blown wide open, and
>>the right muffler has been inflated from a flat oval to a round in
>>its middle (the ends held). That was SOME backfire! More like a
>>pipe bomb!
>>
>>Well in retrospect, I see how I did it. When I reached for the air
>>controls, I must have bumped the ingition (note for future, replace
>>hgih-leverage rigid key ring with limp chain). That accidentally
>>switched off the engine at speed, then left the key in the 'ON'
>>position (so gauges still read normal at first). The torque
>>convertor back-drove the engine while I, in my confusion, fed it gas
>>that went through unburned. When the live stuff came through after
>>the restart, there was already an explosive mixture in the mufflers
>>(or maybe just the left one). That was the bang we heard.
>>
>>Young son likes the new sound, thinks it's more 'powerful'. Well.
>>Maybe. At least at road speeds it isn't too annoying to the old man,
>>just a little embarrassing. With the compartment fan on high to keep
>>any nasty gasses out, we set off again, stopping only as needed for
>>soda recycling and a refuel. Home by 9 PM with only about 6 pounds
>>of new leading-edge protein scraps to clean from the grille (Ah, that
>>special pleasure of Summer motoring).
>>
>>We'd do it all again in a minute! A wonderful time had by all and
>>(more or less) none the worse for wear. Now, who sells mufflers for
>>this old girl....?
>>
>>from safe at home, for now,
>>
>>j (&e) 'imperial adventurers' corey
>>--
>>John A. Corey
>>CFIC, Inc.
>>302 Tenth St.
>>Troy, NY 12180 USA
>>518-272-3565
>>fax 272-3582
>>jcorey@xxxxxxxxxxx
>>
>>
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