Saturday night was interesting. Got a call from a buddie that went like this "Jimmy Where are you? I need you, Now. My 34 Chevy started on fire! I need you and your trailer Now" Well that got my attention. I jumped in my truck, loaded up my trailer and gear, and was on my way. The whole way there I was thinking the worst. I had an OT mustang go up in flames and I know the feeling. A few years ago my Model A started of fire while doing some carb work, severe panic set in as it was in the garage. Well 40 minutes later I arrive to see my buddy and another friend sitting on the curb and a pristine car sitting there, all polished up and ready for a cruise, WHAT THE HELL. Now I am pissed, I dropped everything I was doing, drove 10 miles to grab the trailer and gear (worked up a hell of a sweat unloading the trailer and grabbing the gear), another 20 miles to him, at breakneck speeds to (luckily) find a car with no damage and him sitting there enjoying himself. Then he starts giving me a song and dance on how the car was on fire and he used a jacket to snuff out the flames. Police and fire company showed up, wanted to hose down the car, the normal stuff. He was getting on the interstate from a ramp, got on the throttle and broke a rod end on his triangulated 4 link. Rear shifted to pass side and the tires rubbed the fiberglass body. The heat liquified the resin and started the tire on fire. Luckily it smoked like the dickens and he pulled over and distinguished the flames. After letting it cool a bit, he backed down the ramp, igniting the tires again. Now the Police and Fire Co. shows up and want to hose down the car. He would not allow them to hose it down. smothered the flames again. He talked the police to stop traffic and slowly escort him to the nearest parking lot where I found him. After getting him loaded up and got him back home, he tells me that he just replaced all the rubber bushing with Poly bushings and while doing so he found one of the rod ends was egg shaped and he couldn't get the new bushing installed, so he had to beat the rod end back into shape end press in the new bushings. Guess which rod end came apart, you guessed, the one that was stretched. So moral of the story, inspect your suspension parts for defects and if you find anything out of spec replace it. Don't tempt fate, as it will come back and bite you in the ass. OH yeah, and have a good friend with a truck and trailer in your good friend network that answers his phone.
It's always good to have a buddy with a truck and trailer who will answer the phone. It's always bad when he tells the world what a stupid stunt you pulled. At least you didn't show photos of him and the car
He's lucky he got the tire fire out as that is normally not the case as rubber is very hard if not impossible to extinguish. I've been on the other side of needing a truck and trailer on the side of the road after an emergency. Good for you for being there for a friend.
The Jalopy Journal
