Topic: Was On My Way To a Small Car Show, When.......................

[bill440cars]

         Yeah, I was on my way to a small car show in Fort Smith and wasn't going to enter the car, just drive up there and check out the cars in the show. I got a call on my cell phone. Well, between the fact that I can't hear as good as I used to AND the noise the GTX make with that exhaust system, I had to pull over and shut it down, to take the call. After I finished, as I was going to start it up, I noticed that the temp gauge was up a bit higher than usual. But, I figured that it would come down as I drove. But, it didn't and I also noticed the Volt gauge usually runs about 14 volts while cruising and it was sitting on 12. So, I pulled over, left the engine running and popped the hood. First thing I saw was the belt was loose and I looked to see why. It was at this point that I noticed that the long bolt the mounts the top of the alternator, was gone! The belt was till turning the water pump and alternator, but not very well. I closed the hood and carefully took the back roads back home. Got it home and the belt was still in place, although very loosely. Now, I didn't mess with the car til today. I went out there, popped the hood and found that the bolt had broken off. Now, only the Lord knows why that bolt didn't get into the fan and tear up the radiator. While I was out there, I did manage to use vise grips and get the piece of the broken bolt, out of the head. Then, I got to looking at the way that alternator was mounted and felt that there was a mount plate missing. It's been so long since I've had a big block Chrysler engine, that I had forgotten exactly how the alternator mounts. So , I went online and found that there was indeed a mount plate missing and THIS car had been on the road for about 3 yrs before I got it. So, I know of a place nearby that I can probably get the whole mess pretty reasonable. I just don't understand why some people think they can take shortcuts on things like that. I am planning on taking the car to Little Rock before long, to show my In-Laws (because it looks so much like the '69 roar runner that Brenda had) and what if Karla and I had been in the car and that would have happened? I realized right quick that I'd better go over this car REAL GOOD, before I attempt anything like that.

       I just thank God that it wasn't any worse.

[tramp]

sounds bad but you were lucky
get her fixed and on the road

[bill440cars]

sounds bad but you were lucky
get her fixed and on the road

  Oh YEAH, I was EXTREMELY Lucky. Had someone looking out for me, no doubt.

  Got a Great place nearby, to pickup what I need. I'm just gonna get the whole set of brackets and bolts, so I can start from scratch and mount the alternator like it SHOULD
have been already. Seems like I might ought to go over this baby with a "fine tooth comb!"  

[78 k550]

glad no real damage came from it.
Yes it could of been worse.
Had to rescue a very sweet cb750f from the ride today it almost made it through the complete ride.
Terry should be posting up some sweet pics.

Paul

[bill440cars]

glad no real damage came from it.
Yes it could of been worse.
Had to rescue a very sweet cb750f from the ride today it almost made it through the complete ride.
Terry should be posting up some sweet pics.

Paul

       Thanks Paul, yeah could have been looking for a radiator and spending some serious money.

       Looking forward to those pictures from Terry.

[azuredesign]

Glad it worked out OK Bill! I had a similar experience with a '72 fuel injected Volvo around '76 or so going to Rosyln on Long Island one night to see Stephan Grappelli at a joint called My Father's Place with some friends.

We're on the Cross Bronx passing the periodic stripped and sometimes burned hulks of vehicles that had broken down. As some may remember, this happened much more frequently during that time than it does now, and the Bronx was not the nicest place in the world for that to happen. I was making good time when we heard a pop and the lights dimmed down considerably and the car started coughing and lost power. The alternator was mounted by a pivot bolt into the block and to an upper adjustable bracket, however the pivot bolt had busted. I was able to secure the base of the alternator poorly with some junk I had in the trunk and we made it to the set only using head or taillights when there was other traffic as the alternator light stayed on even though the car ran OK. Nobody stopped us, and after the show we ended up staying with some friends in Levittown, bringing the car back there in the morning. I can't remember why exactly, perhaps because it was a Sunday but I could not get the same size bolt to replace the busted one, and had to drill and tap into the block blindly to set the new one. My brother had that car after I did and I think it went over 200k with that bolt still in there.

[Sam Green Racing]

Perhaps this is the start of your luck changing Billy.

Sam.

[bill440cars]

Glad it worked out OK Bill! I had a similar experience with a '72 fuel injected Volvo around '76 or so going to Rosyln on Long Island one night to see Stephan Grappelli at a joint called My Father's Place with some friends.

We're on the Cross Bronx passing the periodic stripped and sometimes burned hulks of vehicles that had broken down. As some may remember, this happened much more frequently during that time than it does now, and the Bronx was not the nicest place in the world for that to happen. I was making good time when we heard a pop and the lights dimmed down considerably and the car started coughing and lost power. The alternator was mounted by a pivot bolt into the block and to an upper adjustable bracket, however the pivot bolt had busted. I was able to secure the base of the alternator poorly with some junk I had in the trunk and we made it to the set only using head or taillights when there was other traffic as the alternator light stayed on even though the car ran OK. Nobody stopped us, and after the show we ended up staying with some friends in Levittown, bringing the car back there in the morning. I can't remember why exactly, perhaps because it was a Sunday but I could not get the same size bolt to replace the busted one, and had to drill and tap into the block blindly to set the new one. My brother had that car after I did and I think it went over 200k with that bolt still in there.

  Whoa! That's quite a story behind YOUR experience! Glad YOURS turned out okay too!  

[bill440cars]

Perhaps this is the start of your luck changing Billy.

Sam.

       Maybe it IS Sam, sure could have been worse, that's for sure. I'm getting hold of a fellow today, to see about getting a full set of brackets and bolts and do it up right.

      I'm really enjoying the Charger R/T that I traded the minivan in on and so the GTX will get a break.