Not-so-excellent adventures

[DaraSue]

That is a problem with this Low Profile car, I've been forced onto the shoulder a couple times over the years by people in taller vehicles that didn't see me in the Right lane. One was an RV and the other was a Semi.

Glad to hear no serious damage was found.

It was pretty ironic, getting home from a 5000-mile trip in one piece and then almost getting creamed 5 minutes from my own house. Maybe my next project should be daytime running lights...

Dash cam. Nuff said

After that experience, I'm definitely looking into it!

Only adventure Ive had was short... Had DMCNW do a make run on my car, driving it back I got 1 mile (roughly) and the left rear wheel fell off..and yep it was a heart stopping moment to hear a loud bang and feel the car tip unnaturally.

Man, out of all the problems I've had with my car at least the wheels have always stayed on. Although it would have been iffy if I'd tried to drive straight home instead of having mine checked out at MW after I bought it...

How about losing your steering at seventy miles
an hour, or having three lug nuts break off or blowing
your head gasket or the door popping open at speed
and the list goes on......

Wow, sounds like you're lucky to be around to tell the tale!

[Lwanmtr]

What caused the wheel to fall off? The lugs worked loose...to be sure since I hadnt done anything with the wheels, I didnt think about them..neither did Toby when the car was up there...luckily the only damage was some scratches on the rim cause I managed to stop before it did anything.

A Make run is is just getting the engine running...and correcting the PO's drug fueled random vacuum line routing. Also did a few other things.

Im looking forward to when I can have real adventures on the road....wait..lemme rephrase that...good adventures..hehe

[MML]

Went for a drive one Friday night, around 10pm. It was getting dark at this point.
Noticed the instrument lights getting slightly dimmer, and a strange smell coming from somewhere. I decided to turn around and head for home as quickly as possible. When I was around 2 miles from the house, the acrid plasticy smell got worse and worse, to the point it was stinging my nostrils.

I pulled off the main road into a backroad (a shorter, more direct route home) to assess the situation; I shut everything off, and opened the doors to get some fresh air.

I thought, "screw it, I'll make a run for it" and got back driving again. About 20 seconds later, I lost every single light in the car - interior, dash, headlights, the lot. I only had the high beams left, so I managed to use those to limp the rest of the way back, in total darkness, and get into the garage to find that the headlight switch had a meltdown. Obviously it melted in such a way that the high beam circuit was left intact while everything else was taken out.

It was incredibly fortunate I was so close to home!

switch.jpg

[MML]

Then there was the time when the car died in the middle of a dangerous twisty country road, in an area with no phone reception... on the way to its MOT! (compulsory annual car inspection)

Got trailered home, and it was later discovered that a badly bodged wiring job on the ignition coil fell apart... Thanks, DPO!

Oh, and I got penalised €20 for not showing up to the test...

[Lwanmtr]

Yeah, it seems undoing PO botches is an ongoing process...lol. I've found several nifty 'mods' that I had to roll back. When I get all the cosmetics done, I'll be having mine thoroughly inspected by Toby at DMCNW and have them get all the safety and reliability issues sorted at that time...including making sure the wheels are on tight..lol

[AugustneverEnds]

What caused the wheel to fall off? The lugs worked loose...to be sure since I hadnt done anything with the wheels, I didnt think about them..neither did Toby when the car was up there...luckily the only damage was some scratches on the rim cause I managed to stop before it did anything.

A Make run is is just getting the engine running...and correcting the PO's drug fueled random vacuum line routing. Also did a few other things.

Im looking forward to when I can have real adventures on the road....wait..lemme rephrase that...good adventures..hehe

Thankfully you didn't get hurt and your car was mostly unharmed.

Undoing someone else's stupid hack work is definitely the worst part of classic car ownership IMHO

[AugustneverEnds]

Went for a drive one Friday night, around 10pm. It was getting dark at this point.
Noticed the instrument lights getting slightly dimmer, and a strange smell coming from somewhere. I decided to turn around and head for home as quickly as possible. When I was around 2 miles from the house, the acrid plasticy smell got worse and worse, to the point it was stinging my nostrils.

I pulled off the main road into a backroad (a shorter, more direct route home) to assess the situation; I shut everything off, and opened the doors to get some fresh air.

I thought, "screw it, I'll make a run for it" and got back driving again. About 20 seconds later, I lost every single light in the car - interior, dash, headlights, the lot. I only had the high beams left, so I managed to use those to limp the rest of the way back, in total darkness, and get into the garage to find that the headlight switch had a meltdown. Obviously it melted in such a way that the high beam circuit was left intact while everything else was taken out.

It was incredibly fortunate I was so close to home!

switch.jpg

I had the switch start melting in 2012 as I was driving down a city street. The headlights would stay on if I kept the button pushed in, luckily I have an auto so I made it home intact.

I have heard a few details about MOT inspections in Ireland and the UK, that they are quite thorough, rigorous, and costly compared with most American states' inspections, but what an insult you were fined for missing it after your troubles!

[Lwanmtr]

Fined for missing the inspection..lol..did you ask them if it woulda been better for you to show up with smoke billowing outta the car and risking yours and other peoples safety?

[DaraSue]

Man, reading some of these responses makes me feel like the lucky one, heh...

[Spittybug]

>75 mph driving down a 5 line portion of highway 249 in Houston. All of a sudden the right lower ball joint snapped and the passenger wheel went wobbly without any steering. The car immediately pulled to the right but I had minimal steering control. I was lucky as hell that I had no one to my right at the time and was able to drift over to the shoulder and out of traffic. Hagerty insurance agreed that it was an outright part failure and covered the loss. Wheel damage, ball joint, lower control arm, alignment, towing, etc....

Scary as hell.