July 5, 2005

Car Issues....

I'm the "proud" owner of a 1966 VW Beetle. Actually I like my car and am glad to finally own something I can actually fix by myself. Of course there is always something that needs to be fixed.

Currently my car in up on blocks in the garage. About a week and a half ago my car wasn't feeling right. I was having problems shifting and I knew something was up. As big of a pessimist I am in real life, I can sure be an optimist when it comes to my car. I figured I had until my free weekend, but I was proven wrong when the car make a loud sound, lurched forward and died. My clutch pedal had dropped to the floor and wasn't going anywhere.

I had dinner in the car and company coming over soon. I called my guests and told them to come help me push the car into a vacant lot. A couple of stangers helped me just before my friends showed up. The came and went before I could even thank them properly. After our game night, they (my friends) took me back to the car and I was able to start it with it already in first gear. That is hard on the battery...anyway we limped it home and I looked into it the next morning. It seemed like maybe the clutch cable snapped. Normally a relatively quick procedure costing about $10 in parts, of course my model car is a little bit more involved. Instead of just having to undo an eye hook and bolt, I have to remove the whole pedal cluster. Oh well....

Problem is that the cable didn't snap. Ok....well it could be a couple of things, all of which involve removing the engine. It's not a hard procedure, but getting the car jacked up enough in a home garage is a bit of a challenge. Right now I have it almost two feet up...still have at least another foot to go. Unfortunately I've been procrastinating as is my way.....

I was worried that the parts would be too much, but an entire new clutch set me back less than $90.

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