"DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully" (danceswithrotors)
05/02/2014 at 00:35 • Filed to: Broken Fiat...
2
0|
"DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully" (danceswithrotors)
05/02/2014 at 00:35 • Filed to: Broken Fiat... | 2
| 0 |
I've been sick this week, so since I was feeling okay for the first time this week, I decided to take the Spider out. This, in and of itself, is normally okay, and it went pretty uneventfully until I felt a vibration and then a BIG bang... Big enough to knock the shift lever and its surrounding wood trim out, and into the passenger footwell.
Fortunately, there was a wide gravel area about 75 feet ahead, so I coasted her into it, crawled under the car and found this...
Goddamn it. Fuck. It looks like the center U-joint went, taking the support bearing, support bearing mount and the guibo with it. It also broke the rear part of the transmission case, shattered the shifter and I was picking pieces out of the road for a few minutes.
So, I called AAA, got a truck on the way and pushed the car into a better position for the flatbed to get her. Then, I took a selfie, because how better to disrespect the hospital-bound than with a selfie next to them!
So, AAA sent out A&J Towing, and I've got to give their guy props, he had experience, mad props for getting an old Italian car up onto a truck without issue, and he towed it the 164 miles to my friend Bob's. (AAA Premier is worth it. The first BIG tow you use pays for itself.) Also, going to give them a shout-out, if you need something pulled around Nashville, call them.
So, got her up on the flatbed and off we went.
No more pics after this, but it was an uneventful trip, after he ran me over to get my Mazda from the Chateau D'saster, before continuing on to Savannah. Plan: 131 gearbox, new driveshaft, profit.
Alternative plan: working 124 gearbox, new driveshaft, profit.
Not going to happen: Giving up. I've come too far to give in, now.