Your Most Embarrasing Street Moment.

[Frank Castros]

When I was senior in high school (1973) I had a '69 Camaro SS 350/300 and it was a pretty hot car among many in the parking lot at school and one day a pretty hot chick (among many) asked me for a ride home. Of course I said yes and we head out.
She digs the car, I'm banging gears, I have Zeppelin cranked, (I'm so cool!) and as I'm driving I realize I can no longer steer the freak'n car! Not so cool!
I manage to get to the side of the road, open the hood to see what the hell is wrong and find a breather has fallen out of the left M/T valve cover and is jammed between the steering shaft of the box and the Hooker headers. I remove the mangled breather and drive off thinking I'm still cool.
Wrong! We get to her house, she gets out of the car, slams the door and says see ya!
I guess she wasn't impressed with my trouble shooting skills!

[G Schenck]

I am not going to tell any of my stories, but I will copy one from the Comp forum that I thought was real good.

Greg

There are many seniors that read Comp Buzz and a lot of them still compete on the track. I am one of them but I am the only one (I think) that competes on a dragbike. I work with the Watson Boyz in D-4 and I am sure many of you know me.
The year was 1970; things were a little different then. Horsepower was growing faster than starter motors. Most motorcycles had kick-starters and those with electric starters were unable to handle any significant horsepower changes.
The “high class” tracks had powered roller starters. A devise built into the ground with 2 rollers about 8” apart, powered by a V-8 engine would start most vehicles. Most cars still had differentials, which would allow a single tire to be put on the rollers. My memory of whether the rollers were wide enough to accommodate posi is not clear, but I think so.
The “country” tracks had push to start, or in the case of motorcycles, you would hang onto the rearview mirror, be towed to about 30 MPH, let loose, pop the clutch and start the motor. A few racers built their own rollers that depended on a car or truck with a differential spinning the rollers. I just had to have my own rollers!
In the spring of 1970 I bought a magazine project bike that competed in the Daytona 200 road race. When it arrived, I just had to start it.
This really isn’t a drag strip story; it’s a home in the driveway story. I put my new 1969 Toyota Corolla wagon on the rollers with one wheel on the ground. Next the race bike, not yet a dragbike, on the other half of the rollers, and propped it up. Next I go around to the passenger side of the Toyota, climb in, start the motor and put it in second gear. Clutch out. rollers spinning exit the wagon and get on the bike.
The Toyota had a unique feature. It had a choke lever in the dashboard. By moving the lever I accelerate the motor and the rollers. Now I squeeze the clutch, put he bike in 2nd gear and let the clutch out. We used to call that “burping” the motor. The motor burped all right, but when it did, the horsepower of the motorcycle was greater than the horsepower of the Toyota. There goes my new Toyota through the back wall of the garage, collecting everything in its path.
Now that’s a funny story! I have to admit even a short time after it happened, and after suffering the expense. It was funny even then.
There’s a chapter 2 to this story but I’ll save that for another day.
Rich Gentili
__________________

[X-TECH MAN]

I remember Danny Lattimore (Olds racer) doing a wheel stand in his dads driveway a long time ago with his stick shift 455 powered SS/J Olds Cutlass coupe. Any way the front tires came down at the beginning of the garage floor and those skinny front tires slid on the slick concret floor of the garage and it slid right thru the back wall of his dads garage. I wonder if he will admit it if he reads this.....lol.

[Chuck Garey]

1975, I was working as a lube boy for the local Buick dealership. The wash boy brought around a 1970 GS Stage 1 4-speed a guy just traded in, I decided a little "test" drive was in order so after going down the street a bit to a connecting street that was nice and straight I revved her up and dumped the clutch-----"bang" "zing" I thought I blew the clutch until I looked out the back window and saw the driveshaft with the pinion still attached. Needless to say that was long walk back, made me fix the car then fired me.

[Paul Ceasrine]

Chuck,
Now that picture of the 'driveshaft and pinion together' would have been
a classic.

I borrowed my friends mothers Rambler American. With a promise that
I would put $5.00 of gas in it (1/2 a tank of gas).After using the car, I went to the gas station,
to fullfill my obligation. After putting in the gas, I pull-out and I try to act cool by doing a couple of power-brake burn-outs in front of the gas station employees. After rocking a couple of times, BAM! the front-end fell out, right in the road, tires jammed up within the fenderwells.
The gas station group nearly 'died of laughter'.
The station didn't have a tow truck, so we tried pushing the car into the station lot, but the tires jammed up further into the wheel wells. Everyone is laughing, finally we end pulling the car into the lot with a big Buick, by putting a chain around the rear axle. The car looked like an
Antelope getting dragged to death by a Lion.
2-days later I found out what 'trunion arms' were, and how much they cost to replace.
The same gas station did the repairs, and the owner said, 'Oh by the way, you bought that car a transmission too!.
Paul
Ramblers,,,,,,,,,

[rayfin]

A friend of mine wanted to get a picture of his Henry J gasser big block with the chute out so they blocked off the street and were standing in front of the houses with their cameras. He comes blowing down the street and the chute didn't open. Barely got stopped before the lumber yard.

[Bobby Zlatkin]

I'll tell one. Dates me and lets you know how much of a street squrrel I was.

Year, 1957 and I was living in Miami at the time. Car club I belonged to (Road Rebels) had a beer party one Friday night at Cranden Beach. Never any cops there so us under aged drinkers could have at it with no police fears. This was back when drinking & driving were socially acceptable.

After leaving the beach we decided to have some races on a nearby road leading to the sewage treatment plant. No one used that road at night. I had a '47 Chevy at the time with Fenton headers and an Offy manifold with 2 one barrel carbs. Was to run a guy with a '49 Chevy to see who had the fastest 6 cyl. in the club.

We lined up together, brought the revs up and I let go of the clutch when the flagman waved his shirt. The other car took off and mine just sat there. I felt something moving, my speedometer was showing 30-35 mph. I figured I was spinning the tires and as soon as it hooked up I would catch him. But, it never moved an inch. So, we pushed my car off the road and I caught a ride home.

The next day I got the local service station guy to go after my car with the wrecker. Lifted the front and started pulling me along. Shortly, thereafter, car pulled up along side and pointed back at my car. I looked back and saw smoke coming from one of the rear wheels.

It seems the wheel, with the axle attached, came all the way out until stopped by the fender well. No C-clip eliminator kits back then. The tire was wasted but didn't blow. We unhooked, lifted the car from the back and he got me home.

That was my first experience with changing an axle with that car. There were more to follow and I got to where I could change them on the spot. Didn't ever have to have it towed again for a broken axle although I had other problems. Like when I somehow got it stuck in two gears at once. Thought I could free it by reving it up and popping the clutch.
That broke the trans case, but that;'s another story.

Thank goodness 1) the fender kept the axle in and 2) the axle broke just past the spline. In fact. every axle I broke broke in exactly the same place.

[Tom Goldman]

In 1970, I had just taken the Hydro out of my '50 Olds and put in a T-10 with an Ansen bellhousing. [open on the bottom]...We went out to the local back roads 1/4 mile and picked on a '67 GTO . .....I had no idea where to launch it with the stick ,so I really left it fly! ........The Olds hooked up and immediately blew the ring gear off the flywheel,cutting up my floor and the GTO'S FRONT FENDER!!.............The GTO driver took it in stride and even towed me back to the local Sunoco we hung out at.........lucky I still got all my toes. .....Tom

[Randall Klein]

For some reason I did not have a hood latch on my '56 Nomad, but during construction, body work, etc I was driving around town (LS6-Muncie-Monte Carlo swivel bucket seats) for about a week, when stupid hit and I jumped on it....hood (with bird) straight up and over, bird digging into roof, corners of hood dug into fenders...... can't see, middle of town going about 30...painful to remember

[Paul Ceasrine]

Randall K,
Those birds were pretty heavy, if I do recall.
Duck,,,Goose!!