Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Rick]

Morning all,

Following on from Vulgalour's newly-posted video of his "failure to proceed" moment in his Austin Princess (https://youtu.be/mbJAefgntN8), are there times when others here have had to call on members of the public for help of some kind, while out and about in your elderly motor-vehicle?

RJ
_________________
Rick - Admin
Home:https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk
Videos:https://www.youtube.com/user/oldclassiccarRJ/videos
OCC & classic car merchandise (Austin, Ford ++):
https://www.redbubble.com/people/OldClassicCar/shop

[peter scott]

I didn't get any assistance but Vulgalour's failure when approaching a roundabout just reminded me of one I had. Vehicles were on the roundabout so I needed to slow down. Unfortunately applying the brake pedal was nothing like as effective as it should have been and there was a horrible gronshing noise and the near side front wheel spinner fell off.

The splines had gone on that hub and when this happens the rotation under braking unwinds the spinner.

I knocked it back on as tightly as I could but on the way home every time I needed to apply the brakes I had to get out and hammer the spinner tight again. You might wonder why I didn't just use the handbrake so that I avoided braking on the front wheels but in the SS the handbrake also operates on all four wheels.

Peter
_________________
http://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[Rootes75]

My brother-in-law had a very troublesome Land Rover and I recall a couple of years back him breaking down multiple times along a stretch between Glastonbury and Street. He called us for some help and then called us again a few minutes later to tell us that a kindly chap with another Land Rover had spotted him in trouble and pulled over, he had then towed him home!
_________________
Various Rootes Vehicles.

[norustplease]

Last summer I had a fuel pump failure at the bottom of a very steep hill and ended up stuck in a not very safe place on a bend.
A passer by in a customised van stopped and helped me push back round the corner onto a safer location on a grass verge.
_________________
1953 Citroen Traction
1964 Volvo PV544
1957 Austin A55 Mk 1
Boring Tucson SUV

[Rick]

I've mentioned it before, but some years ago the rear wheel on my Somerset parted company with the drum, wedging itself under the rear wing which resulted in digging a long trench into a newly-tarmac'd section of road near Northwich as the rear corner of the car dropped down.

People walking nearby came over and helped me look for the wheelnuts which had parted company with the car (the threads it turned out were quite poor). A retired gent who lived close to the action, on spotting the stricken A40 stuck in the middle of the road, walked over and kindly offered me the wheelnuts from his wife's Metro. As it happens, we found all the originals so didn't need them, but it was a kind offer nevertheless.

RJ
_________________
Rick - Admin
Home:https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk
Videos:https://www.youtube.com/user/oldclassiccarRJ/videos
OCC & classic car merchandise (Austin, Ford ++):
https://www.redbubble.com/people/OldClassicCar/shop

[lowdrag]

I guess the question is also "do you carry enough spares for most breakdowns?" I have a spare fuel pump, a set of carb and pump gaskets, fuses, bulbs, fan belt, contacts, oil pressure sender and other bits and pieces I can't think of for the moment. Oh, and a wire coat hanger! When the exhaust bracket broke it came in mightily handy. It is more often that I have the part someone else needs than that I need it, the last time being during the Le Mans Classic when I fished out a spare fuel pump for an E-type. But to answer the question, yes, when I had a puncture a couple of years back and someone offered to help change the wheel.

[mikeC]

Forty years ago the radiator on my Austin Seven split asunder whilst travelling up the Fosse Way late one evening. I had got just north of Moreton in the Marsh when it finally died. I was dismantling the radiator and wondering what I was going to do next when a motorist stopped to see if he could help; the outcome was that he gave me a lift home to Chesterfield (about 100 miles), waited around for half an hour whilst I found a suitable replacement, and then returned me to Moreton. He had only popped out for five minutes to get some groceries!
_________________
in the garage: 1938 Talbot Ten Airline
Recently departed: 1953 Lancia Appia, 1931 Austin Seven, 1967 Singer Chamois, 1914 Saxon, 1930 Morris Cowley, 1936 BSA Scout, 1958 Lancia Appia coupe, 1922 Star 11.9 ... the list goes on!

[Rick]

Talking of radiators reminds me of a related mishap with little Dodge. This has been recounted before, but briefly, one of the fan blades parted company with the rest and spat itself through the radiator about 5 miles from home, with predictable results. Handily, a lady in a nearby house responded to yours truly knocking on the door, offered a parking space in their private road, and let me use her phone to ring OCC HQ and arrange a lift back home to collect my A frame.

RJ
_________________
Rick - Admin
Home:https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk
Videos:https://www.youtube.com/user/oldclassiccarRJ/videos
OCC & classic car merchandise (Austin, Ford ++):
https://www.redbubble.com/people/OldClassicCar/shop

[MikeEdwards]

I once had a steering coupling break on me - fortunately while I was trying to get into a parking space in a pub car park, not when I was doing about 60mph along the A-road just before. Probably due to the increased load at slow speed.

A kind fellow pub-goer gave me and my mate a lift home, and the pub landlord was happy for me to not only leave the car there overnight, but also to faff about all Friday afternoon learning how to replace the steering joint.

[Keith D]

When we first arrived in Melbourne back in the sixties, I was a young man and there were a lot of things I didn't understand about Oz. One of these things was a "fire access road".

Seeing this as a short cut to a main road further down the side of a mountain in the Dandenongs, I slithered down it in our 1950 Austin A40 sedan. Not a good idea! It was late afternoon on a winters day. I had only gone about 50 metres before I realised that I had made a drastic mistake. The car ended up bogged at right angles across the muddy track. My pregnant wife and I made our way carefully back up the hill on foot and met an elderly gentleman walking his dog, who refused to believe that anybody could be as stupid as to try and drive an old 2 wheel drive car with skinny tyres along a fire access road.

To cut a long story short, this amused man took my wife into his warm house where she was fed multiple cups of tea by his wife, then contacted his neighbour who brought the trusty Fergie out of his barn and between the three of us managed (finally) to drag one very bedraggled A40 back onto the bitumen. The three of us, the car and the tractor were all covered with slimy mud. I was very grateful and have never made that mistake since! We sent a huge bunch of flowers to his wife as a thank-you the next day!

Keith
_________________
1926 Chrysler 60 tourer
1932 Austin Seven RN long wheelbase box sedan
1950 Austin A40 tourer
1999 BMW Z3
Its weird being the same age as old people.
You are either part of the problem or part of the solution

[Ray White]

I remember whilst on holiday my wife and I were driving through Dunster in the Lancia Beta when the near side CV joint decided it was a good time to part company from the car and scatter bits all over the place. As it happened a local Farmer was passing on his tractor. Despite being a giant of a man with a fearsome appearance he turned out to be kindness itself and towed us to the local garage; refusing to take anything for his time.

As the parts had to come from Italy we were forced to stay away from work for another week!

[Brent29]

[Ashley]

Countless times over the years when I’ve been in trouble people have helped me. I think most are extremely kind and decent, we all have foibles, but few are anything but well intentioned. One of the great joys of life is just meeting others and making new friends.

The other day in a remote part of Gloucestershire the lady driving us spotted a riderless horse, she stopped the car and caught it. It’s reins were tangled round its front legs and it was panicky, but she calmed it and while we were deciding what to do next, a car appeared with a hysterical rider in it. Another stranger had found her disoriented and on the side of the road. The driver left so that we had a bleeding horse, battered rider with a broken phone and a poor signal. Help was needed.

I managed to get the stables and a horsey person agreed to bring the rider’s battered Nissan horse box to collect them.

It took about half an hour and they appeared. A very plump lady had to climb over the transmission tunnel to get out because the drivers door didn’t open. Undaunted she made straight for the horse and bandaged it, instructed us to assist with loading and the pair made off. No apparent concern for rider.

We heard later that everyone was fine.

A large, rattling, Sprinter in a narrow lane hadn’t slowed and it spooked the horse, which then bolted through a hedge with a wall in it dragging the rider with it. It was a miracle no one was badly hurt.