Weekend of Clutches and CrashesAuthor: jawapro
Date: Mon 14/12/2009 11:09 AM
This post has unfortunately become a good news/bad news post. But first the good news.
On Saturday, my father decided to come through to Devonport to have a look at my Pajero with me. How awesome is that!
So we went up to Tim’s, where he and his Dad (Kerry) said we could borrow the hoist. How awesome is that!
Between Dad’s willingness to help, and Tim and Kerry’s assistance, how much more awesome can you get?
Eventually we were able to drop the gearbox out of the Padge. Not as easy as it sounds.
Took us all morning to get this far, just so we could get access to the Clutch. Inconvienient place to put it really. For those of you who are unmechanical, that photo is of a clutch (I only learnt what one looked like about a month ago).
The good news is that the clutch was stuffed. Yes, that’s good news. After spending all morning pulling the gearbox out, I'd have been very annoyed if the clutch had been fine.
Those triangle springs were all at different angles. This was due to a heap of mud and junk jammed up behind them. We were still knocking dirt out of it for ages.
And here was the problem. The Clutch attaches to the fly wheel (pictured). On the other side of the flywheel is... empty space! No wonder dirt and twigs and things were able to get in. We have a feeling that there is a guard missing from the other side, but we couldn’t quite work out where it would have attached.
We pulled the flywheel off, and Tim once again demonstrated his awesomness by making a guard plate and welding it into place. Should give me some protection next time I’m stupid enough to park in a puddle.
So we finally got the brand new clutch in place. According to Tim, the design of this one is better anyway, and would be more mud resistant.
And thus began the long process of putting it all back together again.
And guess what? I can change gears again!
Sadly the shorting out starter motor (which I replaced earlier) seems to have killed the battery as well, and there’s some extra noise from under the bonnet we haven’t identified yet. But it’s an improvement! With a jump start, it’s drivable again.
Thanks again to Dad for his help. We finished after 11 on Saturday - but it was a good day.
The bad news.
Sunday wasn’t quite so good. I got a phone call in the morning to say that my friend Alister had crashed his car on the Frankford Highway.
The Frankford Highway is the stretch of road between Devonport and Exeter, and it’s both awesome and treacherous. Most people in Devonport would prefer to go the long way via Launceston to skip the Frankford Hwy, but I prefer it.
Alister also prefers the twisty stuff, so went that way on his way back from Burnie. I think that's a decision he regrets now. It's partly my fault, as I've been talking up the Frankford to Alister and Turkey when they've been at my place.
Unfortunately this time the Frankford bit back, and bit hard.
Coming down graveyard hill (among the most difficult on the road), Alister started to lose traction, so he stood on the brakes. That’s exactly what I would have done in the same situation, but unfortunately the brakes locked up, and he had no control.
It still would have been ok if there hadn’t been another car coming the other direction. The mini clipped the other car, tore a wheel off, and ended up on it’s side. The other car suffered some damage to the bumper, and some water leaking.
Alister was ok, and within phone signal - both of which we are thankful for. Within a few minutes people were scrambling to his aid from all over the state. My parents were closest, and came through from Exeter. I came through from Devonport, his brother came from Burnie, and his Father and sister came up from Hobart. My parents picked him up, and took him to their place to recover.
Knowing how bad I felt after messing up the Padge, I feel extremely sympathetic for Alister. Not only does it suck financially, but when you damage a car you love, it’s pretty upsetting too. And the mini was an awesome car. Having to ring up your parents and tell them you've stacked your car has to be one of the harder things to do too.
We returned with a trailer, and retrieved the poor mini. From the front it looks fine, but it’s bent the chassis, so Alister isn’t sure what the plan from here will be. If nothing else, it can be spares for the other mini he was planing to restore.
It was such a gorgeous car too...
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