New Thread: What's Your Best Story Of Breaking Down Or Hitch-hiking Stories???

Not a Mopar breakdown, but still a good story,
I had worked in Long Beach, Ca for MDC, and got laid off, moving back to Wa. Sold my Lebaron.

Moved home, needed a car. My wifes, boss's grandma had a 79 Ford LTD she was selling for $800, I thought yeah what ever, at least it has a 302 in it.

I lived in Everett then, and the car was in Spokane, no biggie, my dad flies, so he said he would take me to get it.

So, we fly to Spokane saturday morning, they meet us at the airport. Typical Ford Rust Red Ford, 4 dr LTD. I drove it around a bit and paid them.

My dad takes off, and I get in it to leave, car stalls, try starting again, and gas is spewing from the carb. Great, stuck needle, I didnt bring tools and they dont have any either.

NO Problem, "you can spend the night" we will take the car to the shop in the morning. Great.

So, tow truck takes the car to the shop, gets fixed. So I am ready to go again.

Heading to the freeway i stop at a light, and smoke starts coming from under the hood, OH, OH, pop the hood, the air conditioning compressor pully is seized and the belt is spinning on the pully. Great.

Oh, but look in the gutter, there is a knife laying there, YAY. So, i cut the belt. i am off again.

All was going good till I get to Moses Lake, which as all of you Washingtonians know, is the armpit of washington. This is August and its 90 degrees.

The engine light comes on, Great. I had passes a gas station a few miles back so i turn around, just as i get there the engine seizes from heat, Great.

I let it cool down for a hr, then try to put water in it, start it up and the Water pump is leaking, Great. I leave the Rad cap loose for the rest of the drive home. Fill up the rad at the top of Snoqualmie pass again, finally make it home.

Valve cover gaskets are now leaking like a sieve from the engine heat, change them, and the water pump, then the heater core goes out the next week. Great. So I just bypass that, i drive without a heater for a year, because all of us know on those yr Fords, the heater core must be the first thing they put in the car.

That winter, on a cold night, the water in the block froze, because i naturally ddint put antifreeze in this Ford that i didnt care for any longer. Started the car, the water pump was frozen, loosened the belt, let the car warm up, no leaks, drove it for 6 more months.

You just couldnt kill that Ford, it leaked oil like a sieve, probalby from the engine getting so hot, but the final straw was, since i had bypassed the heater core, i had no defrost etc.

It was a cold morning, and i had driven through someones exahust vapor, and it had frozen on the windshield. I traded it in on a 76 Plymouth the next day.