Best dead on the road saves, Getting home stories Options

[r_towle]

What are some of your best “getting it home” repairs?
Those side of the road breakdowns you will never forget?

I have a few…
One of the best was when a buddy and I were heading up north to ski country and the throttle cable broke on my vw beetle. I got out, sat sideways on the rear bumper and I was the accelerator while he drove us up off the highway to a gas station….then bike cable and some clamps, fixed.

914 broke the cable at the local autox , about 10-15 miles away.
I tied that sucker off at 3500 rpm’s with my shoelace and drove home
I was given some wide eyes at a few lights and stop signs….but it worked.

[flipb]

Three I've had in my current 914.

1. Like everyone else, I've had a throttle cable break. Fortunately I had a plethora of assorted zip-ties in the front trunk, and was able to put together an adequately snug linkage from the cable nut to the hex bar.

2. My shift rod came apart about a mile from my house. It was stuck in 4th gear and I didn't know enough yet to shift it from the trans console. I was at the bottom of a hill in a neighborhood. Several times, I pushed the car backwards up the hill as far as I could, pulled the handbrake, and then tried to build up enough speed to make it up the next hill in fourth gear. Much to the entertainment of some old guy sitting on his front porch. After a few attempts, I made it.

3. Another shifting woe: I tried to replace shift bushings at home, and had a bitch of a time getting the linkage back together. Destroyed a couple of cone screws trying. Eventually, I went back to the shift console (by then I'd figured out how) and stuck it into 2nd. That worked for a ~4 mile drive to my mechanic, sticking to neighborhood roads as much as possible.