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Anyone beside me have to drive hundreds of miles to rescue a DOA car?
When I was in college, I had a 74 Vega wagon (it was appropriately named the great pumpkin as it was an orange station wagon) - just before school started (some 220 miles away) I traveled to the school to do some paperwork. Car ran awesome, tail-wind in the Columbia River gorge and I drove 80mph or faster all the way there. Got to the school, did what I needed to do, then was going to drive to my aunts house a couple blocks away. Started the car up, and a death rattle occurred.... drove the couple blocks, draining the necessary fluids out of the window of the block... seized up solid after that. So now I and a friend are stuck 220 miles away with no car. I did what all good college students do when confronted with unsurmountable problems - I called dad. He drove, and picked up me.... we get home, and over the course of 2 weeks get and assemble a new 4 cyl. motor for the car. Never fire it, then drive up to rescue the car out of my aunt's driveway. We install the motor, fire it up, it's death rattling!!! oh good grief. For the life of me I have no idea what was rattling.... anyway, so we have a decision to make - leave the car there (aunt making noises about wrecking yards, depreciation of her house, and something about pumpkins) as I know I need to do laundry at her house for the year, we decide to drive as far as the car would go; then tow strap it the rest of the way home. It made it the entire distance, then was parked. Never did figure out the problem - a year or so later it was submerged in a flood and the envirofolks came and towed it away (I have another name for them - but not relevant to here)....
Anyone else have good story (or plausible yarn) like this?
When I was in college, I had a 74 Vega wagon (it was appropriately named the great pumpkin as it was an orange station wagon) - just before school started (some 220 miles away) I traveled to the school to do some paperwork. Car ran awesome, tail-wind in the Columbia River gorge and I drove 80mph or faster all the way there. Got to the school, did what I needed to do, then was going to drive to my aunts house a couple blocks away. Started the car up, and a death rattle occurred.... drove the couple blocks, draining the necessary fluids out of the window of the block... seized up solid after that. So now I and a friend are stuck 220 miles away with no car. I did what all good college students do when confronted with unsurmountable problems - I called dad. He drove, and picked up me.... we get home, and over the course of 2 weeks get and assemble a new 4 cyl. motor for the car. Never fire it, then drive up to rescue the car out of my aunt's driveway. We install the motor, fire it up, it's death rattling!!! oh good grief. For the life of me I have no idea what was rattling.... anyway, so we have a decision to make - leave the car there (aunt making noises about wrecking yards, depreciation of her house, and something about pumpkins) as I know I need to do laundry at her house for the year, we decide to drive as far as the car would go; then tow strap it the rest of the way home. It made it the entire distance, then was parked. Never did figure out the problem - a year or so later it was submerged in a flood and the envirofolks came and towed it away (I have another name for them - but not relevant to here)....
Anyone else have good story (or plausible yarn) like this?
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