Re: Ahh, The Joy.

[Jan Folkson <jfolkson@optonline.net>]

Driving without a clutch can be a "fun" experience.  I had the pleasure of
snapping my clutch cable when I first got my car in '86.  I was in rush hour
traffic on the Long Island Expressway I went to step on the clutch and heard
a boom, my pedal went to floor.  Starting from a dead stop was the worst,
because you had to start the car in gear, after that you just need to apply
a little pressure to the shifter in the direction of the gear you want and
when you hit the magic RPM it'll just slide right in.  I was able to get the
car over to my favorite dealership at 4:30pm on a Friday afternoon just as
they were closing up, they stayed late, hooked me up and I was on my way in
no time.  It's no wonder that I still use them for everything.


- Jan Folkson 
NYC, NY 

http://www.janfolkson.com

'86 16V
'99 Passat GLS 1.8t
'00 Beetle GLX 1.8t

"If you're not passing traffic...you ARE traffic"



> I need to vent a little.
> 
> So, I'm sitting on the busiest stretch of I-25 in Denver yesterday during
> rush hour, and my $200 (well, now around $500) '85 Scirocco decides that
> it's as good a place as any to blow out the clutch cable.  Nothing like that
> feeling, in 95 degree heat and in the middle lane of a packed, crawling
> interstate, of pushing in the clutch and getting the response of a wet
> noodle.
> I will say this:  pushing this thing is a lot easier than pushing my Vanagon
> was.
> So I got her off the road, found that the cable had jumped out of its sleeve
> above the plastic tube above the adjuster nut, cranked on four mini hose
> clamps to get it back in there, and had three more uses of the clutch.
> Almost enough to get me home.  Stopped on the side of another road, found
> where the cable had decided to jump out up by the firewall, and gave up the
> repairs (out of hose clamps) and started pushin'.  Thank goodness it's a
> flat part of town, and that I have a strong back!  An hour commute becomes
> three hours.
> 
> By the time I got situated, all parts houses were closed.  Ahh, the joy.
> For a moment, I second-guessed my decision to sell my Vanagon and get back
> into the Scirocco mix.  Then I remembered that with the heads on my
> Wasserboxer as pitted as they were, losing valuable phosphate-free anti
> freeze at every single stop, I would have overheated and blown that thing
> days ago with this commute!
> I'm carpooling today...
> 
> Joe T.
> '85 white Wolfsburg Scirocco
> 
> 
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