Dibbons
Well-Known Member
- Local time
- 1:44 AM
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2014
- Messages
- 4,753
- Reaction score
- 5,473
- Location
- La Paz, B.C.S., Mexico
My fabricator informed me about some kind of street sale/bazaar in a neighboring community today. So I primed the carb and started up the '72 Plymouth SSP to take it for a spin over that way. Before I closed the hood (with the motor now running) I looked down briefly for leaking fluids and found none. However, I did notice one minor discrepancy but decided to ignore it (which will soon return to bite me in the butt).
A few miles from home I spotted a paved road to the right that headed for the water. I assumed that was too close to be the community I was looking for so I headed straight on the highway without having turned off. Next I saw a wide divided dirt road that did not look too inviting, so I continued on. After about 10 more minutes of cruising at about 50 mph and seeing nothing than more desert and cactus, I decided to stop on a straightaway and turn around.
When I got back to the wide divided two-way dirt road that I had passed earlier, I turned off there. The surface was that darn "washboard" that makes the hood shimmy like crazy (left and right) which kept my speed down to not much more than a crawl. After another five or ten minutes, I could see this road was going nowhere, so I decided to turn around in my own "lane". No other traffic, so not a safety issue. No way to cross over to the designated parallel lane going back because the "center divider" was solid with cactus, brush, and being made of high berm of sand in the first place.
It took four of five moves of back and forth (forward/reverse) moves to get turned around in the semi-narrow lane. Once having completed the final move to get turned around, I heard a clank/thud kind of sound while simultaneously my power steering failed. I placed the slap-stick in park and then opened the hood (motor still running) and found the p/s belt laying on top of the front crossmember. Turned off the motor and retrieved the belt. At this point the belt "teeth" were on the outside of the belt. I twisted the belt to correct this condition but the belt flipped itself back the wrong way again. Well, I brought no tools with me so I just decided to drive back home.
I debated about turning off on the first paved road I had seen in the first place (only five minutes from home) which obviously, after all my exploring, was the correct route to have taken in the first place. However, with the extreme effort required to steer, I decided to call it a day and head straight back home.
Oh, what I had noticed before I closed the hood before leaving home? I had noticed the power steering belt seemed to be really loose (not making any noise, but I could see it whipping a little bit as it spun.) Total distance driven during today's "excursion" about twenty miles.
A few miles from home I spotted a paved road to the right that headed for the water. I assumed that was too close to be the community I was looking for so I headed straight on the highway without having turned off. Next I saw a wide divided dirt road that did not look too inviting, so I continued on. After about 10 more minutes of cruising at about 50 mph and seeing nothing than more desert and cactus, I decided to stop on a straightaway and turn around.
When I got back to the wide divided two-way dirt road that I had passed earlier, I turned off there. The surface was that darn "washboard" that makes the hood shimmy like crazy (left and right) which kept my speed down to not much more than a crawl. After another five or ten minutes, I could see this road was going nowhere, so I decided to turn around in my own "lane". No other traffic, so not a safety issue. No way to cross over to the designated parallel lane going back because the "center divider" was solid with cactus, brush, and being made of high berm of sand in the first place.
It took four of five moves of back and forth (forward/reverse) moves to get turned around in the semi-narrow lane. Once having completed the final move to get turned around, I heard a clank/thud kind of sound while simultaneously my power steering failed. I placed the slap-stick in park and then opened the hood (motor still running) and found the p/s belt laying on top of the front crossmember. Turned off the motor and retrieved the belt. At this point the belt "teeth" were on the outside of the belt. I twisted the belt to correct this condition but the belt flipped itself back the wrong way again. Well, I brought no tools with me so I just decided to drive back home.
I debated about turning off on the first paved road I had seen in the first place (only five minutes from home) which obviously, after all my exploring, was the correct route to have taken in the first place. However, with the extreme effort required to steer, I decided to call it a day and head straight back home.
Oh, what I had noticed before I closed the hood before leaving home? I had noticed the power steering belt seemed to be really loose (not making any noise, but I could see it whipping a little bit as it spun.) Total distance driven during today's "excursion" about twenty miles.
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