Re: WOOO!

[steve powers <spowers@spdg.COM>]

Al:
>
> And BTW - I've had the experience of having a 1966 Pontiac GTO at 
> full song (389 c.i., 4-speed, 4-bbl flush toilet carb., 440 lbs/ft of 
> torque at 2800 rpm) in second gear - passing another car, downhill, 
> on an Idaho back road between tight corners - and having the throttle 
> return spring fall off!!!  WOOOOO!!  I shifted to third, and discovered the 
> missing spring by the fact that the throttle stayed WIDE open, 
> resulting in my inadvertantly performing a full-power shift next to the 
> gent's open window!  I LAUNCHED past him leaving a trail of rubber, 
> and just got my toe under the loud pedal in time to prevent a most 
> interesting cornering clinic at the 35 mph-rated corner coming up FAST.

I had the same thing happen to me on my '63 Impala SS (black/black) w/
a brand new '68 Vette 327 engine (heavily modified beyond its factory
365 hp). The secondary butterfly shaft broke on my 630 cfm Holley 
(gosh - I'm sounding like Tim Allen) double pumper and that car went
WFO.... RIGHT NOW!!!!

Fortunately, I lived in Kansas. Going home just meant accelerating
WFO and shutting off the engine from time to time. The car was digital.
Sorta like the way Eric drives in the State of Misery.... ;)???

> At such times, brakes are a secondary issue to reactions and fast 
> thinking.  After negotiating the corner, I used the go-pedal as a cruise 
> control until I reached the next town (it would stay at any point in its 
> travel I left it...) and then found some abandoned (rusted away...) cars 
> next to an old service station.  Not hard to find a spring which will 
> work when you have 90 miles of mountain switchbacks between you 
> and your destination!

not fun....

steve powers
spowers@spdg.com