So I posted Part 1 of this blog entry a couple of days back, mentioning that this time last week I was taking my Mitsubishi project car to its first car meet. Before going to the meet I had toyed with the idea of taking the daily again, I even got her detailed so she was all shiny.
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| Abarth Supersport Daily - All happy and shiny |
But I kept telling myself, 'Whats the point of having a rolling project if I don't drive it?'. So I got her out of the garage and dusted her off. (probably not enough as she was probably the dirtiest thing at the meet)
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Mitsubishi GTO Mk1 - Side Shot
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I met up with a mate who was taking his project Golf to the meet and we talked over the changes to our cars we'd made over the past couple of weeks. (It obviously goes without saying that as I am not yet in full swing he had more changes than me, a cool GT made mean with lots of black additions, really put my GTO to shame!) When we left our meeting point to head over the to meet I struggled to turn the car to make it out of the car park we were in. I put this down to the car park being steep and tight and stupidly ignored it.... Once moving again the car felt fine so we headed to the meet. All was well for the next few hours as we walked around having a look around the hundred or so cars that had turned out.
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| Front end with the Abarth hiding behind from before the meet |
Upon leaving the meet I started to head home. The golf parted ways at the exit, and just as the meet was out of sight (barely at that). *POP!* my gear-stick kicked into neutral. I dipped my clutch and tried to select a gear. It wouldn't engage. I tried to select another gear. Nothing. I coasted to the side of the road and pulled over. No matter what gear I selected or how hard I tried I simply couldn't engage a gear. I phoned Mrs 3ofdiamonds in a panic and was talking through with her for some time what had happened.
As we were on the phone I got first, and second, and third! I could engage gears again! Whoop! I pulled away and the clutch was biting. The car seemed to be limping a touch but I was going to get home (or so I thought...). I got around 250 yards down the road and had to stop to give way at a roundabout. I went into first to pull away.... nothing... I was able to get the gear stick to the right position this time, but no bite. The pedal gave resistance going down but had no bite to it at all coming back up.
Then the smell hit me... The smell of clutch is rather unique and quite distinctive. Once you've had a clutch give out on you, it's a smell you will always recognise if you smell it again. It hadn't been there when kicked me out of gear, but it was an unmistakable assault on my nostrils now.
There had been a slight incline leading up to roundabout so I was able to start rolling backwards to get the car out of the way. Unfortunately there were railings on the footpath, so I had quite a distance to roll back before I could get the car off the road. Hazards on, stopping for any cars going past.
The area I had broken down in wasn't exactly the kind of area it's good to break down in, especially at night. Truth be told, it was the kind of area you try not too stop too long at traffic lights for, as your car may end up propped up on bricks. In this case that helped a touch though. Within a minute, maybe 2, of starting to try to roll backwards to safety there were blue flashing lights behind me. The policeman accosted a couple of passers by and my car was pushed back past the railings and up onto the curb.
Funnily enough at this point my thoughts switched from 'My clutch...' to 'My alloys!' but luckily I think they survived the ordeal (as far I could tell in the darkness). I thanked those that had helped and started making the phone calls to get towed home.
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| The resting place of the GTO following MNECM |
Whilst I was waiting to be picked up, I did have a couple of guys from the meet stop and check I was alright which nicely broke the time up. But I was waiting longer than I would have hoped. To break the time up I also started counting the amount of times I saw blue flashing lights, then I realised I couldn't count that high...
After a couple of hours finally the tow truck pulled up. Sadly to my dismay the operator looked at my car and said 'Is that car AWD' to which I nodded... and stared in dismay with puppy dog eyes as he drove off again into night saying he could only tow 2 wheel drive cars. A voice inside my head was screaming cartoon-ishly 'Noooooooooooo'. I started the wait again, waiting this time for a truck that could put my car onto the back of it, with a tipping bed. Eventually it came, and as we drove home the driver recounted his experiences with project cars, and turns out he had had some awesome projects in the past, made the journey go a lot quicker as my experience of breakdowns in the past was generally one of silence and only speaking for directions.
So I broke down at around 7:45pm and I eventually got home at around 1am, with the car safely tucked up in the garage by 130am. And there she sits. I am not sure how to go about my next steps. Do I get her towed to a garage to get a new clutch, or do I try myself? Is fitting a new clutch too much of a job for someone who is just starting out on their first project? Do I declare her off the road and start on other jobs such as the interior trim replacement pieces I have, and the intake kit etc?
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| The Mitsubishi project as she sits now... |
At least whilst I decide the Mitsubishi project car is reversed into the garage for the first time, giving me more options for working on her until I decide what I'm doing with her clutch-wise....
I had been told 90's Mitsubishi's had glass gearboxes, I'm hoping it's just the clutch!
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