A mind of its own

[amphipoda]

A mind of its own

Amphi had been parked for a while and was
needed to help service the other defective
cars in my fleet. Also we are getting a new
roof put on our home and the roofer dude
said we better clear out the garage for all the
mess they make de-roofing & re-roofing.
So I jump in Amphi and he starts right up,
slap him reverse and the front driver's side
wheel is locked up tighter than frog's ass
in ice water. This has happened to a minor
degree before, but Amphi always sprung
free once he knew it was time for a swim.
This time however, the wheel was so frozen
I laid a skid mark out of the garage and all
the way down the driveway so I could have
room to work on it. Silly me, parked Amphi
while he was still moist last time out from
the lake? Amphi hereby gave notice to never
to do that again. "Dear Amphi, I promise to
drive you until your brakes are bone dry?"
but I'll never drive you until your gas tank is
bone dry (that last little bit was for you Tommy
in Tampa, good thing the water is warm there mate).

Amphipoda
'64 Turquoise
San Diego, CA

 

[tommyintpa@aol.com]

In a message dated 10/9/02 3:32:38 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
Amphipoda@yahoo.com writes:


> So I jump in Amphi and he starts right up,
> slap him reverse and the front driver's side
> wheel is locked up tighter than frog's ass
> in ice water. This has happened to a minor
> degree before, but Amphi always sprung
> free once he knew it was time for a swim.
> This time however, the wheel was so frozen
> I laid a skid mark out of the garage and all
> the way down the driveway so I could have
> room to work on it. Silly me, parked Amphi
> while he was still moist last time out from
> the lake… Amphi hereby gave notice to never
> to do that again. "Dear Amphi, I promise to
> drive you until your brakes are bone dry…"
> but I'll never drive you until your gas tank is
> bone dry (that last little bit was for you Tommy
> in Tampa, good thing the water is warm there mate).
>
> Amphipoda
> '64 Turquoise
> San Diego, CA
>
> Hi All, OK I have gotten the razz'n I deserve. Now on to serious Amphicar
> things. Amphipoda about your front tire. I was having the very same thing
> happening to Snappy the White '64. I would jump into him and the front tire
> was locked up. I thought it was a brake shoe stuck to the drum, it was not.
> But this is what it was, we got the car ready for Celina (rhymes with
> Carolina) and that went great but when we got home we swam the car a lot.
> We swim almost every day and that adds up to 15 to 20 hours a week. In the
> 12 weeks or so since Celina that adds up to over 200 hours and that's a
> reasonable estimate. We keep our cars only 50' or so from the top of the
> ramp so maybe we put 2 land miles at the most on the Amphi. That's 2 land
> miles and 200 hours in the water. Amphipoda, I am afraid that you, like me,
> need to pack your wheel bearings a little more often. I did not have a
> brake shoe stuck to a drum but a frozen wheel bearing. It does sound like a
> stuck brake but what happens is when the bearing first lets go it twangs
> the whole brake assembly and rings your brake springs. You think you have a
> stuck brake but what you have is a stuck wheel bearing. I hate to admit
> that I have neglected my precious Amphicar but I will so other Amphis don't
> suffer the same neglect. Tommy in Tampa with neglected '64 white


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