Writing a novel
#22
Burning Brakes
Member Since: Jul 2009
Location: ESCONDIDO CA
Posts: 1,200
Received 252 Likes
on
112 Posts
C3 of Year Finalist (appearance mods) 2019
Things I've had happen to make my car quit and refuse to start:
Failed fuel pump; clogged fuel filter; out of gas; failed valve adjustment nuts; over heated; failed coil; failed ignition points; and a battery give it up-didn't kill the car but it wouldn't start after I shut it off. I could write a book!
Failed fuel pump; clogged fuel filter; out of gas; failed valve adjustment nuts; over heated; failed coil; failed ignition points; and a battery give it up-didn't kill the car but it wouldn't start after I shut it off. I could write a book!
#23
Le Mans Master
What about alternator? Messaged my bother about it and he said this :
I'd say a bad alternator since the car died and won't do anything when she turns the key. The alternator powers the spark plugs and charges the battery. With no alternator, the battery dies and the car basically runs out of electricity.
He could check the battery with a volt meter if he happens to have one on him or be near his home.
I'd say a bad alternator since the car died and won't do anything when she turns the key. The alternator powers the spark plugs and charges the battery. With no alternator, the battery dies and the car basically runs out of electricity.
He could check the battery with a volt meter if he happens to have one on him or be near his home.
Actually, I think Id like it to be in the shop for a while. Giving her no choice but to accept the guys offer for rides into town. I think that would be a great way for them to get to know one another. I really appreciate everyone's help!! I honestly wasn't expecting this much informative feedback! I haven't really written something like this before, and it may have been a reckless choice to make the protagonist in my story so involved in cars, seeing as I don't know much about them...but it just kind of happened that way lol! I have my work cut out for me that is for sure.
Of course, it is usually a more violent stop, lots of banging and such.
Electrical is a quick silent stop, and a quick fix if you know what you are doing.
Fuel pump is a quick silent stop. But it can be fixed in a few hours.
Four speed or automatic? Either way, the car runs, but doesn't go anywhere. Coast off to the side and stops if you lose a clutch or the automatic goes out. It could take a few days to fix.
Rear wheel bearings are good. You can get lots of smoke that scares the driver the car is on fire, and once it sits, the melted bearings don't let it go again. Long ago, you were towed to the local Chevy dealer and in 6 hours, you were ready to go. Today, I doubt anyone in a Chevy dealership has a clue on doing them. Most people simply send them out to Van Steel, Bair's, or others and wait for the whole training arm to come back looking new.
Timeline? What time period? The time to fix is related to the time it occurs. Today, you can get much more in a hurry than long ago. but then, some parts were available immediately at the local parts store.
In 1965, most weren't so quick to dive into rebuilding an engine or a transmission.
Is this from personal experience?
Last edited by Procrastination Racing; 04-10-2017 at 09:11 PM.
#24
Dementer sole survivor
Member Since: Oct 2015
Location: YUPPY HELL Westford MASS
Posts: 16,443
Received 6,292 Likes
on
3,919 Posts
2020 C3 of the Year Finalist - Modified
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
2019 C3 of Year Winner (performance mods)
2016 C3 of Year Finalist
vapor lock would be a carburetor problem, thats a good easy fix for your hero, but I like the bad alternator, She could have lost the alternator belt which would be a quick fix and would give her the symptoms,...... alternator adjustment bolt lossenned up, belt falls off and is hanging there. The alternator fails because its no longer spinning, no charge to the system so the car has been running off the battery for the last 100 miles or so, or it happened the previous days and she has been running on it for a while. Very plausible and happens in the real world
I had little glowing ***** shooting out from the hood of my 69 GTO on a cross country tripin 84, turned out they were alternator bearings. Limped down the highway for a while without lights to keep it running until we found a parts store to sleep at until it oened in the morning. Put in a new alternator and roll started it in the parking lot and we were back on the road....My Hero
I had little glowing ***** shooting out from the hood of my 69 GTO on a cross country tripin 84, turned out they were alternator bearings. Limped down the highway for a while without lights to keep it running until we found a parts store to sleep at until it oened in the morning. Put in a new alternator and roll started it in the parking lot and we were back on the road....My Hero
#25
Senior Member
Member Since: Jan 2008
Location: Easton, PA
Posts: 12,154
Received 2,031 Likes
on
1,103 Posts
St. Jude Donor '10
I like the broken belt scenario, alternator not charging and the battery goes down, down, down. A good mechanic will see it quickly but most likely won't have a belt to do the job quickly...so he will have to use his ingenuity to give her a temporary belt...
Needless to say, she will be impressed, and grateful, I'm just sayin...
Sounds fun. Thanks for asking.
David
Needless to say, she will be impressed, and grateful, I'm just sayin...
Sounds fun. Thanks for asking.
David
#26
Team Owner
65 Corvette -----> Over heating
#27
Team Owner
Member Since: Jun 2000
Location: Southbound
Posts: 38,928
Likes: 0
Received 1,469 Likes
on
1,248 Posts
Cruise-In II Veteran
Food For Thought: why not empower your heroine and have her know more about her 65 Corvette than anyone else? Why not have her tell Linc what she thinks the problem is...and have her be right?
#30
Drifting
It ran out of blinker fluid
Pay attention guys. "So far it has driven about a mile and began sputtering..." I don't think even a '65 can vapor lock or overheat in that time. And if the car started there is plenty of battery power to go a mile, so it's not the alternator.
I'd go with a stuck carburetor float. Link figures it out quickly because he sees the carb is not putting out any gas after he removes the air cleaner and looks inside while turning the throttle. It would take him a hour or so to open it up and un-stick it, and reassemble. Or he could rebuild it, which would take longer. Or he could tap the bowls with a screwdriver handle and loosen it, and the hottie could be on her way in under 5 minutes.
OP, I like that you are trying to get these details right, because when I read books that become too unbelievable or lacking in correct technical details I loose interest. In that vein, I would make the Corvette a '63, simply because even a shade-tree mechanic like Link can instantly recognize a '63 by the split rear window. The differences between a 64-67 are less noticeable.
What color hair and eyes does she have...and her dimensions please.
Pay attention guys. "So far it has driven about a mile and began sputtering..." I don't think even a '65 can vapor lock or overheat in that time. And if the car started there is plenty of battery power to go a mile, so it's not the alternator.
I'd go with a stuck carburetor float. Link figures it out quickly because he sees the carb is not putting out any gas after he removes the air cleaner and looks inside while turning the throttle. It would take him a hour or so to open it up and un-stick it, and reassemble. Or he could rebuild it, which would take longer. Or he could tap the bowls with a screwdriver handle and loosen it, and the hottie could be on her way in under 5 minutes.
OP, I like that you are trying to get these details right, because when I read books that become too unbelievable or lacking in correct technical details I loose interest. In that vein, I would make the Corvette a '63, simply because even a shade-tree mechanic like Link can instantly recognize a '63 by the split rear window. The differences between a 64-67 are less noticeable.
What color hair and eyes does she have...and her dimensions please.
#31
Melting Slicks
Good one kev!
It ran out of blinker fluid
Pay attention guys. "So far it has driven about a mile and began sputtering..." I don't think even a '65 can vapor lock or overheat in that time. And if the car started there is plenty of battery power to go a mile, so it's not the alternator.
I'd go with a stuck carburetor float. Link figures it out quickly because he sees the carb is not putting out any gas after he removes the air cleaner and looks inside while turning the throttle. It would take him a hour or so to open it up and un-stick it, and reassemble. Or he could rebuild it, which would take longer. Or he could tap the bowls with a screwdriver handle and loosen it, and the hottie could be on her way in under 5 minutes.
OP, I like that you are trying to get these details right, because when I read books that become too unbelievable or lacking in correct technical details I loose interest. In that vein, I would make the Corvette a '63, simply because even a shade-tree mechanic like Link can instantly recognize a '63 by the split rear window. The differences between a 64-67 are less noticeable.
What color hair and eyes does she have...and her dimensions please.
Pay attention guys. "So far it has driven about a mile and began sputtering..." I don't think even a '65 can vapor lock or overheat in that time. And if the car started there is plenty of battery power to go a mile, so it's not the alternator.
I'd go with a stuck carburetor float. Link figures it out quickly because he sees the carb is not putting out any gas after he removes the air cleaner and looks inside while turning the throttle. It would take him a hour or so to open it up and un-stick it, and reassemble. Or he could rebuild it, which would take longer. Or he could tap the bowls with a screwdriver handle and loosen it, and the hottie could be on her way in under 5 minutes.
OP, I like that you are trying to get these details right, because when I read books that become too unbelievable or lacking in correct technical details I loose interest. In that vein, I would make the Corvette a '63, simply because even a shade-tree mechanic like Link can instantly recognize a '63 by the split rear window. The differences between a 64-67 are less noticeable.
What color hair and eyes does she have...and her dimensions please.
Dear flightpretty....he could be a 'hero' under the stuck float scenario...(I've been a mechanic for 52 years and have seen EVERYTHING.)
The hero opens the hood...pops off the aircleaner with a flourish...raps on the float bowl chamber (right on top of a Rochester 4MV {'cept in a 65 it's a Holley ...same diff) with a hammer rap-rap-rap....all fixed.
Made me a $100 tip at 2:00 in the morning back in the day when $100 was more like S1000.
The '65 has disc Brakes!
#32
I'd go with the disconnected/loose coil wire. Easy to notice, test, and fix.... without turning it into a novel...
#34
Instructor
Yes, she can tell Link that she thinks it is a problem with the battery and when he goes to look under the hood she tells him that the battery is behind the seat in a Corvette, and she gets to watch him bend over awkwardly to check it...fast forward to married with three kids and the care ends up on this site for sale. And it should be a 69 Vette for obvious reasons.
Last edited by See Three; 04-11-2017 at 04:12 PM.
#35
Yes, she can tell Link that she thinks it is a problem with the battery and when he goes to look under the hood she tells him that the battery is behind the seat in a Corvette, and she gets to watch him bend over awkwardly to check it...fast forward to married with three kids and the care ends up on this site for sale. And it should be a 69 Vette for obvious reasons.
Battery behind the seats started in 1968.
#36
I would have that sexy babe from Terminator 3 Rise of The Machines stick her finger in the ignition to re-program the car to do what she wants (even though it doesn't have a computer).
#37
Here is the passage for help:
"Hey there, ma'am." She jumped when she heard a voice behind her. She turned around only to see a man wearing blue jeans and black t-shirt. "Oh, I apologize ma'am, I didn't mean to startle you." He said, slightly embarrassed. "I saw you from my house and thought you looked like you could use some help. That is a beautiful machine you have there. '65 'Vette, right? You have great taste." He smiled a cute half-smile, his teeth were straight and bright white. He was very handsome. She felt her cheeks get warm and she turned away to face the car. "Y-yes thank you.." She said nervously. 'Get a hold of yourself, Andrea' She cleared her throat and said "She died on me...Wont start. I'm not mechanically inclined so I am not sure what is wrong." He stepped up beside her "Mind if I take a look?" he asked. "Of course go right ahead. I am Andrea, by the way. I just moved in to the small cabin down the road a few weeks ago." She replied. "Nice to meet you, Andrea." He smiled that same, adorable smile at her, "I'm Lincoln, but you can call me Link for short. So we are neighbors now, huh? Lucky for you I trained as a mechanic for three years after high school. Looks like an issue with your
"Hey there, ma'am." She jumped when she heard a voice behind her. She turned around only to see a man wearing blue jeans and black t-shirt. "Oh, I apologize ma'am, I didn't mean to startle you." He said, slightly embarrassed. "I saw you from my house and thought you looked like you could use some help. That is a beautiful machine you have there. '65 'Vette, right? You have great taste." He smiled a cute half-smile, his teeth were straight and bright white. He was very handsome. She felt her cheeks get warm and she turned away to face the car. "Y-yes thank you.." She said nervously. 'Get a hold of yourself, Andrea' She cleared her throat and said "She died on me...Wont start. I'm not mechanically inclined so I am not sure what is wrong." He stepped up beside her "Mind if I take a look?" he asked. "Of course go right ahead. I am Andrea, by the way. I just moved in to the small cabin down the road a few weeks ago." She replied. "Nice to meet you, Andrea." He smiled that same, adorable smile at her, "I'm Lincoln, but you can call me Link for short. So we are neighbors now, huh? Lucky for you I trained as a mechanic for three years after high school. Looks like an issue with your
You know a lot of horror movies start out this way, but so does a lot of ****.
I'd go with the the coil wire coming off, quick, easy and wham bam thank you mam out of there looking good.
Wait, are we still talking ****?
Last edited by Lobzila; 04-12-2017 at 07:45 AM.
#38
Instructor
I guess for more than one reason.
Last edited by See Three; 04-12-2017 at 07:56 AM.