Return of Phoebe

For the record...let it be noted that on this day 1.Feb.24, Phoebe rode forth with new struts & shocks & a completely rebuilt & custom-crafted clutch system. 

She went into the shop soon after I arrived to Albuq in early October. It took a month of cogitating, disassembly & more cogitating to begin to understand the extent of the problem. When Daniel, owner of By the Book Diesel and Auto Repair, finally called to tell me about it, he wasn't sure if once they did everything they thought was needed if it would fix the problem.

Parts are increasingly hard to find and it was through a supplier I'd heard of from another Geo owner that Daniel was referred to someone in Oregon who has a stockpile. Waiting for people to return his calls added days, maybe weeks to the job. 

When I left Phoebe with him I'd hoped to be back on the road in three weeks. As doctor appointments kept getting pushed further out and parts-hunting became a job in its own right, it became evident the soonest might be the end of January. Around Christmas we tossed the timeline out the window. Knowing there was nothing to do but wait, I watched as the weeks went by...and learned to enjoy indoor plumbing. Last Wednesday, the call came: she was ready.

Drawing by Michelle D. Cook

Thursday was busy; Friday came and went. They're closed on weekends and I had several appointments on Monday. Tuesday at the gym was tough and resulted in me not getting out of bed on Wednesday. It was a week and a day before I could get to her.

As we reviewed the operation and I came to understand how the problems came to light; Daniel again told of his concern that they'd no way to know if all their work would make a difference; the problem could be elsewhere. He'd cautioned me at the "starting gate" that they couldn't foretell what all they might encounter.

Having owned businesses myself, I had experienced problems where no one came away happy; this one held that potential.

The pedal assembly from Oregon came with only one bushing (it uses two) and no rubber for the pedal. Fortunately, the old one had one good bushing and Skyler, doing the work, was able to salvage the rubber from the old pedal and glue it to the new one.

With the old assembly removed, they could see that the pedal had been welded at an angle that reduced the amount of travel and didn't make full use of the cable.

The following three photos show the pedal and the welds.

The pedal in the upper left

The weld, though not pretty, was strong. However, the pedal position on the shaft was incorrect.

Also, the end of the old shaft assembly was square and fitted - like a mortise and tenon -  into a hole in a rod at the end of the shaft. Both the end of the shaft and the hole were becoming rounded and it wouldn't have been much longer before it too would've been a problem. The new assembly was splined, a change no doubt prompted by recognition of the weakness of the mortise-and-tenon design.

Rounding (wear) of Mortise & Tenon

The clutch cable was worn and due to a bent connecting arm (connecting arm may have been bent during an encounter with an obstruction), misaligned. After heating and straightening the connecting arm, Skyler cut off the mounting bolts for the cable bracket at the transmission-end and rewelded them an inch further toward the rear. This had the effect of shortening the cable and provided more room for adjustment. He also welded closed a cutout in the bracket, thereby strenghthening it and eliminating a small amount of flex that reduced the cable's effective travel.

Welded Cutout

The third area of trouble was the firewall. The cable's mounting bracket bolts to the engineside of the firewall. The metal is so thin that the pedal pressure caused it to flex. Though the actual distance was small, combined with everything else, the cumulative effect kept the clutch from working properly and limited the available adjustment.

The silver bracket with its two bolts is stock. The gray, gun-metal plate behind it was custom-crafted and affixed to the firewall

While the words above explain the problem, they don't come near conveying the amount of thought and effort involved in making the repair. While I give full credit to Daniel and Skyler's tenacity, Skyler said Orlando also contributed.

Daniel pointed out that it was my willingness to give them carte blanche and full support in solving the problem plus throwing out the timeline, that gave them the confidence to move ahead. But as I told them, "I couldn't afford another vehicle; we had to fix it." But I knew as well as they did that "had to" isn't what makes it happen. 

So the success was appreciated by all.

                 -----------------------------------------------

With this, her seventh year of restoration, we crossed the $30,000.00 mark. Though I've jokingly likened it to a bad marriage wherein there's no way out, I never had enough money to buy a vehicle in Phoebe's present condition. Thanks to VISA and Mastercard, I've been able to stay out from under a bridge, which is where I'd have been without her. And everytime I roll down a window I savor the fact that I don't have to turn on the ignition.

(When on rough terrain I know I'm sitting atop a parallel box-beam (truck) frame, not a flimsy uni-body; she has real four wheel drive that enables her to clamber about with more nimble-arity than an AWD. She has real bumpers; when, a few years ago we were rear-ended at a red light in Flagstaff and knocked forward 8 feet, the RAM that hit us sustained heavy damage. Phoebe wasn't even scratched.

Oh, and her Check Engine light is off.)

Worth every penny.

We're ready to ride.

    Many, many thanks to By the Book.