posted
Here's another one that occured back in 1988. Believe it or not, the same individual who helped me in the prior post was the culprit.
The Terminator has a large "scoop" sticking up through the hood of the vehicle. Because of it's weight, I felt that it was necessary to add some braces from the front of the scoop to the intake manifold on the engine. The purpose of these braces was to remove the torque that the scoop would normally apply to the carb.
My faithful assistant fabricated the brackets and subsequently installed them on the vehicle. Everything looked great. A few days later, I decided to take the car in and have it detailed. For the first few blocks, everything worked fine. However, when I finally put the "pedal to the metal" in order to merge with oncoming traffic, something terrifying occurred. The throttle became stuck "on the floor" and 4 Tons of Cadillac Hearse started barreling down the road.
Being massive, the Terminator takes a while to get going. But once it gets going, it is really going. After a few seconds, I blasted by the person who was driving down to the detailer to pick me up. I briefly saw the incredulous expression of the person at the wheel. In moments flat, I was doing over 70 in a 35 in one of the busiest parts of town. A major intersection was coming up fast and I could not get the accelerator to release. I stomped the pedal. I even turned off the ignition, but there was so much fuel flowing into the big 502 cubic inch engine that it just kept running. (Dieseling). Finally, after stomping on the accelerator in very rapid succession, I was able to bring the vehicle under control with less than a block to spare.
As we investigated the cause of the malfunction, it became clear what had happened. The hood scoop has 3 "butterflies" that open and close as you press the accelerator pedal. A large spring is used to pull the butterflies back to the closed position when you let off on the throttle. Once again, my assistant conveniently placed this spring right up against one of the new brackets he had fabricated. When I floored the car, the spring stretched open and then "snapped" around the bracket. This effectively locked the throttle linkage in the wide-open position.
------------------ "Keep it Loud and Make me Proud!"
posted
HAHA!! ROFLOL! Jeez man, i would have thought you'd fire the guy after the "mushroom cloud" incident.
Posts: 223 | From: Boise, ID, USA | Registered: Jul 1999
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