2023-01-29, 08:10 PM
I fixed the clutch on my 1970 Ford F-250 4x4 pickup in 1983, in the cold and snow, near the ghost town of Grantsville, Nevada; using an old pair of vice grips and bailing wire.
The truck used what basically amounted to a hard rubber bullet with a threaded rod that fit through the lever that came down through the floorboard; the bullet fit into the lever attached to the clutch. The nut had fallen off at some point, the bullet fell off in parts unknown. I drove around without a clutch for an hour or so that morning. Then the thought hit me as I was driving. The vice grips took the place of the bullet, the wire made sure the vice grips stayed clamped shut. The adjustment knob on the vice grips adjusted the clutch adequately. Ford wanted $25 for the part, when I sold the truck to my brother in law in 1985 the vice grips were still doing the job.
Enough of my backroad fix it stories. Now back to our regular Beardilocks travel channel …
The truck used what basically amounted to a hard rubber bullet with a threaded rod that fit through the lever that came down through the floorboard; the bullet fit into the lever attached to the clutch. The nut had fallen off at some point, the bullet fell off in parts unknown. I drove around without a clutch for an hour or so that morning. Then the thought hit me as I was driving. The vice grips took the place of the bullet, the wire made sure the vice grips stayed clamped shut. The adjustment knob on the vice grips adjusted the clutch adequately. Ford wanted $25 for the part, when I sold the truck to my brother in law in 1985 the vice grips were still doing the job.
Enough of my backroad fix it stories. Now back to our regular Beardilocks travel channel …
DAW
~When You Live in Nevada, "just down the road" is anywhere in the line of sight within the curvature of the earth.
~When You Live in Nevada, "just down the road" is anywhere in the line of sight within the curvature of the earth.