Successful Maintenance Day (non Valkyrie)

[Chrisj CMA]

So. We had a potentially large storm headed our way Saturday. My pilot friend offered to let me put my car in his hangar for shelter.

Wouldn’t you know it, right as I tried to put in reverse the clutch cable went out. NOTHING. We had to push it in the hangar

But think about it, that could have happened anywhere, like in heavy traffic. But it gave out at an airplane maintenance hangar with a mechanic willing to help and unlimited tools.

So this morning I arrive at the hangar to change the clutch cable. However, the new one didn’t fit. But as it turned out, the part that failed was just the adjustment block. It’s an aluminum piece with several slots for a snap ring to hold the casing at a specific place. The slots all broke.

So we put in a stack of washers and also lubed the cable with aircraft cable lube.

WOW!  The clutch operates way better, smoother than it ever has and I routed it better than it was before.

Back on the road again



All in all it was a win win and didn’t cost anything other than buying a new clutch cable that I can’t use.

[old2soon]

    Was the old adjustment block just aluminum or was it Aicraft Grade aluminum? Not having seen it but as a WAG there is a Lot of Tension on any clutch accuation mechanism! Is that adjustment block available or are you seeing similar things like our Valkyrie parts-no longer available? At times I Think-wrongly-I miss working on airplanes. I knew far Too many ways to shall we just say-and I Will STOP right there. Hope you got er runnin right and Keep her Runnin Right!  RIDE SAFE.

[Jess from VA]

Good story Chris, glad it worked out the way it did.   

[Chrisj CMA]

    Was the old adjustment block just aluminum or was it Aicraft Grade aluminum? Not having seen it but as a WAG there is a Lot of Tension on any clutch accuation mechanism! Is that adjustment block available or are you seeing similar things like our Valkyrie parts-no longer available? At times I Think-wrongly-I miss working on airplanes. I knew far Too many ways to shall we just say-and I Will STOP right there. Hope you got er runnin right and Keep her Runnin Right!  RIDE SAFE.

That cable is over fifty years old. I seriously doubt it was aircraft quality. It just wore out but now with washers it can’t wear out.  It should be a long term fix.

[f6john]

Glad that all worked out so well for you! Good friends like that are a real treasure.

[Chrisj CMA]

Glad that all worked out so well for you! Good friends like that are a real treasure.

Yes good friends are a treasure. This guy is the pilot I built the Wing Desk for. We also ride together even though he rides a Harley. lol

[HayHauler]

Glad that all worked out so well for you! Good friends like that are a real treasure.

Yes good friends are a treasure. This guy is the pilot I built the Wing Desk for. We also ride together even though he rides a Harley. lol

   

[Chrisj CMA]

Just a follow up. So after a couple days and my back and shoulders stopped hurting from working at the hangar, I did some fine tuning on the clutch adjustment.

A test drive today proved to be so smooth and nice. The car acts like a brand new car. The clutch is as nice as my brand spanking new F-150 when I bought it in ‘94.

I also think I found a more suitable spare cable, it’s on order. This little car is proving to be quite the adventure but one worth being on for sure.