Fall 08 Chevy Vettefest 69 Z/28 Feature Showcase

[DarrenX33]

Fire away buddy.

There is excitement in the air..

[Chevyman]

Well alright then!
The vibration story.
I remember it was early Dec.1968 when my friend Mark Collins and I pulled out of Debs Drive Inn and headed south on Rt. 67. We were going home early since it was a work night and things around town were pretty slow. It was a typical cold December night at about 9:00. We decided to take the long way home which would add about three miles to the journey, near Milan, IL. Rt. 67 is a 4 lane divided highway, with a very wide grassy median. As soon as we were well out in the country side, I bore down on the excelerator. The road makes easy twist and turns and mild dips and rises, so 7000 rpm in forth gear is easy enough. I can only estimate at that rpm we were probably cruising at what? 145mph, who knows! Suddenly the most bizarre thing happened I have ever witnessed. A vibration came over the car like I have had never felt on any car. I have lost fan blades but that was like child's play compared to this! I can only describe the feeling as though I was driving over those very high speed bar bumps that are in school parking lots. Only it felt like they were only 10 feet apart! I wear contact lenses and it was like my eye balls were jumping up and down inside of the lenses! What made matters worsen was the fact that the windshield fogged over. I glanced over at Mark and he grabbed the “chicken bar” and stiffened up like he was having a heart attack! From the glow of the dash lights I could tell he was as white as a ghost! Now remember that I told you earlier that the road made minor twist and turns. I was driving totally blind at well over 100 mph. If only I had attended the driving school for the blind, I would have been ok. But there were no braille bumps so what was I to do? Because I knew the road so well I made very gradual turns and started slowing down. It was at this point that I decided to turn off the motor to see if the vibration would stop. Bingo! I rolled down the window to steer the Z to the shoulder, fighting the bitter cold, and cruised to a stop on the shoulder. Mark jumped out and immediately took a piss in the ditch. I always carried basic tools in the car including a flashlight. I popped the hood and saw coolant everywhere. By now everyone has probably guessed the problem. I’m not sure if factory cars were ever meant to run at long periods of high rpm. I noticed that the fan was at an angle, but the belt was still on by some miracle. What had happened was that the front bearing in the water pump gave up and the vibration came from the wobbling of the pump shaft. I saw that I was close to my favorite cousin’s house, so we walked over to see her . She’s a real babe and I just wanted to check her out. I rang the door bell, but no one came to the door. They must have thought that there was a pervert at the door at that hour so they never answered. (Maybe they knew that it was me at the door!) Anyway we walked back to the car and I removed the belt and drove home. Over the years I have put more water pumps on that car than anything else. I had a Ford lover one time say to me, “ Those 302 Chevys are always blowing heads and water fly's everywhere.” I have never known of a head problem, but lots of water pump problems for sure. He must have gotten confused since he was just an uneducated ford man! This story is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, or my name isn’t Dan the Chevyman! Trust me on my honor as a used car salesman.

[DarrenX33]

Great story Dan. Perhaps the Ford guy meant pulling out the rocker studs?

[wheelhop]

Hey Chevyman, how far south is Geneseo, IL ??
You seem to be too interested in your cousin if you know what I mean!

[Chevyman]

Geneseo is located east on I-80 about 20 miles from Milan. She is my 3rd cousin and still looks good today. My wife just read my story and left the office shaking her head, mumbling something like "I'm just so proud". She's a lucky girl, I've kept HER around for 39 years!

[Xplantdad]

Hey Dan...if you would have been driving a FORD, you would have had to unbolt everything under the sun...just to get to the water pump!

[Chevyman]

Yes, in 1970 they finally fixed that problem, it only took 15 years of complaining by street racers.

[Chevyman]

Yes you're right. I could not figure out those ford guys. It would have been a lot easier to just by a Chevy, than to spend all that time and money on trying to get out of the16 second range! Fortunely the warranty took care of me again, must have been another factory flaw. After the 5th time that I had warranty work done in 2 months they started to question me when I came into the service department. I think they were dreading the 5 years, 50,000 miles that still were lying ahead!

[Schonyenko2]

For those of you who may travel North through South through the Quad cities to Monmouth, and or Laharpe, you've traveled over the patch of 67 he talks about.
A friend of mine was doing kinda the same thing with his 69 Z while under the influence. He mistakenly though he was in a lower gear, and dropped into 2nd from 4th. They saved one head, and the intake. Looked like a grenade went off in the block.

[Chevyman]

It's so nice to have some verification to my stories. Since you are somewhat familar to the location, the vibration story took place in front of the Oaks Restaurant, 2 miles south of the Memri Drive In on route 67. The next story will take place on Knoxville Road east of the Memri 2 miles. I have to include a picture with this story, so Mike or Darren will have to coach me on that one. I'll save that story for next month.