Panic Stop In A GT

[JoeHall]

Earlier today my son and I were out exercising the 63GT. We were on a one lane country road, around 15-20 MPH, when my son suddenly blurted, "Oh sh". I instinctively hit the brake and the car just about stood on its nose. A chihuahua sized dog ran out from under the car, front side of the front tire. I did not see him initially, and he never made a sound till he exited from under the car, but then began barking up a storm. It must have been mere inches that spared his life.

Glad the GT has good brakes. It was a factory DB car, but someone installed early, 1990s vintage, Turner discs on the front; they left the rest of the brake system original (11" rear drums and hydrovac). The brakes work well, and the standard brake pedal I installed makes it a bit easier to lock'em up. That was this car's first panic stop in quite awhile, and hope its even longer before the next one.

[t walgamuth]

Good brakes are essential, and good reflexes.

[PackardV8]

Glad you had good reflexes, Joe. Some people are willing to do more and worry more about chihuahuas than others.

Long back story, but when I was young, my father was in the hospital for an eye operation. In the next bed was a man who had been riding in the back seat and the driver swerved to avoid a dog and hit a utility pole. All the passengers were hospitalized with serious injuries. I installed seat belts in our family cars and made a vow before making any move to spare an animal, I had to be certain it would not endanger humans. Your opinions of humans and animals may differ.

jack vines

[62champ]

Glad your anchor still works great - have to stop before you can go...

Before I was born, my father and mother were driving back home to visit family in their '64 Commander four door, 259/automatic. On a big four lane highway, running about 65 mph, a big dog ran out into the road before my father could even hit the brakes. It crushed the sheet metal under the bumper and separated the bottom tank of the radiator from the core. By the time he had pulled it over to the shoulder and shut it down, it had completely emptied the block of all its coolant. After a tear down, they found both heads on the 259 were cracked...

[jackb]

1st thing I do when finalizing "any" brake work is to hit the "Chihuahua trail" for the test drive...

[sasquatch]

I used to drive a two lane country blacktop to go back and forth to work. There was a farmhouse where a big, German Shepard size, dog lived. He used to run out and bark at me whenever I drove by but he never went past the edge of the road. One day he came out as usual but for some reason he didn't stop like normal and I hit him dead on. I was driving a 1965 Olds 88 doing around 70 and could hear the dog rolling under the car and figured that was the end of him. He pushed in the front bumper (heavy steel) pretty good. I was surprised the next day when I went by the farmhouse and the dog was sitting on the porch watching me go by. He never chased me again.

[GrumpyOne]

Glad your anchor still works great - have to stop before you can go...

Before I was born, my father and mother were driving back home to visit family in their '64 Commander four door, 259/automatic. On a big four lane highway, running about 65 mph, a big dog ran out into the road before my father could even hit the brakes. It crushed the sheet metal under the bumper and separated the bottom tank of the radiator from the core. By the time he had pulled it over to the shoulder and shut it down, it had completely emptied the block of all its coolant. After a tear down, they found both heads on the 259 were cracked...

My experience was just the opposite…

In the spring of 1970 wwhile driving the Power Hawk it began to overheat so I pulled into a service station, raised the hood and saw that a freeze plug had partially failed. I was "only" eight miles from home so I took a chance to try to make it back there. About five miles later on the interstate, the engine seized.

So I walked about a quarter mile to a pay phone for a ride home, called the family mechanic, (who was a dead ringer for Nikita Kruchev), and later in the evening we went to retrieve the car. When we arrived he told me to "start her up." I replied, "but it seized up." In a louder voice he again said, "start 'er up!" I put the key into the ignition switch and yep, it started right up and I ran it for a few seconds and shut it down.

We hooked a chain to an A-arm and towed it to the garage where the next day he replaced the freeze plug and admonished me to the fact that the pistons had probably collapsed and the rings were shot. I drove the car for a year but it consumed oil at the rate of a quart for two hundred miles.

Meanwhile, in September of '70, I rode with a friend in his Avanti to the big meet in South Bend where at Standard Surplus I purchased eight NOS pistons for $1 each and some other goodies. Not withstanding the ride in the Avanti was phenominal and I ended by purchasing a '63 R1 from him later that month and took the hawk off the road.

In the garage, I stripped down the engine, (while in the car), and the mechanic's diagnosis was spot on. The cylinder walls were fine, so I simply installed new pistons, moly rings, new main/rod bearings, seals front and rear and re did the heads. The car ran flawlessly for the next 30K with oil consumption being about 2,200 miles to the quart...

[rusty nut garage]

Earlier today my son and I were out exercising the 63GT. We were on a one lane country road, around 15-20 MPH, when my son suddenly blurted, "Oh sh". I instinctively hit the brake and the car just about stood on its nose. A chihuahua sized dog ran out from under the car, front side of the front tire. I did not see him initially, and he never made a sound till he exited from under the car, but then began barking up a storm. It must have been mere inches that spared his life.

Glad the GT has good brakes. It was a factory DB car, but someone installed early, 1990s vintage, Turner discs on the front; they left the rest of the brake system original (11" rear drums and hydrovac). The brakes work well, and the standard brake pedal I installed makes it a bit easier to lock'em up. That was this car's first panic stop in quite awhile, and hope its even longer before the next one.

Curious if your still using single MC, so you have power braking to all 4 wheels?

[swvalcon]

Sasquatch. When I was a kid we had a old farm dog that liked to do that. He got hit one day and laid under the front porch for about a week and after he stepped back out he never did that again. Guess he found as much fun as a car was to chase they hurt like hell when you catch one.

[BILT4ME]

When I was 5, I was standing in the ditch, next to our garden when the neighbor popped over the hill driving their 65 Chevy Impala. Our Dalmation dog used to LOVE to chase cars. He heard their car coming and ran out to greet them. Unfortunately, he ran too far and was directly in front of the car.

Since I was standing in the ditch, I was perfectly eye level to watch our dog go rolling under that car as she locked up the brakes and slid a couple hundred feet past where she hit the dog. (gravel road) After the dog cleared the back of the car, he jumped up and high-tailed it off to the barn, running like crazy. He was basically unhurt, but our neighbor was SURE she'd killed him right in front of me!

About 10 years after that, that same dog would run out to the school bus and bite the tires as we all climbed onto the bus. Apparently, one day after we had all climbed on and left, the dog hunted down my Dad and was attempting to bark at him for his attention. The bus had actually run over his snout and it locked his teeth together and he couldn't open his mouth. Dad stuck a screwdriver between the dog's teeth and pried his jaws open and he was a happy camper!

[JoeHall]

Curious if your still using single MC, so you have power braking to all 4 wheels?

Yep, still has the OEM style, single reservoir MC, and 11" rear drum brakes, which were correct for Studes with factory DB. The hydrovac, plumbed as original, provides power assist to all four wheels. Matter of fact, the only thing different from OEM is the Turner front brakes.