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Get your own Free Home PageThis is the sad tale of the last days of my Statesman.
The Statesman was becoming sick:
Driving from Brisbane to Cairns in the middle of Summer, the water pump started to go. I pulled into an autopro or something and bought a replacement but had nowhere to change it. I keep driving for a while but at Gin Gin I decided that it would be better to be safe, so I pulled up under a tree and got out the tools.
Needless to say, I needed a socket spanner that I didn't have. Luckily there is a hardware store in Gin Gin. Unluckily it was closed for a 2 hour lunch. When it finally opened, all it had was a dodgy shifter, which did NOT work (though has given years of faithful service since).
So I kept driving. About 50 km North, the bearing went. and the waterpump came apart. And the fan, which is attached to the pump, shot forward. Through the radiator.
By filling the radiator with water every km, I made it to a roadside service station and motel. Where there was a guy with a set of tools, and about as much mechanical knowledge as me (ie, nothing at that time).
He drove me to the next town, where no-one had a HQ radiator, but I bought some epoxy putty and sort of patched the radiator together (I've been a fan of the putty ever since). Then we changed the pump, sort of straightened out the blades of the fan, and got the thing going again.
All of this assistance was given without me being able to pay for it, as neither the motel or the nearby town had an ATM. I mailed the motel the money about a month later.
The radiator leaked a bit since then, I finally replaced it 6 years later.
After six years of running the radiator dry and overheating the engine, the pistons started to shatter. One day I was just driving along and one went. I drove home slowly.
After stripping the head off I discovered the problem, no piston and lots of tiny fragments of metal spread throughout the oil system.
So I used the jack to lift the engine out of its mounts, wedged it in place with lumps of wood, and was able to take the sump off. The piston fragments and conrod came out, the engine went back together, the pushrod and rockers for that piston were removed so that the valves stayed shut and I drove it like that for another year, including trips from Brisbane to Toowoomba and the Gold coast (about 100km each way).
Then another piston went. This time it was helped by the head corroding though and dumping a whole lot of water into the cylinder ->hydraulic lock.
I still made it home, but got a new engine ($300!) after that. Stripping the old engine down, I found that every single piston was nearly cracked though. There was 1 uncracked ring in the whole engine. The cams were worn though the case hardening, and the head was leaking water into the oil at about 1 litre/minute. Still not too bad for 300 or 400 000 km (only a 5 digit odometer)
While driving home a year later (luckily I was going home, not there) from my job, I had the front universal joint on my driveshaft snap. This resulted in the front of the shaft dropping to the ground and bouncing along the road. In the process of dropping the shaft snapped my handbrake cable, putting them out of action. This occurred about 20 metres after the last turnoff from the freeway so I was forced to coast along until I came to a breakdown bay where I was able to pull in. Fortunately this bay was flat as I
So... Standing by the side of the road I had to change out of my suit and into some old clothes that I luckily had in the car. Then I was able to get under the car and find out what the problem was. Then I had to find a phone, and eventually was able to get the car taken back home. ($50, which is hardly more than taking a taxi would have cost!)
The next day I rollerbladed to the shops and bought a new universal joint, which I installed. The car worked O.K. now although there was still some imbalance in the driveline which I hoped to deal with soon.
Ten months later, it happened again. This time I was able to leave the car by the side of the road and hitchhike home. The next day I rollerbladed back bearing the replacement parts and tools. Now all I needed was some time to myself while doing the repairs. Five minutes later there was a car accident next to where I parked the car. What with the Ambulances, Police and spectators I had to work in rather crowded condidtions, but was able to get it going and drive home.
Once there I took it apart again and redid it. It seemed that the bouncing along the road at 100 km/h that occurred the first time it broke had damaged where the circlips were supposed to secure the bearings, so they kept coming out again. Some use of the ever necessary file meant that I could fit them in place, but it was still too unbalanced to drive much above 60 km/h.
Lastly, it had severe, endemic rust.
Then I got a job and had to move to Sydney. The car would have needed repairs in order to make it that far; especially a new drive shaft.
And once in New South Wales the car would be subject to yearly roadworthy certificate inspections (which it would not pass).
Finally, now that I had a real job, I wanted to buy a real car.
So it was time to get rid of it.
I had recieved an expression of interest from the South East Queensland Statesman Owners Club, but when they actually saw what condition it was in they backed away, hissing.
So it was off the the wreckers, who reacted the same way. Eventually, one hour before I left for the airport, I rang up and had it towed away for free, having first swapped out the stereo, the newish battery, and anything else of conceivable value.
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