Mike,
this might sound crazy, but if they are PenDot maintained roads, why not
hit your local maintence office and let them know what and where it
happened?
They pobably will not fix your car, but may fix the road...it has
happened.
Tim-Pittsburgh
P86turismo@aol.com wrote:
>
> Hello all,
>
> You know, I took my MGB into six states this year, gone off-road to
> catch up to the Blue Ridge parkway, and driven in snow a foot and a half
> deep. My exhaust system, though tired, always held up.
>
> And then I came home to Pennsylvania, where the state flower is the
> "Construction Ahead" sign.
>
> I was driving through town today, happily delivering parts to the
> post office (Gary, pls e-mail me!) when I saw it. In the middle of my lane,
> there was a pothole that resembled a bathtub. In the middle of this pothole
> stood a manhole cover about as wide as my MG, and possibly just as tall. To
> change lanes would be death by Suburban. I straddled the pothole and - BANG!
> My exhaust noise went from a melodic burble to a tooth-jarring growl.
>
> Seeing as I had planned an enjoyable afternoon trip, I was already on
> the other side of town. I would have to brave traffic, construction, and
> potholes to get home to make any sort of repair. I did my best, with the
> exhaust making my windows vibrate in their tracks and every vendor stick
> their head out into the street to see who uncorked their muffler today. I
> thought I would be OK until I got to the train tracks.
>
> I never had a chance. Anyone who lives in PA knows that our railroad
> crossings are bad enough, but under serious construction they have been known
> to swallow VW's alive. Of course, the same railroad tracks that I had to
> cross to get home were under resurfacing. For those of you ignorant to the
> ways of PennDOT, that's where they remove an already scarred layer of
> pavement from the road, and leave the site unmanned for three months. This
> process leaves a two to three inch trench on either side of the tracks, which
> causes flat tires, bent rims, etc.
>
> I gave it a go, and promptly ripped the exhaust system off from the
> center resonator back. I parked the car, grabbed my roadster towel, and went
> back to collect the wounded. The pipe that was once straight, including a
> muffler, was now bent into a pattern that reminded me of the "Z" emblem on
> the Datsun 240's. The pipe was crimped in two paces, clearly unsalvagable.
> I strapped it to my luggage rack and limped home, rattling the panes of glass
> in every house in the neighborhood.
>
> At home, I laid out the parts to see how it happened. The manhole
> cover caught the one hanger and pulled it off, distorting the pipe and
> causing the resonator to drop down. The resurfacing project caught the
> dragging piece of pipe, bent it, and spit it out the rear of the car. In the
> process, the muffler popped up and tore the ever-lovin' s#!t out of my rear
> valence. Great - more bodywork. The pipe system scraped off the gas tank,
> barely missed the rear brake pipe, and put a dent in my trunk floor.
>
> I calmed myself down, and called the municipal system. They seemed
> to care less, but they were kind enough to tell me who to see about the
> problem. I'm going to be putting up a very strongly-worded website up about
> this incident as soon as I get the chance. All will be documented.
>
> As it is, I could understand if I lost my exhaust while I was on a
> farm road in NC. I could see if the pipes were torn off in a snowstorm. I
> might even be sympathetic to PennDOT if this happened going over a speed
> bump. But in the middle of a business district?!?
>
> So, now I need a new exhaust system, probably from the downpipe back.
> If I can get the city to pay for this, that'd be great, but if not I won't
> skimp. Any suggestions on a system with sporting pretentions that will ride
> high enough for city driving?
>
> Sorry for rambling/venting. It needed to be done, and my story will
> be told on the 'net...After I get some satisfaction for all those taxes I
> pay.
>
> Mike Lishego
> 1974 MGB (Exhausted)
> 1986 Plymouth Turismo Turbo (Afraid of the real world roads)
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