My son drives a '95 Eclipse, well past it's days of glory, but he's tight with a buck and will drive it until it literally falls apart, so good for him.
The struts on the hatch don't support it any longer, so I picked up a (pricey) set to replace them. He's been supplementing his old struts with a stick. Well, we took off the old struts alright, adn I gotta tell you, I was truly amazed at how heavy that hatch lid is! I mean it's 50+ lbs, easily. The old struts still had quite a bit of pressure, actually, but not enough to hold that dude up.
I took a few moments to clean out the channels on the side of the hatch, which were pretty mildewy and nasty. While I was scrubbing, I bumped the prop stick, and the only part of me that was under the hatch was my right hand lying on the car. That sucker guillotined me quicker than a French monarch. I thought my world had turned upside down! Yanked my hand out and tucked it into my chest, while my son stood wide-eyed and pale. After the first waves of nausea passed, I check, and there was a good trench of skin gone. What saved me from totally crushing my hand, praise the Lord, is that one of the old struts was lying across the hatch opening. If that dude had dropped enough to have latched close, I don't know WHAT I'd have done, but I do reckon I'd be in the hospital now hearing options.
Well, better me than my son, and it did get me pretty good waiter service for the rest of the evening. It's still swollen, but other than a inch and a half long blood-filled trench in the back of my hand, I'm in good shape. But gotta say, whewwwww!
The struts on the hatch don't support it any longer, so I picked up a (pricey) set to replace them. He's been supplementing his old struts with a stick. Well, we took off the old struts alright, adn I gotta tell you, I was truly amazed at how heavy that hatch lid is! I mean it's 50+ lbs, easily. The old struts still had quite a bit of pressure, actually, but not enough to hold that dude up.
I took a few moments to clean out the channels on the side of the hatch, which were pretty mildewy and nasty. While I was scrubbing, I bumped the prop stick, and the only part of me that was under the hatch was my right hand lying on the car. That sucker guillotined me quicker than a French monarch. I thought my world had turned upside down! Yanked my hand out and tucked it into my chest, while my son stood wide-eyed and pale. After the first waves of nausea passed, I check, and there was a good trench of skin gone. What saved me from totally crushing my hand, praise the Lord, is that one of the old struts was lying across the hatch opening. If that dude had dropped enough to have latched close, I don't know WHAT I'd have done, but I do reckon I'd be in the hospital now hearing options.
Well, better me than my son, and it did get me pretty good waiter service for the rest of the evening. It's still swollen, but other than a inch and a half long blood-filled trench in the back of my hand, I'm in good shape. But gotta say, whewwwww!
