Right Away, I knew there was a problem. I had rolled the car with gravity to the bottom of the driveway and into the street while in neutral. The car fought me going into 1st gear. It just wouldn't go. No grinding, just no first. Not good. The clutch pedal was as heavy as it should be. I know there were no bubbles in the hydraulics and the system was all brand new. Bad clutch? No, couldn't be..... Rob and I had tested that weeks ago. There must be something else wrong? Was the clutch sticking again?

I shut the car down. It went into first gear easily. I pushed the clutch in and it started with no problem and no stalls. I eased the clutch out and and it noticeably grabbed. I feathered it and could feel the power drop off.  It was working. Second and third went fine although I was being gentle.

Stop sign. Neutral. Brakes are good. No first gear again.

Ignition off, 1st gear, clutch, start. No problem. 2-3 no problem. 

Stop sign. Neutral. Brakes are good. No first gear again.

This ain't good. The open road awaited and the gas station was less than a mile away with two more intersections I knew I could safely navigate. I needed gas. I went for it.

The car sounded amazing. The roar of the throaty 6 through the Monza pipes was music to my ears. While wanting to be thrilled with the momentous occasion, I was thoroughly disappointed and worried. My cash reserves were gone. If I had to put more money into the car to fix yet another problem there was no way I could sell it for a profit.

On top of it all, it vibrated like an out of balance washing machine and the dim headlights barely helped in the fading sunlight.

Good news? The transmission worked, the overdrive operated in 3/4 as it should, and the motor ran reasonably fair. Well, that's something...