TJC
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- Tony
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2020
- Threads
- 45
- Messages
- 3,930
- Reaction score
- 9,844
- Location
- North Carolina
- Vehicle(s)
- 93 Miata, 05 Ranger 4x4, 20 Ranger 4x4, 23 CX-5
LOL, Yes! I was 16. I pulled the engine out of a 1958 Nash Metropolitan (rod knock), and was moving the lift away from the engine bay when the chain snapped.
BTW, These were esoteric strange cars, The truck deck was welded closed, and there was a flat blade bolt that held the back seat in place. The only way into the trunk. There was a thumb switch above the horn on the steering wheel that you moved left or right for the turn signals. The key switch was embedded into a circular wood knob that turned the headlights on when rotated, and the 3 on the tree shift arm went into a ball socket on the dash near the steering column. See the second picture. That is pretty much all I remember about it. The inline 4 cyl engine was much bigger than the 4 cylinder in the 64 Opel Kadette that we had. I remember driving it... and boy was it slow, 0-60 in 20+ seconds!
Click to zoom in to see the details I'm talking about.
We were dirt poor and unless something was life threatening we didn't see as doctor, let alone a hospital.
Over time the joint in my big toe fused, but the side of the toe developed a calcium buildup making my shoe uncomfortable to wear, but I soldiered on.
About every 5-7 years I'd step on something that would flex that joint and it would break free (bare footed). Very painful for several months until it froze up again.
By the time I turned 45 I had had enough when the joint broke free again. I went to the doctor, and asked him to cut the toe off. I actually told him that if he didn't, "I'd tie twine around it and chop it off myself with an axe!" I wanted that 5 year cycle to end.
He looked at me, laughed out loud, then stated, "Lets get an x-ray, I think we can fix this", and scheduled outpatient surgery... The x-ray was unclear about what needed to be done - too much buildup to see the joint clearly, but he was confident. I'd already instructed him that if he couldn't fix it, cut it off. I didn't want to wake up having to deal with the problem anymore.
He cut a nice "L" shaped incision, cleaned the buildup away, and found a bone chip lodged in the joint. I had slight arthritis in the joint from it not moving and he cleaned that up. Closed the incision and was done. Less than 30 minutes!
I regained motion, but for 3 years the toe felt like it was on fire from the joint to the tip of the toe. A steady constant burning sensation.
Turns out he cut/damaged a nerve while working on it. Funny thing is after a while I learned to simply ignore it....seems you get used to pain.
Woke up one day 3 years on and the burning was gone. Been fine ever since. I guess the nerve grew back as I can still feel my toe where the burning was located.
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