Rather Urgent: Can I get home with a dying clutch?

[Azheim]

I've got a 1988 Pontiac Fiero Formula, with 73,000 miles on it. I was about to finish my last final here at college and get heading home, when my car started acting up. I did some browsing around the forums here and believe that my clutch may be going out - I have very low acceleration, and when I rev the engine, my rpms go up without the mph increasing significantly.

So here's my question: I was planning to drive 800 miles home tomorrow, from Virginia to Michigan. How quickly do clutches go out? Does my clutch have a prayer of making it, or do I need to start looking for another way back?

One bit of background information: Last week my brake fluid and clutch fluid ran out, and I bled both. Is there any possibility that I may have screwed something up there, or is it definitely going out, and that just happened to coincide?

Thanks in advance for your advice! I know fairly little about cars, and am anxious to get things set right so I can go home!

['88 Dread GT]

Well, if it were a few miles to home I wouldn't hesitate. But 800 miles??! No way. I seen clutches go bad without knowing there's a problem but you definitely know there's a major problem with it and to drive it 800 miles is begging for trouble. And if you're not home and home is 800 miles away your looking at a lot for labor to change a clutch on a Fiero. Not to mention all the cringing you see from the mechanics at a garage when a Fiero pulls in...

Only advice I can give is to fix it if you love the car and think it's worth it. IMO, any good '88 GT or Formula is worth it. You're definitly in for a LONG trip if you try to drive it 800 miles with that clutch. Good luck!

=-Dread

[Azheim]

Thanks for the input, Dread. It's not what I wanted to hear, but kinda what I expected. I just wanted to make sure before parking my car for the summer, and hitching a ride back home. I agree that the car is worth fixing, but definitely can't justify it right now. Ah well; now I know. Thanks again.