<VV> RS Loss of Power - drivin' me nuts!

[Ron]

Gas tank venting isn't one of the items that you listed so I would suggest 
that it be checked.
Also, low voltage at the coil is another item to watch that could be easily 
monitored with a voltmeter in the cab and a wire to the coil.  You could 
also hot wire it when it loses power to see if it makes a difference.  If it 
does, try changing the ignition switch.
Good luck,
RonH

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Western Canada CORSA" <westerncanadacorsa at shaw.ca>
To: "WCC List Server (E-mail)" <corvairs at cybrus.net>; "Virtual Vairs 
(E-mail)" <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
Cc: <patiomatt at aol.com>; "Joe Macmurchie (E-mail)" <jrmac at shaw.ca>
Sent: Friday, December 23, 2005 10:45 AM
Subject: <VV> RS Loss of Power - drivin' me nuts!


> Hey all, best of the season to you!
>
> I'm going to give a rather detailed explination, as best I can of the
> symptoms my RS (The "Yuma" RS) is exhibiting in hopes somebody can put 
> their
> finger on the source of my problem.
>
> Last spring, I purchased a '61 Rampside w/ Scamper Camper in Yuma AZ and
> drove it home, 1700miles, with the help of Mike Weirmeir.  Since then I 
> have
> put an additional 9000miles on it, using it as my daily driver.  It is a 
> gas
> to drive.  But on long distance trips, at about the half hour to fortyfive
> minute mark it begins to suffer a loss of power.  If I pull over to the 
> side
> of the road, wait for ten mintues or so, then fire it back up it's good to
> go for another half hour to fortyfive minutes.
>
> The vehicle in question is a '61 Rampside, 4spd with what appears to be a
> 80hp motor sporting '62 or later heads.  It has both a mechanical and
> electrical fuel pump.  The P/O had installed the electrical pump on a 
> switch
> for priming the motor as it had only been used for a few months each year
> prior to my purchase.
>
> Every two weeks my job takes me "up island" requiring driving at 55mph up
> and over a couple of small mountains with times in excess of the afore
> mentioned half hour to fortyfive minutes.  The balance of the time is 
> spent
> driving around Victoria doing shorter trips.
>
> I have made the following changes/repairs, not necessarily in this order,
> but one at a time to try an isolate the problem, or in the case of the
> alternator, because it was required for other reasons.
>
> -replaced the generator with a one wire alternator
> -installed a ground strap, body to engine
> -replaced the points with Pertronix I
> -replaced the bronze carb filters with new.
> -replaced the inline fuel filter with a clear model.  It is mounted
> horizontally so it never fills up with gas, there is an pocket of air that
> remains above the inlet/outlets.
> -dropped the tank to clean it out and check the sock.  I used the 
> electrical
> pump to drain the suspected clogged tank, and it had good pressure.  I 
> then
> spent about two hours swirling 5gal of gas in the tank and draining it
> through a filtered funnel repeatedly.  I managed to collect about a 
> thimble
> full of fine black dirt.  I also cracked the carbs and cleaned them out.
> There was a some very fine particles in the bottom of the float bowls.
> -replaced the coil.  It had been a Neihoff high performance coil 
> originally
> installed in Yuma.  It was replaced with a standard Blue Streak.
> -replaced the ballast wire to the coil, with an external ballast resistor
> and new wire.  At this point I also added a new wire bypassing the ballast
> resistor to provide a full 12volts to the Pertronix.
>
> I think I've narrowed it down to electrical/ignition.  Here's why.
>
> In the days before I dropped the tank it was running rough virtually all 
> the
> time.  Running with or without the electrical pump on had no effect.  So I
> decided to drop the tank.  I did the carbs and cleaned the tank, 
> reinstalled
> it, with no change in the way it was running.  I pulled out the old 
> Neihoff
> coil, reinstalled it, and viola! it was running better again.  Not quite 
> as
> strong as when the fresh Blue Streak had gone in a few weeks before, but
> better than it had been.  So the last couple of days was my first extended
> trip since the tank dropping/back to the old coil bit.  Sure enough, at 
> the
> half hour mark on Wednesday morning, a loss of power and a wait at the 
> side
> of the road, this is with the Neihoff coil.  So when I get up to Port
> Alberni I take the Blue Streak back to the store I had purchased it from 
> and
> get a replacement.  The new coil goes in and I drive back to Victoria, 
> with
> only a short stop to use the facilities and grab a cup of Timmy's, over 
> two
> hours of driving, no problems.  The trip back "upisland" on Thursday 
> morning
> is puntuated with stops, so no extended driving is done.  But the trip 
> home
> is the worst yet.  I get to about the half hour point, she looses power,
> more quickly than usual too.  I pull over, wait a good 20 minutes, expect 
> to
> be able to get another half hour in... no dice.  After about only ten
> minutes, power drops off, very quickly.  I manage to find a lighted 
> parking
> lot, where I can put the old Neihoff back in.  This allows maybe a 20 
> minute
> stretch, but still one more stop before I can get home.
>
> Now the one other thing I've noticed is that the ignition switch gets warm
> while all of this is going on.  Not "burning" warm, but it feels about the
> same as the forehead of someone with a fever.  Is this normal?
>
> Electrical stuff isn't my strong suit, so instructions for diagnosing
> possible solutions would be appreciated.
>
> Regards,
> Joel
>
>
>
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