<VV> Self pity and whining

[John Kepler]

-----Original Message-----
From: virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org
[mailto:virtualvairs-bounces at corvair.org] On Behalf Of Frank DuVal
Sent: Thursday, May 04, 2006 8:32 AM
To: norman.Witte at comcast.net
Cc: virtualvairs at corvair.org
Subject: Re: <VV> Self pity and whining



norman.Witte at comcast.net wrote:

>
>Anyway, tonight I came home from work, grabbed the convertible, and went
back to the office to get some work done.  Last fall the car had this
problem where if you drove it for awhile and then parked it for a short
time, it would start, but then sputter to a stop. 
>

Classic vapor lock.


You think?  Ya'know guys, maybe it's just me or where I live (northwest
Ohio), but in 40 or so years of dicking with cars.....I've seen an actual
"vapor-lock" twice.....both of them in sustained 90+ degree heat!  Anybody
had much sustained 90+ degree heat lately?  I'll buy a fuel delivery
problem......but think that Mr. Witte had been around the park enough times
to deal with something like vapor-lock without venting on this list!  Time
to do a little "outside the box" thinking.

These cars are old enough to vote, and tend to sit around for extended
amounts of time.....this can lead to some REALLY weird and unique problems.
Case-in-point.  My '67 Monza Convertible project is nearing completion after
4 friggin' years of work and way too much money.  The only saving-grace in
this too complicated project was that the thing ran well when I bought it.
Body work done, car painted, MUCH sheet-metal and structural work
completed.....it's time to back the car out of the shop to get it to the guy
that's putting on the top.  Car starts, will run at idle semi half-assed,
but sputters to a stop when you attempt to apply power.....sound like you
Norm?  I ran through the "obvious suspect" list without locating any
"smoking gun".  No matter how the "logic" looked, the fact was that the
carbs were starving for fuel.  The pump was working well, there was plenty
of fuel in the tank, the timing was within spec.  Vapor lock?  It was 40
tooth-chattering degrees in the shop.....I couldn't get "vapor-lock" with a
blow-torch!  Time to think outside the box!  

I put a vac-pump on the fuel line at the pump inlet.  Lots of vacuum but
very little fuel!  Time to break the paradigm.  I broke the fuel line at the
tank and got on the line back at the pump with compressed air.  Out blew a
wad of crud 3 inches long.......a big wad of spider-web impregnated with
eviscerated Asian Lady-Bug shells!  In the years the car was sitting getting
worked on.....including more than 2 years with the fuel tank out, that fuel
line became a popular nesting site for the inevitable insects that
out-buildings tend to accumulate.  FWIW, I had a similar problem in a brake
line job I did years ago.....the spiders at the FLAPS were the culprits
there.....it's why I ALWAYS blow out new lines before I install them, but
didn't think about the ones sitting open in the car for years!

Over the years, I've seen a trashed engine due to a "Mouse-nest Induced"
over-heating problem, bought a 69 Monza with a "blown engine" that turned
out to be walnuts stored in the fan-housing by a confused squirrel making
the poor mill sound like a rock-crusher.

If all you can deal with are "conventional" problems....stick to less than
10 year old Toyotas.  Unique cars breed "unique" problems that often require
some "unconventional" logic to solve.  If an engine has fuel, air, and spark
at the right time.....it HAS to run, period!  If it doesn't, one of those
conditions specified doesn't exist, and the nature of our hobby, as my
examples clearly show, can require some logic as unique as our cars.  It's
just that simple!

John Kepler
65 Corsa 140
67 Monza 110 Convert.
69 Monza 110

66 Buick 425 Wildcat