> Last week I asked about round-arch Midgets, as a friend had one.
>
> Well, I now own that car. Silly me, I couldn't pass up a nearly rust-free
> 1275 Midget. It needs some work, as it hasn't been on the road for a while,
> but it's basically solid, shows good compression, has a straight body, a new
> top, a rebuilt gearbox/new clutch, new carpet, etc., and it was cheap.
>
> This weekend I'll attack it with an eye toward making it driveable (new
> battery, new coil, install turn signal switch, mount bonnet). With any luck,
> I'll get to (illegally) run around town in it by Sunday.
>
> I do have one initial question. Can anyone, off the top of their head, draw
> me an ASCII diagram of the fuel line routing for a 1275 with dual HS4's? I
> had one bad experience with ruptured fuel lines on a Spite, and I don't want
> to repeat the incident.
HS2s, actually; the HS4s are on MGBs. You can put HS4s on a Midget with
the proper manifold, but they're not stock.
The tricky bit with the fuel lines on post-68 Spridgets is the return for
the vapor recovery bit. It's all coated in braided steel, if that makes
you feel any better. The line comes from the right rear corner of the
fuel tank up the middle of the car, climbs up the inside of the engine
compartment, crosses over the firewall behind the battery, then runs
forward along the inner fender on the driver's side. That should be where
your fuel filter is. From there, on the later cars, there is a single
line going to the forward carb, then a fuel take-off from the top of
that carb to the rear carb. Earlier cars had the T in the fuel line,
which was probably what split on your Sprite; they're notorious for
that. Then there's a vapor return line going to the charcoal canister
over the passenger's footwell, and that redirects condensed fuel back
to the gas tank. Or it's supposed to. Note that if you split the hose
going into the charcoal canister, you will fill the engine bay (and,
if it's a cold day and you have the top up because you're taking your
daughter to day care, the passenger's compartment) with blue smoke, just
as if the oil on the outside of the engine block had caught fire.
> BTW, the engine is sans air pump. The holes in the head are plugged. Will
> this cause me any problems? Texas has no emissions testing.
Nope. I ran mine that way for years. It gains you about 2 or 3 bhp to
run without the pump, not a big deal one way or another. If you have to
reinstall it at any--what am I saying???
Oh, yeah, Ken, it'll RUIN the car. You'd better send it to me; I have
a full air pump complete with air injection rail for a 1275. I'll keep
the car till I'm sure it's working right. :-)
--Scott "So should I buy that Cortina or not???" Fisher
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