I've been trying to prepare my TF for The Shaker Square British Car Day
here in Cleveland and everything went wrong. First the car wouldn't start.
Spark=yes, fuel = no. Fuel pump is just clicking it's little heart out non
stop. I trace back the problem to an inline compression valve just south of
the pretrol tank. The P.O. put it there to allow an easy way to stop the
fuel flow when you want to remove the fuel pump or change the inline fuel
filter he also put in. This is okay, except when the valve itself clogs,
most likely with sediment from the fuel tank. No problem says I as I go to
Sears Hardware to get a new valve. But gee, was it a 1/4" compression valve
or a 3/8" valve? . . . I"ll just get em both and return the one I don't
use. Clever me right? . . . wrong.
Now I've got the fuel line off, my S.O. is under the car with her finger on
the main feed of the pretrol tank bravely keeping most (some) of the fuel
in the tank. Now I'll just put on the new valve, but horrors the 3/8" is
too big and the 1/4" is tooooo small. Petrol everywhere! (You saw this
coming didn't you!) What I needed is a 5/16" valve. So wrap a baggie around
the fuel feed, tie it off with a rubber band and try to find a 5/16" valve.
Count 'em SEVEN assorted ie. auto parts, plumbing supply, and hardware
stores later I give up. Seems that nobody carries 5/16", special order
sure, but not in stock. I settle for a 5/16" union to eliminate the valve
(till I can find one) and head home. I'm not real happy either as the guy
in one of the plumbing supply had told me that all this was for nott anyway
as so says he, "compression fittings are NOT reusable". He claimed that
it's all going to leak anyway if I didn't re do the fuel line. But not
wanting to buy a 50' rool of 5/16" copper tube that he DIDN'T have anyway
to replace about 4' of fuel tubing so it wouldn't leak. I figure since I'm
the owner of a roll of teflon thread tape, I'll wrap the threads and take
my chances.
Naturally it all goes together just fine, well I won't even complain about
one little squirt of petrol in (just ONE!) eye. And no leaks either. Okay,
admire the job, start the car and and, and, and, it STILL won't start.
Lets see now, fuel pump is still clicking non stop and no fuel to the
carbs. Petrol is now getting TO the fuel pump, but the pump isn't
delivering anything to the carbs. Well I just simply put on another known
good fuel pump that I happened to have, but not without paying the price.
ie more fuel everywhere (remember the fuel shut off valve is now gone)
including my hair and the OTHER eye. But with the pump replaced, the
pretrol get all the way to the carbs and the car starts and runs fine.
End of story right? ..... heh heh heh, put down the hood take her around
the block and I see that the amp meter is on the negative side and the NO
CHARGE red light is on. What to do, I test the generator by the book, no
voltage. I have a spare generator, also known good, which I install without
ceremony to find the red light still on and still NO positive dial
indication. So, what's next? . . . the regulator, the book says it can be
tested while still on the car. Just disconnect the brown & blue wire and
the brown & white wire from the regulator, twist them together, put a volt
meter to ground and the "D" terminal on the regulator, rev up the engine
and see what the voltage is when the meter stabilizes. You compare this
with the chart in the shop manual and you know if the regulator needs
adjustment. Quick and easy . . .
Let me tell you friend, when you have the brown/blue and the brown/white
wires from the regulator twisted together and you're doing the regulator
check, do NOT let these wires hit ground. What happens next is NOT very
pleasant. These wires weld themselves to the ground they touched, lots of
sparks and everything goes dead. Car dies, wont even turn over. The only
thing that works is the horn. Funny though the two fuses didn't blow. So
much for testing the regulator. Just so happens I do have this other known
good spare regulator. On it goes and hopefully everything is working again
. . . NOT! By now though it's 2:15am and I've run out of things to replace.
I check the battery, 12.8 volts, I jiggle wires under the dash and can get
things to work intermittently. The red light in the middle works sometimes.
Depends on how I jiggle. Turn the key on & off a few, jiggle the wires and
if I do it just right I can get the ammeter to tell me there's still no
charge and although if I leave the red lite alone it won't work, I can
move it slightly off it's socket and get it to glow. It's not a bad ground,
this just started when I zapped the regulator. Before then it glowed red
full time.
This is a low miles older restoration with a new harness that was pretty
well sorted out. I've run out of things to try. Why won't it charge? I need
to fix this on Friday, or I'm going to miss the car show saturday.
Suggestions encouraged.
Regards
George Processing '55TF
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