Mike Lewellen wrote:
>
> I was stranded in my "B" twice in one
> day. I ran out of gas first, that was my own mistake!
<snip>
> Now without fail, the car will not
> start until it is cool.
> My thoughts are:
>
> 1. check to make sure the spec's on the fuel pump are right.
> 2. force the problem to happen & then see if there is any fuel being
> pumped.
My thoughts:
First off, start the car from cold and go on your five mile drive and
back into the garage. Check your plugs and if they are lean (quite
white) then you have fuel starvation. If so...
Just before you ran out of gas you vaccuumed up all the crap in the
bottom of the tank. It's time to dislodge it. First of all, replace the
fuel filter. If it's before the pump you should then used compressed air
to blow air back into the gas tank. Remove the cap of the tank of
course. Many gas inlets have a fine mesh screen at the end, in the tank,
and you may have gotten it covered in goo.
If the fuel filter is under the bonnet, you should blow the fuel line
from back to front first. Disconnect close to the fuel tank and blow up
to the front where the fuel filter was. Then blow air down into the tank
as above.
I don't use SU fuel pumps so someone else can tell you if you can blow
through one of those pumps. The "pump in a can" types can be blown
through easily.
I think you would be truly shocked at the amount of crap in the bottom
of a 25 year old fuel tank.
Odds and ends:
If you weren't running a fuel filter, sell the car as you'll make a
perfect DPO. It will now be time to clean out the float bowls on the
carbs. That may not be such a bad idea anyway.
If you have SUs with the float bowls mounted on the side of the carb
it's only three screws. The first one you pick should be the one where
the gas line fills first. That is usually the front one. Don't be
surprised to find water and a layer of grime at the bottom.
Don't have more than a half of tank of gas when you blow air back into
the tank. It'll make a hell of a puddle coming out of the gas inlet
otherwise.
You do have a fire extinguisher, don't you? This will be one of those
times it should be sitting right next to the car.
My advice is free, use accordingly.
Bob Allen, Kansas City, '69CGT, '75TR6
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