John,
I don't think I can shed much more light on your situation than you have
already, but I can commiserate. A similar thing happened to me yesterday in my
79 Spitfire. My lovely wife finally bailed me out by coming to pick me up and
we left the Spitfire in a parking lot. Five hours (!) later, we went back to
pick it up. It started right away and I drove it most of the way home (probably
five miles or so). At that point, it died again. It's parked at this moment
about 1 1/2 miles away. We're preparing to go retrieve it now.
My mechanic (via cell phone - you're right, they're awfully handy when driving
a Spitfire....) diagnosed vapor lock. His suggestion is to install an electric
fuel pump. I don't know whether I'll do that or not - any thoughts?
Btw, why did you state that 93 octane fuel may have been your first mistake? I
chose 92 octane over 89, thinking I was doing the right thing.
Ken Tharp
79 Spitfire
West Des Moines, IA
> Filled up with 93 octane in the morning (probably my first bad decision).
> Drive 42 miles one-way to work (second problem you say) with no problems.
> When I was 3/4 of the way back home after work 9 hours later, I got off the
> highway (60 mph) to a 45 mph road. I had to stop for a slow train so I got
> under a tree a turned the motor off. 3-5 minutes later started her up and
> ran just fine for about 100 yards, then...sputtering and death. Started
> right up while moving, 3 seconds later, sputtering and death. I pulled
> into a driveway and began the search. (The car would only crank at thi
> point).
>
> What I found was the fuel line into the fuel pump "felt" pretty empty( I
> had 1/2 a tank of gas). I pulled off the line and got fuel to come out
> though. Hooked that back up and pulled off the line going into the carb.
> Cranked and got NO gas. SO I waited...30-40 minutes and my wife's patience
> later (she was not with me but in spirit by cellphone BTW: Spitfires and
> Cell phones go together nicely!). Cranked and got fuel. Hooked the line
> back up and I was on my way. However, the car ran with a VERY slow Idle
> each time I stopped for a stop sign or light. It usually idles really high
> 1500-2000RPM but was idling at 600-800RPM.
>
> Does this sound like vapor lock? I did some internet seaching on this
> subject and found many people with these same symptoms with the following -
> mechanical pump (older cars) trying to suck not push (i.e. lower the
> pressure = boiling gas into vapor), stopping the car after being on the
> highway, and using high octane fuels and having problems.
>
> If is is, what can I do about preventing it?
>
> MORE INFO: The car has headers and does NOT have the heat sheild that goes
> between the carb and the exhaust manifold that I just found out about this
> morning from a co-worker. Would the absence heat shield cause this
> behavior?
>
> Thanks in advance!
>
> John Cousins
--
Ken Tharp
Ken Tharp Homes, Inc.
West Des Moines, IA
http://www.kthinc.com
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