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[oletrucks] Is It Vapor Lock?

To: oletrucks@autox.team.net
Subject: [oletrucks] Is It Vapor Lock?
From: The Perfesser <perfessr@songs.com>
Date: Tue, 22 Feb 2000 12:29:25 -0600
Hello, list...

I have a 1949 Chevy Pickup... I'd call it "original restored" - most of the 
underpinnings are original, but the engine is rebuilt, and it has been 
painted and re-upholstered.  You can see a picture online at 
http://songs.com/pws/xmas99.html .  I've only had it about 3 months, 
basically it looks great and runs great, but three times now it has "conked 
out" and refused to restart, and on two of those occasions I've had to tow 
it a fair distance to get it home.

Each time it has 'conked out" like this, I have been unable to restart 
it.  Starter works fine - one time it wore the battery down to zilch, hence 
the tow-job - but there's no getting it to turn over.   So I've taken it to 
a mechanic, who didn't get to it till the next morning, and each time, the 
mechanic had no trouble starting it - even in the "dead battery" case.

In the first two instances, I could see that there was no fuel in the 
transparent fuel filter; also, I'd been experiencing some "surge" going up 
hills and so suspected the fuel pump.  After the second instance, we 
replaced the fuel pump, and it has in fact been running much more smoothly 
ever since (not that I drive it all that much - like, twice since the pump 
was replaced).

This past Sunday, despite the new fuel pump, it conked out again and I 
could not restart it.  Called AAA.  They towed me home... and as soon as he 
lowers the truck in my driveway, I tried to start it and... fwhoomp... it 
started right up.

A neighbor who knows a little about old cars listened to my tale of woe and 
suggested that my problem is caused by  "vapor lock"   I'm not really sure 
what "vapor lock" is, though I've the phrase hundreds of times.

Does this sound like "vapor lock" to any of you, or could there be 
something more fundamental, like a failing magneto or something?  Are these 
engines/carburetors prone to vapor lock?   And, can vapor lock be so total 
that it would keep a truck from starting for over an hour?

If it is "vapor lock," can anybody tell me a) how to prevent it in the 
future and b) what to do about it if it happens again?

If it's not "vapor lock," then how do I go about trouble shooting a problem 
which only appears intermittently?  (I'm fortunate that, so far, it has 
only happened in cases when it has been easy to pull off the road... that I 
might not be quite so lucky next time makes me nervous every time I leave 
my driveway.

I confess I know little about old trucks or carburetors.  I wanted to take 
auto mechanics in high-school but was supposed to be on a fast track to 
college (lotta good THAT did me...) so, now that I need the knowledge, it 
ain't there. I learned a lot about engines when I was a kid (anybody 
remember the "Visible V-8" model?) but at this point I've forgotten more 
than I never knew, and my knowledge of carburetors in particular is 
non-existent.  Can anybody steer me toward a good book on carb fundamentals?

I am grateful for this list... there are not a lot of vintage chevy truck 
owners in my neighborhood, so it's nice to find a fellowship of like minded 
folks out here on the Net.

Look forward to whatever help anybody can offer... thanks very much.

--PS

***************************************
Paul Schatzkin, aka The Perfesser
General Manager, songs.com unit of Gaylord Digital
shipping - 3927 Cambridge Ave #2 Nashville TN  37205
mail: P.O. Box 121616 Nashville TN 37212
ph:  615-298-1122 - fax: 615-298-4825
e-mail: perfessr@songs.com
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