Of course, you have to follow Miq's rule of apeasement, and keep a stick
of gum in the glove box of the volvo. You see, everytime something you find
on the side of the road (or in a mini market) fixes your car, you are
obligated by the car gods (and the Prince of Darkness in particular) to
retain either a portion of said item, or a duplicate, for the rest of your
car ownership. Failure to do so will result in dire consequences! Namely
the same problem will manifest itself again and again requiring more
Rube-Goldbergesque fixes.
To date, my Buh Guy carries the following bits to apease the car gods:
Small hickory stick, the same diameter and the inside of the fuel
lines
piece of rubber bungy cord (I've fixed 3 lbc's with this, my own
leaking oil sender, Scott Fisher's MGB with similar fate, and
recently a AH BN-7 with a stuck brake booster see comments below)
bit of old trailering harness (horse) used as a fan belt
a leather glove with three fingers cut off, was missing only 2
fingers when I found it, I still have 2 more fixes in the glove to
hold the line to a spark plug.
a fist sized piece of granite, you figure this one out.
I keep these in a Castrol GTX 20-50 case that also has extra oil, brake
fluid, brake cleaner, wd-40, duct tape, bailing wire, real lead 104, ether
startup, and a cheapie $30 125 piece tool set from Kragen/Schmucks.
The car has never duplicated the problems that caused me to find these road
side treasures. My wife has tried to convince me that that is because I
fixed the problem the correct way after I got back to a garage, but I know
the truth.
Comment on progresses:
We have finially moved (but not unpacked) and the final residing place has
been fulfilled. This move was combined with me doing sub-contrator work on
our own addition to the house, at the same time I was working close to 70
hours a week. Not fun. However! I did manage to get the Buh Guy running
again after my still-alive-to-turn-three-but-just-barely son decided that the
car needed some "Go-fast" pellets, like the car on the Disney channel. For
the uninitiated, "Go-fast" pellets are anything but. In reality they are
small plastic balls, about 4 mm in diameter that are normally used in
soft-air pistols. Five or six can really do a number on your car, I highly
recommend it.
I guess it is really Roland's fault, with all his posting about gas tank
woes, Buh Guy decided that he needed some woes in his gas tank and somehow
convinced my kid to get the "Go-fast" pellets.
You might remember that we were in the process of moving, well the first
things I moved were my tools, because the new place has a pretty bitchen shop
that was sorely in need of tools. All I had were my swiss army knife and a
slip-joint pliers (the cheap tool box was in another car), but I managed to
drain the tank (gas tastes really yucky and makes your eyes water an amazing
amout when you try to drink it); drop the tank; remove "Go-fast" pellets;
re-install the tank; run new fuel line; rebuild electrical fuel pump and try
it out. Nothing. I then remembered the Prince of Darkness and realized that
he had infused himself in my Delco-AC fuel pump, so I rushed out and
purchased another one (after consulting with Dr. Fisher on the phone).
I poped it in, turned the key and listed to the ticking for about 10 minutes,
then primed the Webers and the pump with a few mouthfuls of gas. This time
it stopped ticking almost immediately. The moment of truth, flip the
throttle on the carb with my fingers, and push the remote started (all
british cars should be able to be started from within the engine compartment)
BARRRRROOOOOOOOM! within the first quarter turn on the starter. I took the
car out for a joy ride or two, and then proceded to drive the car up to the
Columbia Gorge for the Austin Healey West Coast Meet that was happening last
week. So after sitting dormant for quite a few weeks, Buh Guy then drove 388
miles without a hitch. Its a good thing I kept a "Go-fast" pellet in my
Castrol box.
"Go-fast" pellets, we make your car go on a fast.
--
Miq Millman miq@wv.mentorg.com miq_millman@rainbow.mentorg.com
Mentor Graphics 8005 Boeckman Rd, Wilsonville OR 97070 503 685 1492 C2148
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