[Nobbc] Sunday's drive and a brief technical note...

[Ron Engelhardt]

It was a great ride, we should go through Napa County more often...maybe 
up to Lake Berryessa, haven't done that in a while. I missed Greg's 
wrenching also but have enjoyed his Tech sessions in the past. I'll 
leave the Sunday ride decision up to the majority, seems like Saturday 
won out last time but let's hear from all of you and maybe a change is 
in order. When we started the club, rides were only on Saturdays, then 
for a few years, 2nd Saturday and 4th Sunday. Is it time for another change?

Ron
58 MGA

Andy Preston wrote:
> Ron, that was one of the best rides we've done in a long time.  I loved the
> figure 8 route using different roads all the time.  I'm probably going to
> use that route for another ride in the future.  I'm sorry we got to miss
> Greg wielding the wrenches and analyzing the problem with John's Lotus.  I
> think Greg is one of the most talented car enthusiast I know and willing to
> share information all the time.  We had already bought sandwiches and so
> went off to Kendall Jackson with Norman and had a great picnic in their
> beautiful grounds.  The turn out was great you might want to think about
> going back to Sundays in the future for the second ride.
> 
> Great day and happy 50th. for you car.  
> 
> 
> Andy 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nobbc-bounces at autox.team.net [mailto:nobbc-bounces at autox.team.net] On
> Behalf Of gtwincams
> Sent: Sunday, August 24, 2008 7:33 PM
> To: North Bay British Car Club
> Subject: [Nobbc] Sunday's drive and a brief technical note...
> 
> Hey All,
> 
> That was a great drive today, and what a nice turnout! Thanks Ron for a 
> great job keeping us all in a tight group. It was also great to see the 
> newer members and get some new cars on the drives.
> 
> For those of you who did not attend and those who didn't stay through 
> lunch to see John having troubles starting his Lotus after lunch and the 
> subsequent resuscitation, I thought it might be useful to share with 
> members who may not have gone through this before. 
> 
> After cranking with no throttle to no avail, Walt and Dennis suggested 
> open throttle, so we tried 1/2 and wide-open, both to no avail. After 
> verifying we had spark and the fuel pump was working, we saw that the 
> fuel filter in the engine compartment was almost completely empty. We 
> were smelling fumes and assumed we had fuel flow, but the engine 
> wouldn't even cough. A check of the plugs showed no fouling. Finally, we 
> removed the air filters and with John propping up the Stromberg's air 
> valves 1/2-way (constant-depression carbs won't draw up the pistons, 
> even with throttle butterflies open, until the engine starts sucking 
> air), we cranked with 1/2 throttle and the engine fired up.
> 
> When I lived in So Cal I had an MGB that would cook off gas in the fuel 
> bowls on hot days when parked in the sun, even cooking off fuel in the 
> engine compartment fuel lines. I'd smell what I thought was gas, but was 
> only fumes, and would sometimes not be able to get the engine going 
> until it had cooled enough to clear the fuel line vapor lock and/or fuel 
> bowls. That's what seemed to be the problem today. It was quite a hot 
> day, John's Elan is painted BRG (dark color), and it was parked in the 
> sun. After moving it to the shade, cooling it down, and getting the air 
> intakes open, away she went. The fix for my old MGB was heat shielding 
> on the engine room fuel lines and SU fuel bowls; John's will be cutting 
> two vent holes in the inner fender well, a modification Lotus employed 
> in cars built after John's.
> 
> Have a great week!
> 
> Greg and Trish
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