[Spridgets] Shakedown run for Midget 50th

Lee Fox lee.fox at sbcglobal.net
Thu Jul 7 13:40:41 MDT 2011


The other day it's not raining or ungodly hot so I decide to take my '79 
Midget for a 200 mile round-trip highway run to the family farm to see 
if it, and me, are up to the task of getting to Elkhart Lake.

Car ran surprisingly well and seemed right at home doing 65 down the 
interstate. Just before the exit I need, about 80 miles into the trip, 
my yellow oil pressure "idiot" light pop on and scares the bejebus out 
of me! Good thing I also have a mechanical gauge that was showing a nice 
60 psi.

Got off and went to the nearby McD to change my shorts and sort things 
out. Circuit checks out. Bad pressure switch. This is a replacement 
Borg-Warner switch from O'Reilly's that has failed me before. They offer 
a lifetime replacement for the $6 switch, but I think I'll find a Lucas 
one in my parts pile to replace it. How's that for irony?

Jump back in for the final 16 mile leg on two lane twisty roads. About 
ten minutes in I hear a BANG and then a loud exhaust note. Find a place 
to pull over and I hear a substantial exhaust leak from around the 
exhaust manifold. Crap! It's only a few miles to the farm and I just 
happen to have a spare 1500 engine in the shed.

Get to the farm and park in the shade. The car's too hot to monkey with 
so I do the good son-in-law thing and cut about an acre of grass while 
things cool down.

When I converted the car to twin HS2s a few years ago I also removed the 
EGR valve and other pollution crap. On this car, the EGR sat on top of 
the intake manifold with a pipe that ran down to the exhaust manifold. 
These fittings are fine thread compression fittings not found at the 
local Home Depot, so I had a short section of pipe, with compression 
fitting, sticking out of the manifold with other end capped. Seems I 
blew out that section of pipe, leaving just the hollow compression nut.

Space is severely limited, so I ended up removing the carbs and heat 
shield. I try and remove the similar piece from the spare engine with 
idea of bending over and sealing a section of the pipe and making a 
plug, but it doesn't go well. I ended up removing the hollow nut and 
using a 1/4 inch carriage bolt as a plug, head in first, filled with 
RTV, a washer and double nuts on the exterior side and put it all back 
together. It worked!!! So what if I had a little three hour delay. I'm 
glad I had a decent workbench to affect the repairs.

Car ran fine home, although I did have to stop and reconnect a linkage 
spring that came loose and it was running a little lean. A little 
cleanup and some last minute tweaking and I'll be ready. What else could 
go wrong, right?

See you all in ten days!

Lee

PS: While on the subject of vanity plates offending people, my regular 
car's plate is FOX, my last name, and I get highly offended when people 
think I'm somehow connected to Fox News. :)


More information about the Spridgets mailing list