Hey - did you know - little kids laugh 300 times a day (on average) -
and adults laugh 12 times a day (on average) - I kid you not! What
happens?
I have it on the best authority - the teachers of beautiful downtown
Revenue Canada - (I.R.S. to you heathens).
[Would you believe - we are actually going to be subjected to a half-day
seminar on "how to have fun at work without being fired".]
Seriously (sort of) - all this talk about fuel pumps - and pressure
regulators - and the joys of electric fuel pumps - reminds me of (about)
1963 - when I made a trip to California from B.C. in our brand new 1962
Austin Mini 850cc post box red station wagon (Yes Dick - it really was
British post box red - but had the saving grace of magnificent wood trim
- which didn't stop it from looking like a post-box - and didn't stop
the lacquer on the wood from crumbling to dust - within days of the
showroom).
Anyway, as I was saying - somewhere in Northern California - there was
horrendous flooding at the time - cars were sort of 'standing around' -
wondering what to do as they faced a stretch of highway with an
undetermined depth of water on it. Well, we Brits are undauntable - so
we circled the 'stumped' half-dozen in front of us - and 'charged' -
full speed ahead! - the water may have been above the tire-tops - I
don't know because I was not leaning out the window at the time - I was
busy keeping the (minute) gas pedal to the floor.
For reasons as yet undisclosed to me - the Mini ploughed through and
carried on for quite a few miles on the now dry highway - but then - it
quit.
A tow job later we found ourselves in a way-side gas station (wish I
could remember exactly where) where the mechanic on duty - in the
typical manner of way-side gas station mechanics ( is laconic the right
word?) went right to the heart of the problem - he removed the electric
fuel pump (which was mounted on the bottom or front of the fuel tank) -
took it to his bench - opened up the end-cap - broke out a 'point-file'
- a few strokes between the terminals - put it back on the tank - and
away we went. The problem was simply that the (flood) waters had
corroded the pulsating (or whatever you call it) movement of the points
and the pump was just not 'pumping'.
[For the Mole - I put in a pressure regulator (off the shelf at the auto
parts store) in the Black Beauty because it was doing just like the guys
said - pumping fuel into the manifold after key-down. Maybe you have
since removed it?]
Enough blabbering - but remember - we are not limited to 12 laughs a day
- if the little kids can do it - so can we ?
Love the Wit and Wisdom of the Alpines page -
Barrie Henderson
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