Hi: From the symptoms you describe, the first thing I would check would be the
fuel supply. Often the fuel line from the tanks to the fuel pump becomes clogged
with material which was originally used to coat the inside of the tanks. This
happened several times to me in my '66 Alpine about 25 years ago, and, as you
will likely hear, has happened to many others as well. Disconnect the fuel line
at the pump and, using a pressured air hose, blow through the line back into the
tank. Also, remove and clean the fuel pump where you are quite likely to see
flakes of black debris. This will fix it temporarily - the only final cure is a
complete cleaning of the twin tanks and removal of the tank lining material.
There have been many references over the past several years to this
challenge/remedy. With regard to the passenger side brakes, my suspicion is that
it is not likely the culprit. If the brakes were locking on you would definitely
feel it in the driving/steering characteristics. Good luck!
from sunny South Dakota,
Paul Almjeld
Clivepococ(at)aol.com wrote:
> Thought you might like to hear about my Sunbeam day today. Having freed the
> clutch and feeling rather brave I drove my 4 year old to school this morning
> in Half Moon Bay - a distance of about 3 miles round trip - his little face
> was an absolute picture as he squealed with delight at the prospect of
> driving in Daddy's little red car. When we arrived he asked if Daddy would
> take him to school in the little car more often!! Definitely a moment to
> relish..now for the bad bits. Having tasted the sweet taste of daily sunbeam
> driving I thought I would be very adventurous and drive over the 'hill' that
> separates us from the more suburban side of the San Francisco Peninsula area.
> It is a beautiful drive , past fields of flowers and farms up through the
> hills and over to see the panorama of San Francisco in the distance, the
> airport , reservoirs etc..brilliant!! The car was doing fine until I got to
> around San Mateo - where I work, a distance of about 14 miles or so...and the
> car engine started to splutter and lose power - picking up then dropping off
> until it just coasted to a halt - several attempts to restart eventually
> succeeded and I pulled out on to the road and accelerated only to have the
> same thing happen again and again (about 15 agains in total). I couldn't find
> anything wrong - I have just checked the timing and it is spot on , new spark
> plugs as well- anyway I eventually got myself through stopping and starting
> to an area of many car repair shops - only to be turned away by every single
> one.- no experience with Sunbeams and no desire to even look. In the end I
> had the humbling experience of retracing my steps back over the mountain with
> the Sunbeam attached to the back of a tow truck - all for the bargain price
> of $ 85....what an end to the day...
>
> Well if you made it this far ...do you have any thoughts on a diagnosis ..I
> assume fuel or ignition ..but wondered if anyone else might be more specific.
> Strange thing happened on one of my many restarts - the passenger side brakes
> seemed to be squealing - like they were locked on - I don't suppose the
> brakes could lock on to such an extent that forward motion is stopped and it
> makes it seem like no power? BTW whilst stationary the engine seems fine....
>
> Any help gratefully accepted...
>
> Thanks
> Clive
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Sep 05 2000 - 08:45:04 CDT