Ya know, I've been seeing quite a few posts about vaporlock, and I
have some ideas on the subject. First of all, what EXACTLY is
vaporlock? I have a poor understanding of it, but think that it is
caused by the fuel becoming a vapor too soon before entering the
combustion chamber. It is typically caused by carbs and intake
manifold that get too hot. Allowing them to cool makes the problem go
away. It also seems to happen to cars at high altitude, yes? I'm
sure I'll be an expert about that before too long. :-)
Anyway, here are a few ideas on how to prevent vaporlock. I was
talking with a fellow last night who solved the problem by taking
aluminum foil and wrapping it around the fuel lines going to the
carbs. This keeps the fuel a bit cooler, as the foil acts as a heat
shield. The problem I think we have on Paul's TR6 is that the intake
manifold coolant line is clogged. Even when you turn the car off, the
intake manifold will stay cooler with that bit of water sitting in the
pipe. I know when I rebuilt my TR6 engine over 2 years ago, mine
intake coolant pipe was plugged solid. I don't seem to have any
vaporlock problems on my car at the moment, but I think that aluminum
foil will be in my tool box for the trip west.
Well, the TR is back on the road with new U-joints, tyres, wheels,
redline in the tranny and an assortment of other things. It seems
like it's very happy. I'm ready to point the bonnet west and go, but
I guess I'll just have to wait till the time is right. Hopefully
we'll get a cool front coming through that first month of August on
the way to Boulder.
BTW, can any Colorado residents give me the low-down on what I'll need
to go through to get my cars registered out there? Smog inspections,
safety stuff, originally equip requirements, etc...
Thanks!
-Scotty
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