Glad to hear there is a term for work just below that of a "shade
tree mechanic." My apologies in advance to Harold owners, but here
is my example.
In Weisbaden, Germany about 1972, when I was involuntarily
extended (please don't throw me in that briar patch!) for a year, I
became the 14th owner of a rusty black Harold convertible whose rings
were so bad it did blow lots of oil out the filler cap. I was warned
by the PO about that and told not to hammer it too hard and it would
last for my $100 worth. Which it did, and I eventually passed it on
to another guy for $100...with one minor modification.
The oil would blow out and pool up, I think it was in a
depression in the valve cover. When you made a turn, the oil pool
would pour down onto the hot exhaust, with resulting clouds of smoke
injected into the passenger compartment. In order to continue
breathing and avoid the curses and scorn of the German drivers, I had
a friend weld a small tube into the oil filler cap, attached a hose
to that tube and fed it into the intake manifold somehow (I think I
removed a plug from a hole that was already there.) Anyway, the oil
spray was burned up in the fires of the engine and, except for the
poor guy behind me, driving was once again great...until you closed
the bonnet. It bent the hose down after a day, so the old problem
came back. Since the bonnet was rusty anyway, I drilled two 3/8 inch
holes in it, ran the hose up thru one and then down thru the other
onto the intake manifold connection...problem solved.
I just told my neighbors that it was really a handle to carry
the thing home with!
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