No problem Mike. Crap happens to all of us at some time or another. For the
list: I thought I had all the bases covered from a checkout the night before on
my '70. I was experimenting with using electronic ignition, but wasn't satisfied
with the performance so I put standard points back in that night.
Unfortunately, I forgot to tie down the battery that I moved aside in order to
pull the distributor.
While leading the caravan out of San Francisco to Shasta, my engine started
sputtering and seemed to be running on only 2 cylinders. I barely made it
through the Carquinez bridge toll and got off the freeway a few miles down the
road.
Oh God what an awful stink came from the engine when I popped the hood. The
battery tipped over on the engine, and acid poured out all over the engine bay.
All the wiring was smoking, and some had shorted out. I dumped gallons of water
on the stinking mess, and cleaned up what I could of the wiring so we could get
back on the road. At Mt. Aire Lodge in Shasta, I used a hose to clean up some
more, and there a friend with a 1500 gave me some baking soda to neutralize the
acid. Too late, as the acid had eaten through the plastic on the distributor,
and I had no coil lead anymore. I fashioned a distributor lead out of a rubber
washer and some gasket maker just to get by. Then Michael helped by giving me
parts from a spare distributor, so I wouldn't worry the rest of the weekend.
You don't want this to happen to you. The paint is burned off the side of my
engine, the inside of the hood, and the firewall. Wire insulation and hoses are
cracking and crumbling away, so I'll be replacing them. What hurts most is, I
did it to myself by forgetting to replace the tie-downs!
BTW, the PO put a black rubber tie-down on my '66 battery. Think I'll replace
it!
Fred - So.SF
BADROC
'70 1600 "Stinky Blondee"
'66 1600/2000 "Loosey" (2000 almost done, yippee)
'68 2000 forgotten frame-off project
________________________ Reply Separator _________________________
>Subject: Re: Just batteries
>Author: CalSpeed@aol.com
>Date: 7/23/99 2:26 PM
>
>In a message dated 23-07-99 10:18:56 AM EST, ggerding@tconl.com writes:
>
><< I use one of those black rubber tie downs that has a hook on each end.
> It works great! >>
>
>Hello,
>
>That is a good emergency / temporary tiedown. But.... the rubber can dry up
>and develop cracks from the engine bay heat and suddenly break. A loose
>battery is not a good thing! Trust me on that one as one of us "BADROC"
>members just had that happen on the 300 mile trip up to Shasta.
>
>If I remember correctly, his battery tipped over and corroded through paint
>and electrical insulation which cause some shorts in the system. But FRED
>KATZ was able to take care of the situation fairly well. Oooooops! Sorry
>Fred.
>
>Michael "Calspeed" Carion
>BADROC
>
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