Another good thing about this list is that it's a great place to vent
your frustration about matters your wife really "wouldn't understand".
I've spent the last several months doing a bunch of little things to
improve performance, some long overdue, rather than waiting until
something broke.
Installed Pertronics ignition, new NGK plugs, adjusted timing, adjusted
valves, balanced carbs, attempted to make them leaner (with more on that
to be done).
I made the great mistake of stating, "It's running a lot better than it
has in a long time".
Thereby creating the jinx...
This morning I decided to do an oil/filter change as a reward to the car
for the good performance. This time, I decided to remove the battery,
rather than attempting to remove the old filter with it still in place.
(I've done it with battery in place with bloodied knuckles, etc.) Also
it would give me better access to the tach. cable connection at the
distributor.
(An aside, Tom Walter had suggested that I draw the cable out of its
housing, lube it with Lubriplate in an effort to eliminate an annoying
tach. "chirp" I have been experiencing recently. First time I tried, I
was unable to do so without resorting to unreasonable force--like with
pliers. With the battery out, thought I'd try it again. Still
unsuccessful.)
Went back to the "relaxed" oil change. Usually I start the engine and
warm it up before a change so that the oil is less viscous and drains
more quickly (and, maybe, completely). This time I didn't, but let it
drain a real long time :-). Good thing I took the battery out. The
filter was stubborn to remove. Finally had to resort of a set of large,
curved, toothed "vise grips" to loosen it. Couldn't have used those
grip with the battery in place. Things going well. Center tube was
still there. Don't know where it would go, but I'm always happy to see
it. Tightened new filter hand tight (only on white knuckle), put in
drain plug, and poured in 4-1/2 qts. without spilling any on the valve
cover. (always so hard to get the spilled oil out of those grooves--1600
only).
Closed hood and started engine. Oil pressure came right up. Good.
But!! What are those billows of white smoke behind me??? What could I
have done in a simple oil change to cause that??
After a while, a considerable while (couple minutes), the white smoke
stopped, and the car seemed to be operating normally. The only thing I
can think of is head gasket leak allowing coolant into combustion
chamber(s), that occurred on my last trip up the mountain. Sorry I
hadn't started the car *before* the oil change. I can't recall white
smoke like that even with head gasket failures, of which I've had
several.
I considered retorqueing the head bolts (to "set up the geometry") as I
usually do before a valve adjustment. This last time I had decided
against it, because, "if it ain't broke, don't f**k with it" type
philosophy.
May have been a grievous mistake...
Dave
'68 '1600
Kailua-Kona
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