Prior to restoring my TD, I never had a vapor locking problem with it. When I
restored the car, I aluminized the exhaust manifold and I believe that that has
caused a vapor lock problem, or it could be the reformulated fuel of today as
suggested by John Seim in his e mail - either way, after restoration, I had a
vapor lock problem, which I traced to the channel between the float bowls and
the carburators. To correct the problem, I would first suggest following the
advice given by Lew Palmer in his e mail (BTW Lew - I've been in Minnesota in
the summer time and I found it HOT! - of course I come from western Washington
State and complain bitterly about anything over 72°). If that fails, as all
those steps did for me, you can get a heat shield set made for the 1¼ carbs on
the Mini and adapt them to the TD. The heat shield is available from Mini
Mania, whose web site is:
http:/www.minimania.com
I believe that the part number is MSSK8 and the price is somewhere around
$35.00. I made a template for doing a cutout in the shields to accommodate the
manifold hold down clamps and have pictures of the installation. If anyone
wants the template and pictures, send me a self addressed, stamped (long)
envelope and I'll send them to you. My address is:
David DuBois
1913 South Marine Dr.
Bremerton, WA 98312
Good luck
Dave
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