Hi folks,
Last October I gave you a report on the first 10,204 miles of commuting via
77B. Well, the 20,000 mile plateau was crossed this afternoon. Here the
figures for the 9,898 miles since 10/3:
Time period: 10/3/99 to 4/25/00
Miles covered: 9,898 (present mileage: 84581)
Fuel used: 471.12 gallons (87 octane)=21.01 mpg
Fuel cost: $677.59 ($.0685/mile)
Oil used: 17 qts (only 1 added between changes)
Oil cost: $25.50
Oil filters: 4=$16.00
Spark plugs (NGK BP5ES): 8= $20.
Professional shop charge: $200.*
Towing: $40*
# of catastrophic failures: none.
*However, after driving home (55 miles) in a very bad snow storm, followed by 4
consecutive days of single digit temperatures, the car refused to start.
Discretion got the better part of valor and I had the car towed ($40) to the
heated shop of a local lbc professional (he also constructs airplanes). $200
later I got the car back, running better than ever. Well worth the money.
There were two primary causes of my grief: 1) the distributor managed to get
packed with slush, not much help for the spark; 2) I was still running with my
usual 20W-50, didn't help the cranking speed at all.
The lack of spark caused the cylinders to load up with gasoline. The gasoline
washed away the sealing oil around the rings, ergo, bye-bye compression. A few
hours in a warm garage, a clean distributor, 4 new plugs and replacing the cold
20W-50 with some pre-warmed 5W-30 made all the difference in the world. BTW, I
ran 5W-30 until an oil change about a week ago.
First 20,102 miles:(3/2/99 - 4/25/00)
Fuel used: 956.29 gallons (21.02 mpg)
Fuel cost: $1,246.81 ($.062/mile)
All in all, driving the B has made a fun time out of a tedious commute. Now if
only the weather would warm up so that I can put the top down. So far this
Spring I've only had one day of top-down driving.
I'd be amiss if I failed to acknowledge the many times I've gotten sage advice
from Ed Kaler and Lawrie Alexander to keep it running. That old "... ounce of
prevention...". Thanks, guys.
As has been said by others before me --- They're meant to be driven!
--
Bud Krueger
http://home.ici.net/~bkrueger/
52TD
77MGB
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