Hi gang,
Yesterday was quite nice here in NJ so my SO and I jumped into the B and
went to find those wineries near the Atlantic (about 40 m away), not so far
from our house.
Wierd symptoms...the car started fine. The engine didn't do anything
unpredictable. Just that above 40 it seemed to have a burp, a slight to-fro
action, a hesitation and although I could flow with the traffic, it lacked
its normal pep and zip. I did much right lane driving for a change. All
the while, I was thinking...fuel pump, bad fuel, timing, maybe it was time
to change plugs...
We found our target, the Roualt winery (yes, both wineries and breweries
can be found in NJ. (Within 3 miles of my house is a brewery called Flying
Fish...makes a great summer ale but only in the summer!) Since tasting was
part of the tour, I thought I'd look under the hood before the tour, not
after. Lo and behold, the problem stared me in the face. I had converted a
76B from the Z-S to a pair of SU's three years ago. I fitted them with the
thin, flat K&S filters, and modified one filter so the rear one would fit.
The rear one had worked its way completely off and the three parts were
sitting in the engine bay. What a hoot. I was fortunate the parts hadn't
fallen through & more to the point, what an easy road fix. All around us
were these well-dressed winery visitors staring at my antiquated B (many
too young to have seen a B when it was a current sports car). I pulled the
trusty road tool kit from the 'boot', put the filter back together and
tightened down the bolts. Even used some KFC hand cleaners to clean my
hands.
The ride back was uneventful except for the increase in power. I guess I am
still a sufficient novice to not be able to diagnose before the problem was
apparent, but not so much as a neophyte to ignore a road kit. Saw a 72
for sale on the way home. Bemoaned to my SO that we only had a one car
garage so I passed it by.
Most of the wines, by the way, were not great but neither could they be
ranked on the "shudder" scale. (That scale is another story.)
Best,
BillS
'76B
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