In 1968 I owned a 1964 Spit. A new grad I had taken a job 250 miles from
my parents home. Driving up the nearly new I81 the car was harder and
harder to keep up to speed, finally I had to pull over. After a lot of
road side work I (a story in itself) I traced the lack of fule all the way
to the tank. There was a big bug in the tank that had gotten water (gas)
logged and settled in the fuel tap. A trip that I will remember forever.
Not often you get to almost completely disassemble a spit along side I81.
Sam
At 03:40 PM 9/3/1998 -0400, Bowley, Glenn (GCICT) wrote:
>Along these same lines, I had a friend of mine with similar problems.
>The car would quit for no apparent reason, totally at random. After many
>dollars spent on fuel pump replacement, plugs, coil, etc, he brought the
>car to his local shop. They scratched their heads at first, but finally
>found that the cause was intermittent lack of fuel at the carb. They
>removed the fuel tank, and found inside the small foil top to a dry gas
>bottle! The piece would move around and randomly cover the inlet to the
>fuel line! I never forgot this story after hearing it.
>Goes to show you how something that small can cause such a big, (and
>hard to diagnose) problem!
>
>Glenn Bowley
>Mansfield, CT
>'75 Spit (FM30644U)
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Atwell Haines [SMTP:carbuff@tempest.nac.net]
>> Sent: Thursday, September 03, 1998 2:29 PM
>> To: Thorn; spitfires@Autox.Team.Net
>> Subject: Re: dies on a hill - again!
>>
>> At 06:28 AM 9/3/98 -0500, Thorn wrote:
>> >
>> >Well, after retro-fitting a mechanical points/condenser ignition on
>> my
>> >otherwise standard '79, the "thing" pulled the same trick: died on
>> "the
>> >same hill" (to add insult to injury) under the same conditions: under
>> a
>> >load (accelerating up the hill, in traffic, around 25-30 mph) on a
>> hot
>> >(90's) Arkansas afternoon around 5'ish.
>> >
>> >I suppose it will start right up this morning! sigh......
>> >
>> >ideas??
>>
>> I have some WAGs (Wild A** Guesses) for you to consider:
>>
>>
>> Lack of fuel? Causes
>>
>> - Fuel Pump (note recent thread on fulcrum pins falling out)
>> - Fuel lines = restricted, cracked rubber etc
>> - debris in fuel tank, restricting the intake on uphill acceleration
>> runs
>>
>>
>> Lack of spark?
>>
>> - going up the incline & acceleration caused a wire to shift and
>> ground
>> out the ignition/coil
>> - Bad parts put in? (in the 'old' days of points & condensers I had
>> a
>> couple of new condensers fail soon after installation, or points close
>> up.)
>>
>>
>> I'm sure someone has suggested taking a different route home... :-)
>>
>>
>> Too bad you didn't check for spark or fuel at the scene of the crime.
>>
>> Let us know,
>>
>>
>>
>> Atwell Haines
>> '79 Spitfire FM96062 UO
>> (53 HP)
>>
>> Succasunna, NJ USA
>>
>> The One Immutable Rule of Automotive Satisfaction:
>> "It is more fun to drive a slow car fast than to drive a fast car
>> slow"
>> - Cory Farley in Autoweek, 8/17/98
>
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