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Re: dies on a hill - again!

To: Atwell Haines <carbuff@tempest.nac.net>
Subject: Re: dies on a hill - again!
From: Wayne Lowry <hotwheels@longviewtx.net>
Date: Thu, 03 Sep 1998 18:11:45 -0500
If I have been following this correctly...Your car dies in approximately the
same place?
My first reaction is heat related. I had a distributor cap that would give me
about 3 miles then nothing. I have also seen bad plug wires that shift during
shifts and kill things.
My only other reaction concerns fuel. On a hill you say.....Low float
level....trash too big to go down a fuel line but small enough to float to the
outlet on said hill.
Got a real opportunity
to explore the physics of the Spitfire here.
Thanks for letting me rant!!
Bruce Lowry
Now Spitfireless and a bit sad!

Atwell Haines wrote:

> 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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