Reid,
Thanks for your insight. I will in fact be checking the vapor separator
& rear restrictor (I'm methodically going from front to rear).
My plastic canisters have a plastic "lid" on the bottom (like a canning
jar turned upside down). Unfortunately, the lid is not threaded on, but is
pressed on and apparently held with a bit of cement. I put a screwdriver
between the lip of the lid and the canister body, & worked it around tapping
it with a hammer. The lid on canister #1 popped free very neatly. On
canister #2 it was stuck much better, & I wound up cracking off about 1/2 of
the lid's lip. Not a problem though (other than cosmetically) because there
is also an inner lip on the lid which provides something for re-assembly; to
secure the lid back onto the canister, I ran a couple of sheetmetal screws
through the lip, canister body (& inner lip).
Initially, I ran water through the canister & it came out pretty clear.
However, something (probably curiosity) compelled me to go further, and I'm
glad I did. The 2 "screens" inside the #1 canister were completely blocked
by slimy, oozy crud, and #2's screens were not too much better. The
charcoal itself looked pretty good (but I did rinse it and dry it in the
sun before re-assembly).
Actually, the most annoying part of the exercise was hack-sawing through
the rusty screws which compress the mounting ring.
Ree G. in Silver Spring, MD - 78 Spit FM73070U O
-----Original Message-----
From: Simmons, Reid W <reid.w.simmons@intel.com>
To: 'Ree Gurley' <reegurley@mindspring.com>
Date: Thursday, March 09, 2000 15:06 PM
Subject: RE: Fuel Tank Venting - BASIC
>Ree;
>
>If there was crud in the canisters there is probably crud building up in
the
>vent line restrictors too. I would check both of those just for piece of
>mind.
>
>BTW when I cleaned out my canisters I just flushed them with water from the
>garden hose until the water coming out was clear. I did not open them up
to
>clean them thoroughly but that may be something I should probably do in the
>near future. I did not see an "easy" way of opening the canisters. Might
I
>inquire as to how you managed to accomplish this?
>
>Thanks.
>
>Reid
>'79 Spitfire (original owner)
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Ree Gurley [mailto:reegurley@mindspring.com]
>Sent: Wednesday, March 08, 2000 6:41 PM
>To: Spitfire List
>Subject: Re: Fuel Tank Venting - BASIC
>
>
>
>This morning, I asked:
>
>
>>
>>When opening my fuel filler-cap, I get a major SWOOSH of air going in. Am
>I
>>correct in assuming that this swoosh is NOT desirable (and indicative of
>>some blockage in the canisters/lines/restrictors/vapor separator)?
>
>Thank you, all Spitlisters who helped me solve this one. The charcoal
>canister(s) were jammed up with crud on the upper and lower screens that
>hold the charcoal bits within the canister (not really "screens," but thin
>metal plates perforated with many holes). The bibles say these later-model
>canisters can't be serviced, but I forced the bottom "lids" off & then
>dumped the charcoal & the two screens. After replacing the cleaned screens
>and charcoal, to re-assemble I drilled a couple of pilot holes and secured
>the lids back onto the canister bodies with a couple of sheet-metal screws.
>After all was buttoned up, I ran around the neighborhood for a while;
after
>returning, I popped the fuel-cap, and, VOILA, No Swoosh!
>
>Emergency back-up plans considered if above had been unsuccessful:
> 1 - Leave the filler-cap unlatched (swirly fumes not too healthy?
>[particularly for smokers]) .
> 2 - Get a UK vented cap (Thanks, Graham).
> 3 - Remove the rubber seal on the inside of the NA cap (tick off the
>enviro-cops?).
>
>Thanks, everyone. Success, no matter how minor, is very sweet.
>
>-Ree G. in Silver Spring, MD - 78 Spit FM73070U O
>
>
>
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