I head out this morning to the local hardware store to buy a piece of
aluminum to use for a carburetor heat shield. Found just what I was looking
for and started for home. The Spit is running great, everything is
wonderful. Cruising along at about 50 mph or so and the piece of al flies
off the passenger seat ! I'm watching it in the rear view mirror to note
where it lands. It lands, of course, but not on the ground but in the back
of this pick-up truck headed the other direction. Oh well, it was only a
couple of bucks.
Back to the hardware store, buy another, start the Spit ... running REALLY
bad. Won't idle, feels like it's running on 2 or 3 cylinders rather than 4.
Nurse it home and start poking around. Fuel looks good, spark is ok, plugs
and wires are ok. Remove the valve cover, valve springs look ok. Compression
test, 175 in each cylinder, hmmm ... Maybe the timing has changed, or the
Crane ignition has gone south. Don't really know how to test the Crane so I
remove it and install the contact points. Same problem.
By now, most of the morning is shot so I decide to have some lunch. Not a
good idea, the hamburg has mutated into an unknown life form. Might be a
cure for some disease in there !
Back to the garage. Now I'm thinking something serious. Damn, I just went
through this a couple of months ago. Very depressing. I'm feeling real sorry
for myself when I notice the pipe cap normally covering a vacuum port on the
intake manifold is missing. Hey, plug up the vacuum leak and the motor just
purrs ! ( I added the vacuum port to the SU manifold, makes tuning the SU's
lots easier.)
I'll feel lots better as soon as I stop hitting the wall with my head !
Ken C
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