Nick wrote;
>My '75 Spit has an interesting problem where it just dies while driving
>along and won't restart after a fair amount of driving.
>I'm about 99% certain that it's not a gas problem since it's COMPLETE
>failure as though someone has removed the key! (It's quite dangerous to be
>honest!!) (I don't think it's vapor lock though).
>When I attempt to restart it, it will fire and die, fire and die. If I then
>return to it when it has cooled down, it fires and runs fine.
I had a '74 Spitfire that had a partial fuel line blockage. Whenever the car
died, it too seemed like the ignition had been switched off. If I let the car
sit for ten minutes, I could drive it again for a short distance. Eventually,
all I could drive was about ten miles before I would just lose power. I finally
removed the fuel tank and used a battery powered air pump to blow the line
toward the fuel pump and found it clear. I removed the pick-up tube from the
tank, attached the pump and pointed the end of the tube into a coffee can. The
air pump grunted and then with a blooosh a spider web, eggs, some debris and
bodies came blowing out into tha can. The tank had come from a parts car that
sat outside for several years and the spiders built the web in the dry tank.
I had a friend whose Spitfire fuel tank ventilation line became plugged and
had the same symptoms... except when the car started to die, he could reach back
and open the gas cap to let sufficient air in so the fuel pump could pull fuel
in.
Don't discount fuel starvation too quickly. The tank can be removed in 15
minutes and the lines checked/blown free quickly.
regards, John Pratchios
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