[Irelands child]

It was a grand and glorious fall Satuday in the Northeast which meant it was a good day for a ride in my roadster. Well, that's where good became bad. I filled it with Mobil Super (@#%& $3.05/gallon stuff) and took off. For about 3 miles when ..... it died. Dead!! Not getting any gas. I had help and pushed it off the road and then got a ride home to pick up my truck and a bucket of tools then back to do some out patient surgery. Was the filter full of crud - after all, it WAS Mobil Super and it might have pushed some crud existing in the tank through - nahhhh. New tank, never had more then 6-8 gallons of gas at one time in it. Gas bad, not Mobil( ). OK - the filter is clear, the line back to the tank, clear. Did the $$$ Carter Competition fuel pump give its all - nope. It spit a couple of ounces of gas still in it about 6' when I stroked the pump arm.

Now, by this time - it's the tow rope and a quiet ride home for further dissection of the innards.

Fast forward to Sunday, today. I had noticed a strange clanking noise in the front of the engine when trying to start - it would fire and run for a second or two. I then spent several hours removing the harmonic balancer and the the water pump to get to the timing housing (recall that it's a SB Ford and well dressed with shiny stuff so I do need to be careful swinging tools). I had forgotten how many bolts hold dang the water pump and timing housing on - phew - and then couldn't find my balancer puller so had to go to Advance Auto to borrow theirs. Finally got it apart with many swear words, a couple of gouged knuckles and there's my problem.

Ford in their infinite wisdom, cost reduced the later mechanical fuel pump eccentric design so that while it's bolted on, it's a two piece, stamped sheet metal POS keyed in place with a bent tab rather then driven by a .250 steel pin. My guess is that the much heavier valve springs, 1.7 roller rockers and a much stronger camshaft conspired to rip that little tab down to almost nothing. I have a new cast steel eccentric now on order as well as using a pin drive arrangement.

Moral - if you are building a SB Ford with a mechanical fuel pump, get the Ford Motorsport cast version and a pin. They are interchangeable with the POS two piece design (and I even used that POS version on purpose because I didn't have an extra drive pin )

Dave W

[Bad Rat]

Yep!!!! That would be the ingredients for a screwed up day;; but looking at the brighter side, you did find the problem, and a remedy,{ Bad Question here} ya think a SBC would have done the same thing???

[Irelands child]

Originally Posted by Bad Rat

Yep!!!! That would be the ingredients for a screwed up day;; but looking at the brighter side, you did find the problem, and a remedy,{ Bad Question here} ya think a SBC would have done the same thing???

BR - with my luck I probably would drive that much hated fuel pump push rod into a mushroom or worse ( I even forgot how to spell Chebbie when I sold my '58 in ~'64 ).

Dave W

[Fast 4 Door]

That's a bummer Dave. We have all been there. On the side of the road saying what the *#** ?. Two weeks ago I was cruisin down the Mass pike and there goes the temp on my 3 month old 406 . 190 - 200 - 210 - 220 - shut down and coast . I was fortunate enough to coast it about 3 mile to the nearest exit and was able to replace the water pump gasket @ the turnpike authority building. . . Long day But avoided the dredded "HooK". Hope you get back out there soon.

[deadbodyman]

what a bumber dave ...on the bright side you got to drive it for three glorious miles ...Did you go to the car show in Ballston Spa this weekend? my boy was there for half the day, he said it was the most time he ever spent in town

[Centerline]

Sorry to here that happened. But....on the bright side you did find the problem, its not a high dollar fix, and no serious damage done.

Originally Posted by Bad Rat

...... ya think a SBC would have done the same thing???

Aw heck. A SBC would have put a rod through the side of the block.

Centerline
HotRodsAndHemis.com

"Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end."

[Irelands child]

DBM - after the car had to go in for surgery, I decided it was more to the point to get it apart and parts on order then wander around a car show. I think there is another at the Clifton Park Elks (2 miles away) this Saturday and if it's back together, might go.

Thanks CL. Any repair with an engine tear down that is less then $50 for parts is no big deal. It also gives me a chance to clean and touch up some of those almost inaccessible nooks and crannies on the timing cover.

I haven't figured out how to pull that short drive pin on the cam so I can install a long one. Ford must have pressed that little one on with a big hammer. (Vise Grips?? ....... thread it and 'draw' it out??) A project for a bit later today - maybe

Dave W

[Irelands child]

OK - got it running a few minutes ago. Sweet sounds coming again from my garage!!! Fixing the eccentric was only one of the things I ended up doing while the car was in 'hospital'.

I decided it was time to fix the clap trap that I used to make the gas line - holy moly - AN fittings seem to have doubled in price. Then I found that the Tanks, Inc gas tank pick up (POS!!!) was sucking air so ended up making a new one. Did I say that brass fittings and copper tubing were expensive. One 3/8 brass street ell and 2 feet of 3/8 tubing (only needed 9") was almost $16 @ jobber price at NAPA. I do have a couple of pictures of what I made up and will post tomorrow.

I installed fresh antifreeze and did an oil and filter change as well.

Since the rear end of the car seemed too low, I moved it up to the next chassis adjustment and will reset the coil overs tomorrow.

Now, it's on to fixing the gas gauge (which has never worked), installing the hood and the top. Maybe by mid next week a few more rides before the winter "sleep".

Sorry if I ramble, but.....

Dave W

[wretched ratchet]

OK all of that was way cool and it kept you out of trouble for a few days - - - HOWEVER, the quality of Gas that we are pumping into our "pride and joys" still SUCKS

[eloc431962]

Originally Posted by Irelands child

OK - got it running a few minutes ago. Sweet sounds coming again from my garage!!! Fixing the eccentric was only one of the things I ended up doing while the car was in 'hospital'.

I decided it was time to fix the clap trap that I used to make the gas line - holy moly - AN fittings seem to have doubled in price. Then I found that the Tanks, Inc gas tank pick up (POS!!!) was sucking air so ended up making a new one. Did I say that brass fittings and copper tubing were expensive. One 3/8 brass street ell and 2 feet of 3/8 tubing (only needed 9") was almost $16 @ jobber price at NAPA. I do have a couple of pictures of what I made up and will post tomorrow.

I installed fresh antifreeze and did an oil and filter change as well.

Since the rear end of the car seemed too low, I moved it up to the next chassis adjustment and will reset the coil overs tomorrow.

Now, it's on to fixing the gas gauge (which has never worked), installing the hood and the top. Maybe by mid next week a few more rides before the winter "sleep".

Sorry if I ramble, but.....

Dave W

Ramble on . We all do from time to time just glad you got it fired back up.



Cole

[Arrowhead]

Wow Dave, that's a bummer. Glad it was something "simple" and didn't cause any damage. I went to the Elks show, it was good, around 200 cars, but was breezy and cold.

I think my last gasp is going to be tomorrow. A fellow Cobra builder owns Sunnyside acres just outside of Saratoga on 9N and he's putting on a little "cruise in" in 10-2. Stop up if you have time.

[Irelands child]

This is what I did for a replacement tank pickup. The first photo is the original with the tube removed (and parts to make the second), The fitting is a barbed fitting that the plastic slides over - but there is no clamp of any kind. When I sucked into one end with the other sealed it would not hold.



The second photo is the new pickup which is made from a 3/8" brass NP fitting and a piece of 3/8" copper tubing. The tubing is cut to approximately 1/8" of the tank bottom. I also drilled 4 holes around the tube just to make sure there wouldn't be starvation. That tube is then sweat soldered into the ell. The fit is nice and tight before soldering plus the ell internals are much smoother then the original aluminum.



Now - to any of those Tanks, Inc owners - if you have a stumble you cannot find, you might want to look at this as this, I believe is their usual way of making up a pickup.


George - I still have the car raised on stationary jacks today so I can do the coilovers plus finish up a few odds and ends. I'm also going to put the top on so my heater will at least do something. But as far as your last day, naaaahhhhh- it's supposed to be near 70 in the next few days.

Dave W

[deadbodyman]

Dont feel bad I'm still working on my pick-up lines...They get old fast

[Bad Rat]

Originally Posted by Irelands child

OK - got it running a few minutes ago. Sweet sounds coming again from my garage!!! Fixing the eccentric was only one of the things I ended up doing while the car was in 'hospital'.

I decided it was time to fix the clap trap that I used to make the gas line - holy moly - AN fittings seem to have doubled in price. Then I found that the Tanks, Inc gas tank pick up (POS!!!) was sucking air so ended up making a new one. Did I say that brass fittings and copper tubing were expensive. One 3/8 brass street ell and 2 feet of 3/8 tubing (only needed 9") was almost $16 @ jobber price at NAPA. I do have a couple of pictures of what I made up and will post tomorrow.

I installed fresh antifreeze and did an oil and filter change as well.

Since the rear end of the car seemed too low, I moved it up to the next chassis adjustment and will reset the coil overs tomorrow.

Now, it's on to fixing the gas gauge (which has never worked), installing the hood and the top. Maybe by mid next week a few more rides before the winter "sleep".

Sorry if I ramble, but.....

Dave W

Maybe thats why we always say a hotrod is never finished.. ya think???

[Irelands child]

BR - if I ever told the DW it was finished(which she occasionally asks) she for sure would find a "more fun" project that needed to be done - like paint the bed rooms, rake leaves, etc. (and we are still looking in VA for a new home!!)

Dave W