Drained fuel tank again, probed with borescope, etc.

This morning, I drained the gas tank again because the borescope that I had purchased was due for delivery today.  The mail carrier's timing was impeccable!

While underneath the car, I noticed a problem and made a temporary repair.  The rubber hanger for the parking brake cable had broken, and the cable was chaffing on the lower control arm.  I added the rubber hanger to my parts needs list and secured the cable with a couple cable ties.

Fuel pump inspection / cleaning

The four 4mm screws holding the pump assembly to the motor were a little seized.  I drilled a 1 1/2" hole in a scrap piece of 2 x 4 lumber, to allow for the bell end of the pump motor to sit flat.  After that, it only took one or two hits with my impact driver the free - up the screws.

My cheap Harbor Freight impact driver has never failed me, yet...

I was surprised at how clean the pump internals were.

There was a burr on the inlet side of this casting, which I removed with a razor blade.

Dr-DJet is proven correct, the motor is filled with gasoline.

An elegantly simple design that is very effective at moving fuel, using centrifugal force and fluid displacement.

Removed the fuel pump

After removing the fuel pump, I noticed that each port is labeled.  The labels seemed odd, compared to how it had been installed.  The center port was plugged (no longer used) and had a 'D' label, while the supply to the engine was labeled 'R'.

After further research online, thanks to a few great information resources including Dr-DJet, it does appear as though my car's fuel pump had been plumbed incorrectly!

This could explain why my fuel system was not holding pressure with the engine off, because the check valve is in the center port.  I plan to disassemble, clean and inspect the pump (not the motor) tomorrow morning.  It will be interesting to see how servicing the pump and installing it as designed affects pressure and flow rate.  I will need a 5/16" tee fitting.

My pump had 'D' plugged and 'R' as the output.

I borrowed this picture from Dr-DJet; see above link and a link in the right column.

Drained the fuel tank

Last night, I sprayed some good penetrating oil onto the gas tank drain plug.  This morning I removed the plug and drained the tank into a couple of gas jugs, filtering it as it drained.  I was hoping to drain the sediment from the fuel tank, but I didn't get much out.  The drain plug did not have much dirt on it, so it's possible that sediment is not the issue.

I ran out of time today, but my next chore will be to replace the fuel line that feeds the pump.  I plan to attempt to clean the strainer with compressed air, just before connecting the hose to the fuel pump.

The gasoline was very fresh, so I filtered it and poured it back in.

It helped to have two jugs and funnels.

The drain plug was fairly clean.

The bung appears to be brass, brazed into the steel tank.

I had anticipated much more sludge than this.

Installed fuel pressure gauge, new filter

When the car stalled and wouldn't start a couple weeks ago, it seemed to be starving for fuel.  I purchased a fuel pressure gauge on ebay, which just arrived today.  I had a new fuel filter but wanted to check the pressure before changing anything.  As I suspected, the gauge indicated normal (29 psi) because the system was not completely clogged.  I replaced the filter, installed a new distributor cap (I had received the wrong one from IPD because my distributor is not original) and Bosch wires.

I picked up my father and by that time the idle was way too high (close to 2000) so we pulled into a parking lot and adjusted the idle speed  and then the fuel pressure (which had increased to around 32 psi).

After driving only a few miles, the car started to act like it wasn't getting enough fuel so I headed towards home.  I was about 3/4 of a mile from home when it died again.  This time, I had a fuel pressure gauge and a tool roll.  I'm pretty sure that if I could watch the gauge while driving then I would see it fluctuating but at idle and revving without load, it was rock solid at 29 psi.

Now I am reasonably certain that the fuel tank needs to be cleaned out before any more joy rides.

This Marshall gauge cost me 18 bucks and I am pleased with it.

The fuel pump has an extra hose which is plugged with a bolt.

New OE wires.

The IPD wires for cylinders 3 and 4 were a little short, IMO.

Tool roll

After getting stranded and realizing that I had no tools in the car, I decided that I had better put a cheap tool kit together.

I purchased this tool roll for on sale $4.99 at Menards.

While adjusting the fuel pressure regulator, I found out that it uses metric hardware (M10 bolt head with a M13 jam nut).  I wonder what else is non-SAE on this old car...

Stalled in West Chicago

I took the car for a nice drive before work today, following the Fox river South on Route 31 into Aurora, Illinois.  About 7 miles from home, the engine began to sputter in 4th gear at 45 mph.  Easing off of the throttle and downshifting seemed to help, and I started questioning my new ignition.  The tachometer was bouncing a lot, but oil pressure, temp etc indicated normal.  After stopping for some construction, the engine died and would not start.  I am waiting for a tow and figured I might as well write a blog post.

I am suspecting a clogged fuel filter or strainer.  I left home without my tool bag so there was not much that I could do on the side of the road (my fault of course).  I had a new filter in my trunk but without at least a screwdriver it didn't matter.

Wayne, IL

Stranded.

After waiting two hours I went to get a cup of coffee. 

  

The tow truck finally arrived at just before 5:00.

New garage lighting

I knew that the lighting in my garage was insufficient, but it really hit home when I found the wire that I had broken a week earlier.

The other day, while shopping at Costco for Thanksgiving dinner, I purchased a couple LED shop lights.  Today I removed the single bulb light socket from the ceiling, added a couple of square boxes with duplex receptacles and hung the lights.

Let's just say I can see clearly now!  The light fixtures are made by Feit Electric.  They use 38 watts and have a light output of 3700 lumens with a color temperature of 4000K (cool white).  I paid around $35 per fixture and am extremely pleased with the purchase.

I also moved the positive battery cable to a better spot.

Broken wire

After installing the radiator and running the engine, it was idling very poorly.  I had adjusted the valve lash and points gap, installed a stock air filter (ditching the K&N).  The plugs were soaked with gasoline, indicating either weak spark or a fuel control problem.

I spent a few days chasing the possibility of an ignition bug, after breaking a plug wire and trying to set the points gap back to how I found it.  Upgrading to electronic ignition eliminated the points and condenser, and the plugs were still fowling with gas.  I put the K&N back on, which was no help.  I was beginning to think that I had somehow messed-up the valve adjustment.

Yesterday, instead of pulling the valve cover to recheck my adjustments, I made a quick inspection around the engine.  I had (previously) noticed a couple of wires that were too close to the exhaust manifold and tied them away.  I checked those wires and found that I had broken one of them.  They provide a variable resistance signal to the fuel injection computer which it uses to determine engine temperature to adjust the length of time the injectors stay open.  Bingo!

These were the only small enough female spade connectors that Autozone had.

A decent but temporary repair.

The car runs great now, but it looks like the test drive might have to wait.  :-( 

Swapped points and condenser for electronic ignition

Today I received the parts from IPD:  plug wires, cap and rotor, and a Pertronics ignition kit.  I removed the distributor to do the upgrade to electronic ignition, and found just a piece of the mounting gasket.  The hardest part of the upgrade was getting the grommet to seat properly.  I had to trim one of the connectors to get it through the hole, and the red wire was not long enough to reach the coil in its current location.  Eventually I might relocate the coil, but for now I added a jumper to allow for enough slack.

One connector fit through the hole.  With that wire in the way, the other was too tight.

The grommet was a pain to install.

Setting the air gap with the included feeler

Reunited car with a previous owner

Today I met with Frank, who had owned the car from 1994 until 2013.  He purchased it as a graduation present for his son, lucky kid!

Frank gave me some pictures which were taken during body work, which will be very helpful in my future efforts.  He also gave me a copy of a paper that his daughter had written about the car, a great piece of the car's history.

Testing the differential for limited-slip

I found the ID plate on the differential (driver's side forward side), cleaned it off and took a picture of it.  I could not find much information online referencing the ID information.  It is a 4.3-1 non-limited-slip rear end, from what I can tell.  Limited slip differentials have wet-clutches and require oils approved for use with wet clutches.

ID plate

4.3-1 Ratio    -    PartNo 255687    -    Fabr No 10789

Removed grill and installed stock air cleaner

Removing the grill on this '71 was a bit of a pain, compared to my '66.  The 1800s had four screws, simple.  This 1800e has a bunch of clips holding on its plastic grill.  I had to use a flat blade screwdriver and a pair of duck-bill pliers to remove the clips.  For 44 year old plastic, the grill is in great condition.

removing the clips was tricky; I had to pry with the screwdriver while pulling with pliers.

I found that the two ends came out first and then the top center clip was able to drop out.

K&N filter

Stock air cleaner from Don at p1800.com

Installed ebay valve cover etc

Kyle was of from school today. We got up early, rechecked the valve lash then cleaned up the mating surface and installed the 'new' valve cover.

After adding oil to the engine and distilled water to the radiator, we connected the battery and cranked the engine.  It started right away but was idling very poorly.  I tried to adjust the timing with the strobe, but it still sounded like it was missing on a cylinder.  I moved the strobe trigger to each wire and found number four was the culprit.  While disconnecting the plug wire, it fell apart.

I had planned to upgrade to IPD wires eventually, so getting new wires locally would be a waste of money.  I decided to order a set of wires from IPD, and added a cap, rotor and EI kit.  They shipped today.

Eventually we'll get a cast aluminum valve cover, until then this will do.