Re: Oil leak - Boy Do I Feel Dumb

Posted by Jay Faubion On 2008/7/2 7:48:57

Safety wire? No, there were no holes in my bolt heads, but what a great idea.

Before I got into the old car "business" I flew ultralights every chance I got. When I built my last one (a Quad City Challenger II) I safety-wired everything. So yes, that would be a great way to do it.

I'm inclined at this point to put a block-off plate there. That is, if the fuel pump ever loosens up again. I know that the purist approach is to use the mechanical fuel pump, but - really - the electric pump does so much to eliminate vapor lock and reduce cranking time in these old cars that I think it's really the way to go. I'd be giving up the vacuum boost, but I can always hook up the wiper motor line to the intake manifold.

Oil leak notwithstanding, I drove the car about eighty miles yesterday. Took it to work, to a restaurant, back home again. I took it by Earl Scheib (don't laugh, they did a great job) where I got it painted last year so they could see how it looks now. What a pleasure it was to drive. There's a lot of satisfaction in (as a complete amateur and beginner) taking an old "junk" car and getting it looking good and back on the road again. I really enjoyed it.

Oh, and I got 14 miles per gallon! That makes it half as efficient (but ten times the fun) as my Kia.

Jay