[T3] Invasion prep woes....

[Keith Park]

You wouldn't be Jim if you didn't get your car out the day before you leave
and have NO problems with it... the exception that proves the rule.

Im heading out on the first leg now, to Buffalo, then to Cincy tomorrow.

Have a safe trip

Keith


Top Notch Restorations
topnotch at nycap.rr.com 
http://www.a383ina68.addr.com/radiorest/main.htm
71 Squareback "Hothe"
65 Notchback "El Baja Rojo"
65 Squareback "Eggcrate"
87 golf "Winterat"
93 RX7 "Redstur"

-----Original Message-----
From: type3-vwtype3.org-bounces at lists.vwtype3.org
[mailto:type3-vwtype3.org-bounces at lists.vwtype3.org] On Behalf Of Jim Adney
Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2012 11:23 PM
To: type3 at vwtype3.org
Subject: [T3] Invasion prep woes....

A couple months ago, a friend bought this old Mercedes, thinking it 
was a really cool car. Well, it WAS cool, but for years it's just 
been neglected. For the last 3 months I've been working with him to 
fix one problem after another, working up a bill that exceeds what 
I've paid for most of my Type 3s. It's taken up almost all of my 
spare time.  

The end result is that I only managed to get my '71 out of the garage 
TODAY. That's about a week later than I had hoped. Okay, it's out, 
but barely.

First I thought I'd drive it out, but when I went to prime the fuel 
system, it all sounded fine for the first few seconds, then I heard 
spraying and the sound of gas rapidly dripping on the garage floor. 
Shut down and saw a puddle under the front end. Decided to PUSH the 
car out of the garage, since there's no room to work on it in there. 
That was actually last night. I figured one of the hoses has split 
and just needed to be renewed. 

This morning, I got it up in the air and found that the hoses were 
fine, but where the pressure hose slips onto the hard line leading 
back to the engine, there was NO hose clamp. NONE, NADA. That was my 
hose, the hose I sell, the hose I installed and then drove to the 
last 3 invasions. It hadn't blown itself off the tube, it had just 
sprayed up against the body and the underside of the gas tank. 

That's a hard place to reach, so I must have run out of time the day 
I did that, and forgot to finish when I came back. Can't believe it 
lasted that well, and that long. It's better now, and I'm feeling 
more than a little bit ashamed.

After that, I ran the engine, let it cool while I did other things, 
checked the valves (all E valves EXCEPT #3 were tight.) Dwell and 
timing were still spot on. It's been for a short test drive and I'll 
run some errands with it tomorrow morning. Good power, AT shifts 
fine, brakes work, fluids are all fine. Tires need a bit of air.  

I put a used muffler on it after I bought it, about 10 years ago. 
That one is on it's last legs; sounds like a tractor.... Anyone know 
if that muffler putty actually works? It's just a couple small holes.

The #3 injector is leaking. In the past that seals up once the 
internal O-ring gets soaked a bit. I'll watch that, and maybe change 
it on monday, if necessary. Hope it's not necessary.

Finally, I looked at the 2 gallon jug of diesel motor oil that I 
bought for the Mercedes. (You won't believe how much oil a Mercedes 
takes!) In addition, to all the Diesel ratings it meets (C, for 
Compression) it also meets regular gas engine spec SL (for Spark, L 
revision.) All my regular gas engine oil is marked SM, and has the 
API seal that I know Ford insisted on by 1996. The diesel oil does 
NOT have the API seal. This makes me wonder if the ZDDP disappeared 
with the SM revision.

If this is right, this oil would be a very good choice for our cars. 
I don't know if there's any way I can find the specs on this oil, but 
next time I'm there, I'll try. The 2 gallon jug of 15W-40 was under 
$30, house brand at Farm & Fleet. That's a good deal and sounds like 
it might be a good choice for our cars.

I think S rated motor oils started in the late 60s. Before that, 
there was HD, but by the time I owned my first cars, I think they 
were all S rated. I THINK I remember SA-SB oils, but they were soon 
replaced by SC-SD, which lasted a long time. I could never understand 
why they always seemed to use up ratings 2 letters at a time. 

It's likely that one's age can be told by the earliest oil you 
remember.

See you all in Co. Springs!

-- 
*******************************
Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
*******************************

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