I can barely write this...I'm practically in tears,
tugging woefully at a bottle of Corona. I decided to
take my '67 on a drive from D.C. to Cape Cod,
Massachusettes for a vacation. I left last friday,
stopped in NJ to see my loving girlfriend, and then
pressed onwards Saturday morning. After stopping to
meet fellow '67 owner Tim Klein (which was going to be
the focal point of my message, since we had a blast in
little old Rye, NY) I gassed up and headed into
Connecticut.
Now, the Imp had been running a little warmer than
usual during the trip, but the needle was still below
the 1/2 way point and, obviously, in the normal
operating range. Hey, it was 98 degrees and I had the
A/C blasting! About 100 miles from the Cape, going up
a hill about 70mph, the engine backfired through the
carburetor 3 or 4 times, then proceded to lose a huge
chunk of power. I could barely maintain 65 mph on the
flat, and hills were a decidedly dicey proposition. I
pulled off of 95, and searched for a small town with a
parts store.
When I checked under the hood, I noticed gasoline
leaking from the carburetor...the backfire had
obviously blown the accelerator pump gasket (and,
probably, the power valve). After a parking lot
rebuild, it started right up, but continued to run
like crap. I nursed it to Cape Cod, parked it, and
(as it was almost 10PM by now) went to sleep.
Next morning I took off the driver's side valve cover,
and cranked the engine by jumping the solonoid with a
screwdriver. The rear 4 valves did nothing. No
movement whatsoever. I did not try the passenger side
cover, as it is significantly harder to remove, and my
tools were limited. My gut tells me I wiped the cam-
broke it in half, and only the front 4 cylinders are
banging.
I drove the car back to Rye (200 miles!!), where it
currently awaits Tim's mechanic's engine guy's
diagnosis. He seemed to think it was running on 6
cylinders, because "there's no way that big old motor
could run with just 4, let alone get you 200 miles
back here".
Either way, I'm feeling mighty blue. I'm already
waist-deep in my 360 engine project for the Satellite,
I have no time nor money for another one. If the cam
broke, that's it- the engine needs new cam bearings,
which means it needs to come out, and then the whole
engine will need a (very expensive) rebuild. If it
just wiped out some lobes, maybe a new cam and lifters
will fix it, but it may also have burnt/stuck/bent
valves which would require a whole head recon...and
prolly a bottom end redo as well (new heads on an old
bottom end=piston ring blowby). Again, mucho dinero.
Unless I get very lucky, I have an ominous feeling
that this may be the end for Silver. I've been quite
patient with the car- poured money into it by the
bagful, most of it for mechanical repairs. But I
can't justify $3000 for a rebuild. No way.
I'll keep you all posted as the mechanic lets me know
what his prognosis is. If the engine has to be
rebuilt, there will likely be a very lucky IMLer who
can pick this '67 up for a song, if they're willing to
go get it.
I feel horrible typing this, but I have to be
realistic. I love the old girl, but not $3000 worth
of love.
I took various local/regional trains back home, topped
off by a taxi ride. At least I made it home OK. And,
many thanks to Tim Klein for his help and hospitality.
(and what a cool '67 he has!)
=====
--Mike Pittinaro
"Peculiar travel suggestions are dancing lessons from God."
--Kurt Vonnegut, "Cat's Cradle"
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
HotJobs - Search Thousands of New Jobs
http://www.hotjobs.com
Back to the Home of the Forward Look Network