On 11/19/2010 09:01 PM, wrote:
On Fri, 19 Nov 2010 16:11:40 -0800, Tim
wrote:

I needed to replace bulbs in the shop lights above my '63 Suburban.
This thing's been sitting there for just about ever, while I got more
interested in building planes than wrenching on trucks.

It hadn't run for months, other than occasionally turning it over to
keep the carburettor wet. I had tried rather hard to start it about 6-9
months ago, and utterly failed. So today I was getting ready to
duct-tape a 3-gallon boat tank to the damn thing and just get it
running. Before I did I decided to go ahead and play with ether and gas
down it's little mechanical gullet -- and damned if it not only started,
but kept on running! This is kind of a mechanical marvel, because the
gas that's in the tank is more kerosene than gasoline.

So, anyway, I got it pulled out of the shop, tickled my fear of heights
by replacing bulbs in my lights (14 feet off the ground -- god, I hate
doing that), and got it back in (after it quit, and I had another mild
session of flogging it with raw gas and ether).

So, I'm (a) happy that I got the job done, and that maybe it's not as
bad as I thought, and (b) puzzled as heck as to why it works _now_!
You likely had the poor thing flooded to death 6-9 months ago and the
plugs dried out enough that, using ether, you were able to light the
"kerosene" this time.

It would start before, but not keep running -- this time I put _lots_ of
gas down the secondary, and it kept running. My thoughts went, in
order: "OK, it'll stop any time now. Gee, it's sure running a long time
on that gas I poured in. Wow, could it be??? Hey! It's running off
it's tank!!!" etc.

Second start after putting the new bulbs in the shop it was still
slightly warm, so it was likely a BIT easier to get the stuff lit. I'd
definitely drain it out and run some fresh gas through it. If you can
get a couple cans of Av Gas it works real good for stoage. Two years
from now it will still be fresher than 6 week old mogas with ethanol
in it.

I know a pilot. That's a good idea.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

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"Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems" was written for you.
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