Restoring these cars can sometimes have you near tears, but thay can
also bring laughter. Perhaps my funniest day was the time I set fire
to my son.
Seven years ago, my present 7, which had been hibernating for over 3
years when I bought it, was nearing completion. All I had left to do
was get the engine running well. I was having trouble with the front
carb flooding, & the thing backfiring, & snorting when cold.
The backfiring turned out to be the number one exhaust valve
sticking 50, or 60 thou open sometimes mostly when cold. The
flooding was due to high fuel pressure, but I didn't know any of
this at the time.
My son was 17 at the time, & had become quite useful around cars, or
any other machinery, & was helping me. I had completed attempt 27 to
cure the flooding, & reassembled everything except the air filters.
After warming the engine, I had balanced the air flow, & roughly
adjusted the mixture, with no sign of flooding, & apart from the
occasional back fire it was running quite well. I thought I may have
won, at last. Still there was just a little hunting of the RPM, so,
while sitting in the drivers seat, I asked Richard to lift each carb
piston a little, to check the mixture.
Today he would tell me to wake up, the thing was flooding, but back
then he was more obedient, & helpful. So despite the fact it had
just started flooding again, rather copiously, with petrol pouring
out of the main jet, he did as asked.
Just as he reached for the front carb piston lifter, the thing
decided to give one of its little backfires. This one was not so
little, in effect. A jet of flame shot out of the carb, engulfing
Richards arm, & the inner fender, followed by dribbles of fire from
thr carb mouth which was also burning, onto the grass below.
[Fortunately we were working outside].
I gave the thing a big rev, to suck the carb fire into the engine,
& shut it down. As I jumped out of the car, I was wondering, out
loud, why Richard was not trying to put out the fire on the ground,
under my car. He was wondering, also out loud, why I did not go jump
in the lake, [what lake], as he tried to put himself out. I didn't
bother trying to point out to him, that medical treatment, at the
local hospital is free, but repairing burnt out cars is not. I
don't think he would have been interested, at the time.
Fortunately, the fire, of the few table spoons full of petrol, soon
died, & we both started laughing. They tell me it's because of the
shock. Richard had lost some hair off his arm, & some grass was
scorched, & nothing more, but it was a shock.
It was still to be another couple of months before I had that
flooding cured. I can't imagine why, but Richard has had a distinct
preference for injected engines ever since.
Hasbeen
