Wow what a week. Let me start by saying well done, again, to Craig for all his hard work organizing the event. Unfortunately he's often too busy to enjoy it like the rest of us. Jamie Hage from www.kustomkombi.com also deserves credit for assisting Craig all weekend which meant he also missed a lot of the action. Well done gents.
The people who attend these events are brilliant. They're so friendly and everyone is willing to help. It was great to see a stronger Victorian contingent this year. The 3 Volkomenn Art cars are very impressive. Dean's Porsche powered razor is sweet and I love the ratty oval drag car. The pretty light blue oval which turned up last year for the show and shine was back this year as a drag car with a 2.3+ motor with a stinger and Porsche fan. One to watch in the future.
By the end of Friday the drive from Sydney to Portland was worth it. We had a great day with the Portland Dune Buggy Club. Thanks for the invite Jamie. I've removed the guards from my oval and am currently cutting off the roof with a grinder so I can join you.
Here are a few pictures of my adveture.
Bushfire damage on the Hume Hwy
Dune buggy ride on 'the wall'
Saturday display in Portland
My 44idf webers played up all weekend. They were fine on the strip with the main circuit and full throttle, but at anything below 3800rpm the engine ran on 3 cylinders and popped and farted along.
I blew out the idle jets a few times. Rod suggested giving the engine a rev before putting the idles back in which also helped. Unfortunately the car would then only run for 5 minutes before the problem returned. I pullted the top off the carbs to have a look. They seemed clean except for some patches of white chalky stuff. Henry thinks this is orosion from water getting into the carbs.
It dogged me on the way home from Portland on Sunday night. I found a technique of accelerating to about 5000rpm in top and suddenly backing off to 3500 rpm. The vacuum generated by the engine with the throttle butterflies closed seemed to pull the crap through and the car would go properly for about 5 minutes. Then I'd have to do it again. But, doing this used more fuel and I ran out 2 km before where I was going to stop in Geelong. When I ran out of fuel I heard a big backfire through the carb. I have no fuel gauge and carry 5 litres of fuel. No worries. Until I saw the oil coming out from under the engine.
Closer inspection revealed a mangled pushrod tube leaking oil.
Luckily Jak Rizzo gave me a 2 piece pushrod tube to fix such a problem. I've been carrying it around in my spares for 6 or 7 years and never needed it. It took me over an hour to get the engine tin removed and replace the pushrod, rocker tube, find the lash cap and put it all back together in the dark by the side of the road.
Finally I made it to my cousin's place, as planned, in Melbourne, but he car was still running poorly.
I spent Monday completely cleaning and rebuilding the carbs. I inspected the damage and reinstalled the 2 piece pushrod tube with some gasket sealant to reduce the amount of oil it was leaking.
Fortunately I got home without a hiccup. The 2 piece tube doesn't leak much when the engine is hot. I had one more blocked idle jet to clear on the freeway. Fortunately it wasn't a return of the chalky stuff which i feared. The car ran beautifully up the hume. Thankfully!
What an adventure. CYA CT
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