[paulh]

Who is that squatting in front of the car Paul?

Another carshow attendee, who wasn't concerned about interfering with my shot. It's ok, I included her in the "People & their Cameras" thread.

[scratchpaddy]

A car within a car on the carb.



---------- Post added 09-18-20 at 07:54 PM ----------

1972 Datsun 240Z, 77,000 original miles, original engine, transmission, interior and paint. I recently pulled it from 22 years of storage, charged the battery overnight, and it fired right up.

Here is an iPhone shot after a lot of work with rubbing compound and a buffing wheel, then a coat of wax.

Beautiful work! I wish I had toys like that, and the space to work on them.


But it makes me wonder... how do you deal with 22-year-old gas?

[Racer X 69]

But it makes me wonder... how do you deal with 22-year-old gas?

Pepto Bismol.

[scratchpaddy]

I walked right into that one, didn't I...

Seriously though. I am curious. I've driven so little this year that my gas was starting to go bad.

[Racer X 69]

A car within a car on the carb.



---------- Post added 09-18-20 at 07:54 PM ----------

Beautiful work! I wish I had toys like that, and the space to work on them.


But it makes me wonder... how do you deal with 22-year-old gas?

Pepto Bismol.

Seriously, there wasn't much left. I think a lot of what was in it evaporated, bu there was a gallon or two left in the tank. It didn't start very readily, and then after starting it didn't run too well. I warmed it up, and then Mrs, Racer 2.0 and I drove up the private road we live on to the paved road, turned around and drove back. I started it and moved it a couple times more after that, and it ran dry.

So I loaded the 5 gallon jugs I use for fuel when I go racing, and headed to the Arlington airport, and got 20 gallons of 100 octane low lead avgas. I dumped 5 gallons in, and it started more readily, and runs a lot better. It still need more work though, the rear carb has rust on the mixture adjustment screw and I can't balance the carbs if I can't adjust the mixture.

The reason I parked it was the oil consumption. As such if I put a fresh set of spark plugs in it, it will run quite well, and I can tune and adjust it as it should be. But after a short drive it would start fouling plugs and begin missing.

So I need to pull the engine and go through it, but right now isn't a good tome to do it. I have some options, a later VG30 V-6 and 5 speed, an L28 with the N47 EFI head, SU carburetors, mated to a Datsun Competition 5 speed, and an L28 bottom end that I was building for this car when I first bought it, that I could put my race engine head and carbs on and have a pretty good setup for the interim.

The VG30 might require modifications to the car that I would rather not make to a numbers matching original car, so I likely won't use it, saving it for one of the 280Z's I plan to build.

The L28 with the SU carbs and Datsun Competition gearbox were given to me by an acquaintance in the late 1980's, so it is an unknown. He said it was some kind of hotrod setup, but the only way to tell is open it up and have a look. I'm going to try and get it started sitting on the makeshift cart it is on, and see how it runs. If it runs well, I'll clean it up, lube/oil/filter/hoses and drop it in, as it would make no irreversible changes to the car, and I could drive it some while budgeting time for the rebuild of the original engine.

I rolled that setup out of the back of the shop the other day to size it up.






The third option is the ready to go bottom end and the currently idle race head and carbs. I took the head off the last race engine that was in the race car after a fuel pump quit during a race and the engine ran lean, causing detonation and resulting in a broken crankshaft. Again, a reversible option that will result in immediate fun drives.

Decisions.

[Racer X 69]

I've driven so little this year that my gas was starting to go bad.

There is a product called Stabil, to use in vehicles and machines that don't get driven or operated much. But if you're driving once a month or so you should be OK. Gas doesn't go bad, the various aromatic compounds evaporate. Old gas will still burn, it just doesn't burn very well.

Also, when a car is sitting, moisture condenses in the gas tank, differential, transmission and crankcase. Moisture isn't good in any of these places.

Some people advise if a car will be sitting the tank should be kept full, to reduce the air inside it, which reduces the potential moisture content.

If a car is driven infrequently, then fluid service intervals should be based on time, rather than miles, usually once a year. Newer cars also have extended service intervals, 7,500 or 10,000 miles between oil changes. Personally I change oil and filter on all of my vehicles at 5,000 mile intervals. Oil is cheap compared to rebuilds, and it is easy to remember multiples of 5,000. But if I don't meet that number on a vehicle, then I change the oil once a year.

Do you have covered parking? Another thing that isn't good for cars is to sit in the elements. The finish degrades, the sun burns though the windows like a magnifying glass, and the heat generated with the windows closed destroys the fabrics and plastics used in cars. And even if you aren't driving that car, you should be washing it occasionally, maybe even giving it a coat of wax.

[scratchpaddy]

Sounds like you've got enough to keep you occupied for a while on that Z! And more Z's to go?

I drive my car about 3 miles every other week to get a load of groceries. Everything else, I use my bike. Normally, I drive to Oregon and back twice a year, and there's enough things to do with the car between road trips to run the tank out every few months, but it hasn't been normal this year. Up until a few weeks ago, my last gas stop was in Kingman, 200 miles away, last year, on my way back from my last road trip. The car was starting to run poorly after 9 months with the same gas. Luckily it was almost empty by then, so I refilled with some Stabil added, since this situation is probably going to continue for at least another year.

I've done a lot of reading about what happens to old gas. It's gotten more complicated with the ethanol in gas now. Pure gas doesn't absorb water, but ethanol does. Over time, the ethanol absorbs moisture from the air, which separates out of the mixture when it gets colder. When properly mixed, ethanol boosts the octane of the gas. But, it mixes much better with water than it does with gas, so when condensing water pulls the ethanol out of the mixture, you wind up with much lower-octane gas, reducing power and causing pre-detonation. My last car cracked a piston when I unknowingly put old gas in it (I had stupidly run out of gas in remote south-eastern Oregon). It was a 2012 Cruze with the 1.4 turbo motor, which has been known to crack pistons even with good gas. Old gas with ethanol separation and modern turbo engines tuned to run at the edge for maximum efficiency are really bad news together.

I really wish I had a garage to keep the birds and the dust off, but I do at least have covered parking now. As a resident of Arizona, I'm very familiar with what sun does to paint and plastics. Lots of cars driving around here with cracked dashboards, yellow cataract headlights, and roofs and hoods scorched down to bare metal.

And yes, I'll be changing my oil on a yearly interval, since I won't hit the recommended mileage limit in that time.

[Mickmac]

[Mickmac]

[scratchpaddy]

From my cool uncle's garage: 1949 Buick Roadmaster.

[Racer X 69]

From my cool uncle's garage: 1949 Buick Roadmaster.

Does that have a straight eight?

[scratchpaddy]

Does that have a straight eight?

Yep, the Fireball. From back when hoods were so long, you could fit eight cylinders all in a row.

[paulh]

1949 Buick Roadmaster.

Quite a car - that's what they called a "4-holer" (as opposed to the 3-holer Buick Special).

[Mickmac]

[Racer X 69]

Datsun, at rest.