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| Joined: | 04-07-2022 |
| Location: | Oregon USA |
| Posts: | 141 |
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I must have been an axe murderer in a previous life, and karma is out to get me....
I put fuel in Rusty's gas tank, and 24 hours later the garage smelled of leaking fuel. The tank is cracked in the vicinity of the drain - so there is a slow leak. I already cleaned and sealed the tank which was heavily rusted. Apparently tightening the plug was enough to crack the tank as it was not leaking when I removed it from the car. A new aluminum tank is on order from Martin Robey. I don't know how long it will be before it gets here, but I am done with the original tank.
I used a cut to length kit from Amazon to get a plug wire set that actually fits (Martin Robey's wires do not fit) Part number 9N12259A from Amazon. A whopping $17 - quality is decent and of course free shipping. A small victory. =:-)
The freeze plugs in the cylinder head started leaking the minute I put coolant in the engine. <sigh> I had used steel 7/8" plugs even though the engine is metric, so I ordered some 22mm plugs. The 22mm plugs were loose in the bores, so pitched those and went back to 7/8" brass plugs thinking brass might seal a bit better. Well, they leaked too. So pulled them out and spent a day cooling my heels lest in my anger I set fire to the car. Upon getting back at it, I checked the bores for the plugs and determined they were in very rough shape. The car had been off the road for 25 years and parked outside with water (not coolant) in the cooling system. As a result the freeze plugs had literally rotted out of the head and in so doing had corroded the plug bores, which are deeply pitted and cannot seal against a freeze plug. I am now trying a smear of Permatex on the walls of the bores before driving in new plugs. Wish me luck.
So the new plan is to try to start the car from a small container of fuel while I wait for the new fuel tank. I still need to hang the (temporary) exhaust system for startup - I don't want complaints from the neighbors.
Cheers
Vance
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Last edited on 03-22-2026 01:48 am by vnavaret