Re: 79 spica spider quit

[Scott Fisher <sfisher71@domain.elided>]

--- Jack Chesley <jwchesley@domain.elided> wrote:
>    I had noticed a few sputters over the last week
> or so, but attributed it to
> bad gas and perhaps the first few days of freezing
> weather here in Virginia.
> I have been putting in isopropyl dri-gas about every
> 3rd tank, but not the
> last fillup.  Any thoughts, suggestions, accumulated
> wisdom?  

Yes -- the usual thoughts, suggestions, and
diagnostics.  First, find out what's missing in the
four-stroke operation:

1.  Do you have spark?  Couple ways of testing this,
many of them quite dangerous; if you've got a
screwdriver with a really thick plastic handle, you
can pull a plug wire, stick the screwdriver into the
wire's connector, hold the plastic handle and lower
the metal shaft of the screwdriver till it's near a
head stud, then look for spark.  If you've got no
spark, ignore the Spica -- it's not the problem, look
at the ignition system (condensors, points, coil,
wiring...).  If you HAVE got spark, keep going.

2.  Do you have fuel in the cylinders?  Simplest test:
crank it over, then pull a plug and see if it smells
of gasoline.  If it's dry, check to make sure the
Spica belt is connected -- I keep saying I should a)
change the belt in my Spider (I've had it almost three
years, it's probably a good idea) and b) keep a spare
belt -- plus the tools required to change it -- in the
car with me.  

3.  Are the plugs fouled?  We recently solved a
no-start problem with the 2-liter that's in Jeff's '67
GT 1300 Junior by replacing the plugs and having it go
vroom.  I confess, I was looking at outre failure
modes; Jeff tried swapping in the plugs, because his
stepdad (who had previously driven the engine we
installed) had told him that for some reason, it
fouled on Golden Lodge plugs; I said I'd never heard
of G.L. plugs fouling, so Jeff put them in.  They
fouled, just like his stepdad said that engine always
had.  It ran fine today on our tour of Dundee, Tigard,
and points between.

In short, while everyone loves to blame the Spica for
everything from hard starting to global warming, make
sure you know what's going on before you start
throwing things away.  I've learned that lesson the
expensive way a couple of times -- like the time when,
on the Junior that's now Jeff's, I replaced the
starter, then the battery, before doing the simple
two-minute diagnostics to determine that it was in
fact the $6 cable from battery to starter.  Ah well.  

--Scott Fisher
  Tualatin, Oregon


P.S.  One other thought: anybody know what isopropyl
alcohol will do to the bores of the Spica pump --
accelerated wear, or other problems?  The general
recommendation is to add a lightweight oil (Marvel
Mystery Oil, or two-stroke oil, or an equivalent) to
keep the internals of the Spica lubricated.  I don't
suspect alcohol will cause the bores to wear, after
three tanks, to the point that it would fail to start,
but I would ask a reputable Spica mechanic
(http://www.wesingram.com) before I put alcohol in the
Spider.  And I wouldn't put it in ANY of my other
cars.
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