[alfa] exhausted

[Richard Welty <rwelty@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

i sure would like to get this 164 going so i don't have to drive the
gtv in the snow and salt.

first, an outline of the apparent resolution of the fuel pump issue,
then a query on the exhaust. if you are tired of fueling around,
skip to EXHAUST which will appear in all caps later on.

i finally seem to have resolved the fuel problems i was having.
i verified that i had spark, and then verified that i had 12 volts
at the fuel pump connector in the trunk when my wife cranked the
ignition, so i pulled the assembly back out of the tank for the third
time.

i also pulled the old fuel pump out of the trash can in the garage.
i applied 12 volts to it, and it gave a mild clunk but refused to spin.
i whacked on a nearby solid object and applied 12 volts again,
and it spun briefly and then locked up again.

i then applied 12 volts to the new one and was rewared (?) with
fuel spew, so it does appear that the bad fuel pump diagnosis
was dead on.

however, why the car ran for 3 days and died again was still
unknown. i guessed that the short fuel line might be the culprit.
i'd replaced it, and put on new hose clamps, but i continue to be
suspicious of worm type clamps so i took them off and put in
the "type G" clamps that Jeff Greenfield likes for this fuel system.
i tightened them up quite seriously with a nut driver instead of a
screw driver, so tight they won't go any further, and reassembled
the whole thing. it went for four days before the exhaust issues
developed, and still starts and runs well.

EXHAUST

the center exhaust system has been crying "replace me" for
quite some time now. friday it got tired of being ignored.

i have a new center section on the way, and the mechanic i'm
taking it to (not Jeff, Jeff is too far away to limp to with a mostly
missing exhaust and he can't do NYS inspections, sorry Jeff)
tells me that he has a repair kit he uses with VW exhaust systems
that can fix up the damaged 3 bolt flange on the cat.

however, i can't see any way to bandaid the cat so it won't drag
on the ground while i limp to Albany. if the center section arrives
quickly enough, i'll bolt it back in and it'll hold the cat up with the
two bolts that will still work in the old cat flange, but it'd be nice to
know there's a way to wire the cat up. i've not really crawled under
that part of the car yet; the old bolts between the center and rear
required required a combination of hacksaw, dremel cutoff tool,
and cold chisel to come out. it took a while (and i'm going to be
hurting tomorrow.)

so is there any to keep the cat from dragging on the ground short
of getting the center section in place?

thanks,
  richard
-- 
Richard Welty                                         rwelty@domain.elided
Averill Park Networking                                         518-573-7592
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