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Spitfire How to get 0 MPG in a Spit.

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jdubois

jdubois

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I guess I got a little too cocky tonight, as I was able to easily fix the heater fan in the spit by finding a disconnected ground wire and reconnecting it. So I moved on to what seemed like another easy job.

The helpful owners manual says you should clean the fuel pump screen every 12,000 miles. Well, I figured I'd just do right then and there, since I'm going through everything else anyhow. What the helpful owners manual doesn't tell you is that the instant you start to remove the cover, gas pours everywhere. Now you'd think that would be obvious, it being a fuel pump and all, and it probably would have been if I was doing it without a manual, but I was just doing what the manual said.

But, ok, here we are. No problem. I'll just screw it shut again and curse the manual for a bit. Oops, nope. Turns out the screw happens to be badly stripped. So here I am with all my expensive gas pouring out the fuel pump and soaking the heck out of my oil drip mat and freaking me out enough to make the resigned decision to just let it empty the tank while I sit and watch it and chuckle to myself about getting 0 mpg now, after being concerned earlier that my first tank of gas only got about 20 mpg.

After about a minute I realized that letting 10 gallons of gas get dumped onto the garage floor was actually a pretty stupid idea. I got my senses back a bit, removed the incoming fuel line from the pump, rummaged through my parts bins, and found some old emissions hose bits that would work to plug the line.

So now, at least the car and I are at a stalemate. Gas line plugged, but no working fuel pump. Tomorrow I'll figure out what the thread on that screw is, confirm that the pump housing itself isn't stripped, and hopefully get myself back in gear. Though I will have get a new pump to engine gasket since I've now removed the pump from the engine and the gasket was a mess. Wonder if that old corn flakes box being used as gasket material trick really works...

So... The take away from this little story? I got my heater fan working! Woo hoo! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif
 
J,

Are you still married? If so, let me know how you got rid of the gasoline smell enough to keep her happy and you still living in the house.
 
You're obviously also married /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif "How much trouble am I gonna get from the wife over this" was one of the first things that came to mind. Luckily she's already asleep for the night. I put the gas soaked oil mat out in the driveway to air out, so I'm hoping the gas smell in the garage won't be that bad in the morning.
 
Yea Right /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/lol.gif

Hey, Andy jump on top of me, Mine was a response to the gas smell
 
That was my fear as well, but the threads actually looked ok to my eye. If the casting is stripped, I suppose I could try and tap it out a size larger, certainly couldn't hurt.
 
Just a suggestion, see if they make a Helicoil kit in the right size before tapping it oversize. Kind of expensive, but a much more satisfactory and permanent repair, IMO.

If you can take the pump to a local machine shop, they will probably install a Helicoil for you, for about 1/2 the price of a kit ($20-30).
 
On the mechanical fuel pump on my TR3A, there are 6 screws holding the top part to the bottom part. Three or four of these screws go right through. You can buy 3 or 4 screws which are about 1/4" longer and screw them in. Then put a lock washer and nut on the bottom. It may solve the problem of having to do the helicoil bit suggested by Randall. I think you might have to have a machine shop put in the helicoils for you.

Till then you can buy 2 small "C" clamps for a buck apeice and this will hold it all together tightly till you can arrange for a more long-term fix.
 
Don, I've had my TR3's fuel pump apart before also, and unfortunately it's a different design than the Spit pump. So your worthwhile suggestions for that pump wouldn't work on this one.

Andrew, you were right again. (One of these days, you'll be wrong about SOMETHING /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif ) The casting is brittle as can be, so there's no rethreading or I seriously even doubt helicoiling. Looks like I'm in for a new pump.

Maybe from now on I'll learn to keep my hands off of things that aren't broken.... nah, who am I kidding? The day I feel like I don't need to get in there and fiddle something is the day I sell the car and buy a mistake off ebay /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif
 
jdubois said:
Andrew, you were right again. (One of these days, you'll be wrong about SOMETHING /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif )
Click to expand...
I thought I was wrong once; turns out I was mistaken. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

But SERIOUSLY....

What does your pump look like? Original AC? Later style? (got an image you could post?) Maybe you only need the top, and a rebuild kit? I might be able to help....
 
There was a Darwin Awards story several years ago where a guy cleaned his garage floor with gasoline. A buddy came over and they started drinking beer. I think one of them lit one up, or lit both of them up.
I don't recall if there were survivors.
 
jdubois said:
The helpful owners manual says you should clean the fuel pump screen every 12,000 miles. Well, I figured I'd just do right then and there, since I'm going through everything else anyhow. What the helpful owners manual doesn't tell you is that the instant you start to remove the cover, gas pours everywhere. Now you'd think that would be obvious, it being a fuel pump and all, and it probably would have been if I was doing it without a manual, but I was just doing what the manual said.
Click to expand...


The Haynes repair manual tells you to do the same exact thing once in a while. My first thought was, Hmmm a 30 year old gasket may not be very accommodating to this procedure. I decided to leave the pump screen alone. Now I see that I made the correct decision.
 
Andrew Mace said:
What does your pump look like? Original AC? Later style? (got an image you could post?) Maybe you only need the top, and a rebuild kit? I might be able to help....
Click to expand...

Yeah, it looks like the original AC pump. I love the little manual primer on the side, and the bit in the owners manual that tells you to prime the pump manually if you haven't driven the car in a few days. Try putting something like that in a modern car owners manual. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif

fuelpump.jpg
 
Helicoils are easy; if you can tap a hole, you can install a Helicoil. But I agree, a fuel pump casting probably isn't the place to learn; unless perhaps you can find a dead one to practice on.

That center screw certainly looks non-original ... what are the chances it's also the wrong thread ?
 
TR3driver said:
Helicoils are easy; if you can tap a hole, you can install a Helicoil. But I agree, a fuel pump casting probably isn't the place to learn; unless perhaps you can find a dead one to practice on.
Click to expand...

The casting metal is so brittle, I'd be worried that the helicoil wouldn't grab correctly. I've seen them fail in similar instances before.

TR3driver said:
That center screw certainly looks non-original ... what are the chances it's also the wrong thread ?
Click to expand...

I agree, I'm not sure it's the original screw. It is a 10-32 thread though, which matched the casting. I think whoever was last in there messed the threads up just enough, probably by over-torquing, that as soon as I touched the screw I was done for.
 
Well, you learned, fortunately not the hard way, why mechanics still keep hemostats or pointy nose vise grips in their tool kits. To pinch off leaking lines of substances that could be problematic. Most techs also keep a pair of larger hose pinchers for coolant hoses.

Glad you didn't torch it.
 
RonMacPherson said:
Glad you didn't torch it.
Click to expand...

The thought entered my mind briefly. I mean, heck, that's how the race crews clean up a gas spill on the track! I even had a handy mapp gas torch sitting there from building a fuel injector removal tool earlier for one of my other cars. Luckily I'm not THAT reckless /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif
 
jdubois!

I thought all homes with old Brit cars in the garage
automatically stink of fuel. My bottom level usually
reeks of TR6. When the PDO's fuel line on my TR6 busted
open, I collected the gas in a dish pan and then bought
2 plastic vented gas cans. I have the spoiled gas stored
in my garage.

And so it is written: "Helicoils are easy; if you can tap
a hole, you can install a Helicoil. But I agree, a fuel
pump casting probably isn't the place to learn" .

Yes indeed! The six stripped out trailing arm studs are
a much better place to learn about installing helicoils.
Ask me how I know!

tinster
 
Tinster said:
I thought all homes with old Brit cars in the garage automatically stink of fuel.
Click to expand...

Hear, hear! To me it just wouldn't be home without the smell of the unique mixture of oil, fuel, grease, and old musty plastics. I can actually even tell which car was the last one to be running by it's own smell. And my Italian girl smells distinctly different from my Brits. Maybe it's because she doesn't shave her armpits /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif
 
jdubois said:
And my Italian girl smells distinctly different from my Brits. Maybe it's because she doesn't shave her armpits /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif
Click to expand...

Nah, Jer, it's the garlic. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/devilgrin.gif
 
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