Test Drives are Testy for Little Blue 65

[HAN8L1965]

I have been taking Little Blue out on daily runs to check things out, well Tuesday night was almost a disaster. It turns out I did not have a sufficient oil line between the gauge and the engine. 4 quarts later all over the road and a sneaking suspision something was amiss I pulled over and shut her down. Talk about luck. I tried to buy what I thought were proper hose and clamps but they still pumped out the oil. Called Moss Wednesday, extremely helpful, I didn't know they had this tube and clamps, they did I do and I am back on the road.

Talk about a mess though I have oil all over my once clean engine bay, it even seeped inside the car, thank goodness I do not have carpet yet. Lots of paper towels,Dawn Dishwashing liquid and a leaf blower saved the day.

I have to admit I am a little apprehensive as I go down the road now, it will take several 10 and 20 milers before I take the 200 I want to take. My dad would sure like to see her up close and personal.

Mark

 

[jhorton3]

I think you've done OK here. Crisis adverted, and you learned from it. Small shake down trips are fine. Go over the car and check to make sure items are tight and proper. If the oil line gives you grief I know there are braided units that have one connection from the block to the gauge. That's what I have on mine.

I don't think we give ourselves enough credit here when we tackle the rebuild projects we do with these cars. When they were new they went down a proper assembly line, had trained technicians with proper tools and work instructions on how to put them together. We have the duty of taking them apart, repairing, and bringing them back to life. As a one man show, or having a couple of buddies to help it really is quite a feat.

Oh yeah, we can go on a labor strike as long as we want, but the car's going to stare at us giving a guilt trip.