Today it’s all or nothing at all. I tape the collar to protect the thread from epoxy and glue it back in place. It seems to have gone well but it has to dry for 24 hrs. Tense waiting...
Tuesday, 22 December 2015
2015/09/02 Curves
In the past week I’ve been able to give the collar it’s rounded shape back, more or less that is, and have it fit in the gas tank. I’ve ordered a new in-tank filter and with the help of a thread file I hope to get the collar thread fixed. After about three hours of scraping the job is done but I still have to deal with the different thread of the filter. I decide to use the collar as a tap; I screw the filter in a few mm’s, back out and clean the thread with the file. After many twist and turns the filter gets in deep enough, I’m starting to believe this bond-mission might see a happy-ending.
2015/08/18 James Bond
I’ve had it with the romance so I roll out some heavy artillery: drill, hammer, chisel and a saw blade. After a few hours I am victorious but also worried about the outcome of things. The old in-tank filter was a 36 x 1,5 thread but is NLA. The one that is available now is a 37 x 1,5 mm, the metal collar has the shape of an egg after my violent attack, it’s thread is not completely undamaged and the egg has to get back in the tank as well. What started as a simple job is a now a matter of state interest and I’ll have to rely on all of my James Bond skills to succeed.
2015/08/15 My kitchen nightmare
Wally’s brew doesn’t help out to separate the “happy couple” so somebody suggested to boil the filter in vinegar. I’m giving it a go but I’m guessing it’s invented by fuel sniffing people. It’s not helping at all but while under the influence of fuel it’s probably good fun.
2015/08/13 The popsicle
The day after sneaking up on the happy couple I’m checking the remaining parts of the fuel system. The remains of the deceased level gasket are found at the bottom of the fuel bucket and the second fuel filter has seen better days. The date one it,17/09/1985, probably says enough. What was that thing about overdue maintenance again?
2015/08/12 Keith
Since the shark is back we were able to have some nice day trips (a bachelor party at Spa Francorchamps for example) but the problem of a blowing fuel pump fuse would re-occur every now and then and, as we all now- simply because there isn’t a good moment, always at the wrong moment. It’s a given fact that driving a Porsche is a reason to smile but if you’re driving a full day with an ear to ear grin caused by a deceased fuel level gasket in the boot and an amount of fuel sniffing that would even take Keith Richards down, you know you’ve got problem to deal with.
After raising the shark up for the umpteenth time I have to drain about 50L’s of fuel, I guess there’s no need to mention this get’s the Keith Richards routine going again.
Despite the fuel sniffing my sight is still intact and the fuel pomp seems fine to me but then again, what can visibly be wrong with a grey cylinder.
This grey cylinder can run hot when any of the two filters is gummed up so next up is a visual inspection of the in-tank filter. If I had done some proper research on this subject I would have known better but since I didn’t, I’m making an attempt at unscrewing the in-tank filter. This mistake almost makes me go fuel sniffing again, the fuel filter does come out but it brings along a close friend: the metal collar.
Somehow it does makes sense: The 928 is one of Porsche’s intelligent designs but combining a metal collar with an aluminum filter and screwing this combo in a plastic tank?
This has got to be a Monday morning design, invented after a weekend of heavy drinking or even worse: a weekend of fuel sniffing.
I hope I can end the endless caress and bathe the romantic couple in Wally’s brew.
Sunday, 19 July 2015
2015/06/19 Jaws, the return
In the past few weeks every now and then there was news about the transmission rebuild but when this pic arrived I knew we were close.
Today the shark finally made it home but it wasn’t all smooth cruising.
At 06.00 hrs. the radio starts playing it’s wake-up tune. I have arranged a driver to take me to Antwerp central station as I have to get on a train at 7. VOF De Loods is only about half a mile away from Den Dolder station and a 2 hour train ride with 2 changeovers awaits. I have about 7 minutes for each changeover, punctuality and trains in the same sentence is a no go so it’s a bit risky but it’s a risk I have to take, after all it’s for a greater cause. The train arrives at Rotterdam station, the first changeover, with a 5 min. delay and after a dash I jump on the train to Utrecht as the train whistle sounds. The rest of the journey runs smoothly. I arrive at the Loods just before the rain starts pouring down. The reception is, as it always is, warm and after a cup of coffee and some talk about the job done, Kees asks me to take the Shark around the block and to let him know if I’m happy with the set-up. I’m more than happy with the shark :-D. There’s two things I notice: “Short shifter” definitely means short and the speedo isn’t working. The first, I like and the latter is solved quickly and soon I’m on my way home.
After a petrol stop I hit the highway. The Bilsteins offer a bit of a stiffer ride but I do like them a lot and an accurate shifting shark and a happy driver cross the Belgian border.
Just across the border disaster strikes: the shark acts as if it’s out of gas and I barely manage to park it on the road verge were the engine stalls. After few fruitless attempts to start the shark again I get out of the car and disheartened I decide to go looking for petrol. I’m quite sure I had filled her up enough but somehow it felt like she ran out of gas. I had just passed a gas station so I might give it a try before I try anything else. I quickly learn that “having just passed a gas station in a car” is not the same as getting back to it by foot and I return with a dry mouth to what could be a “dry” car. In the meantime help as arrived with petrol but to no avail, it still won’t start. I don’t have any tools with me so there’s only one (expensive) solution left. I have to call “Touring” a Belgian “breakdown assistance” company (the mechanical kind not the mental one :-) I won’t mention the invoice but after 74 minutes a mechanical assistant arrives. He has a half-hearted attempt to start the car and seems very reluctant to do any further analysis while parked next to the busy highway. I can’t really blame him but then again my mental state of mind has seen better days at that moment. Towing the shark home in full rush hour is all there’s to it. I hear some ooh’s and aah’s from the admiring children who clearly think the car on the trailer is a beauty. I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Finally at 16.30 hrs.the car is put on the driveway. Immediately I take out a 10mm socket and remove the fuse panel. All the time during the highway ordeal I was thinking “If only I had a 10mm socket...” Fuse N° 17 and N° 22 look a bit odd placed, they aren’t broken but I do replace them. As soon as N°.17 is in, the fresh air blower works again, it hadn’t worked all day. Replacing fuse N°.22 doesn’t make a significant difference except when I gently turn the ignition key: The divine sound of a V8 engine bursting to life lightens my mood. A spin around the block shows that the problem is solved. Smooth cruising awaits and now that I do have the Touring breakdown assistance insurance I’m sure she won’t break down on me again but even at rest there’s joy. With the new Bilsteins her stance has changed and my god: what a beauty.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)