Firstly I must explain that given an open flat smooth bit of paved roadway accompanied by one stripped down 1928 4 cylinder Chevy and Ray turns into a complete bloody mad man who could of given "brocky" a run for his money on the track in his prime, this photo below is say it all of the speeds that were acheived in the first few laps..... There was no holding back on the corners either!!.
BTW did you notice the new "tandem" style of seating that now sits proudly across the bare chassis, one old wooden "chairsaw" carry box was very comfy and serviced it purpose well, anyway back to the days task.... With the trip metre set at 00000 Monty rolled off about midday with all the zest and enthusiasm you would see at any major motoring endurance challenge and soon we had hit the 3mile mark with smiles all round and it was bloody flying really with the old speedo nudging the 35 mph mark on many occasion with us both venturing out on "Contour Road" for the run up and down the street at 45 mph and I can tell you that with no body panels around you and just the old wooden steering to hang onto, the wind was really flying through the thinning head follicles before you had to jump on the brake pedal and swing it around through the gates and back onto the enclosed "race track".... Monty was going great, "This thing is flying Grant"
At 9.2 miles travelled things turned a little sour and the "Flying Monty" well, did shit his pants so to speak, and that bloody fuel issue from last week rose its bloody ugly head again and promptly put an end to our day... "coffee time Ray" as we sat for a moment to contemplate what to do...
We checked everything again, like last weekend, spark plugs, points, distributor, coils, all good so it must be a fuel problem.....BUGGER IT!!....... Then Ray showed a side of himself that I had never witnessed before with old Monty, the normally quiet, meticulous, city mechanic suddened turned and without me looking he took a quick disliking to the vacuum tank and started to wack it with his hand a few times.....WTF I thought and then the next breath he says "Try that, give it a start".........BANG the engine was purring like a kitten again, so with that in mind we have come to the conclusion that the vac tank needs to come off and given a good check over....
"The Pits"
With another quick lap completed Ray came into "the pits" at 9.5miles travelled for a quick fresh oil change and filter drain before I went out for a couple more and the day was looking good with the car running well now and "The Pits" fully stocked with lamingtons, buscuits and coffee and also clear blue skies overhead with the temp sitting at a pleasant 28c degrees, the scene was set and we had plans to drive some distance..
At 10.4miles travelled disaster struck us BIG TIME!.... The fuel problem came back once more and no matter what we tried we could not continue the endurance run any further, "beaten yes, disappointed no". Monty was soon hooked but up to my ute and we towed him back over to the resto shed where I will pull apart the tank properly on the bench and have a good look at it in the next few days, thems the breaksI guess!!
So there you go folks.....A great day was had but a few more miles would of been lovely but besides that Monty pulls out of corners really strongly, "doesn't it Ray"? and shows great potential for a road going car which will not be to much longer I hope..
UPDATE:
The next morning early on went the computer to check the emails and sure enough Ray sent through one:
"Grant remember last week when I said we were not looking outside the square. Well there is a way to prove it is or is not the vac tank once and for all, or maybe the vac tank tap.
Suggest you try this if you want, as you were going to strip it anyway, and you can do this first.
1. Remove the top and all the guts of the vac tank so its just like a small petrol tank.
2. You will need to remove the vac line from the manifold or blank it off at the hose end, and try to start the bugger. make sure that condenser wire is not shorting anywhere.
3. If it starts and runs good could be that vent where petrol was squirting out. Never seen that before.
OK then so out i went and tried this in the resto shed ASAP and Monty fired straight up and sat there idling fine, so back in went the vac tank internals and on went the top and screwed down tight, I hooked up the pipes and hoses then started it......All fine again, but for how long??......
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