Car Broke Down First Drive

[bird 60]

Hi Kirsten, I agree with all the suggestions made about the trunk.
Some one has to get inside. First, make sure your trunk opens easily. Secondly, make sure whoever gets in the Trunk that they are not claustrophobic. Also someone who isn't very big or heavy so that they can move around easily. Make sure the torch is nice & bright, & hopefully the leak will be found.

Good luck.
Chris......From OZ.

[ssj335]

Thanks guys!!! Now if only I can find someone I can trust.... To let me out of the trunk!! Lol.

This is something I'll definitely be doing in the near future.

The good news is that I drove the car yesterday about 20 minutes out and 20 back. No problems. Then today I went about 35 minutes out and back again. No signs of trouble. Still going to expect I may need to change gas tank. But maybe will catch up on some of these bills first. So long as it isn't an immediate emergency with the tank.

Thank you for all the help. Will let you know how it goes. Somebody even seemed to offer me more than twice what I paid/put into the car today. But I don't think I want to sell I'm just getting into this hobby.

[YellowRose]

Car Broke Down First Drive

Hi Kirtsen, You have some more good suggestions. One thing I forget to tell you that Dave said, was to take the tire out of the trunk before you or someone else gets in it. It will give you more room, and allow you to better see where any water is getting in. I think the problems you had been having were partially caused by a gas gauge that is not indicating correctly. Leaving you with the impression that you had more gas in the tank than what you actually had and caused you to run out of gas. Another is a bad battery, that might have been causing your problems. As I recall you were told by Rob.. errrr Bob, that your battery was good. Well, something must have happened to it after they checked it. You have a good battery now. I am glad that you were able to take the Bird out and back to those car shows and that you enjoyed them. I am not surprised that you received an offer for twice what you paid for it, while there, knowing what you did pay for it! I see you want to find out what all it is going to cost you to get the rust issues and trunk leaks repaired. Then get on with further restoring the Bird... Or not... Hopefully, Jay is back from vacation and now you can drive it straight to his place, get it on his lift and have him evaluate the damage.. Maybe, while he has it, ya'll can do the water test on the trunk.. That may tell you what rust issues you may have also in that area. Or if it is bad placement of the weather stripping on the lid.

[ssj335]

I still don't believe I ran out of gas based on it taking only 10 gallons to fill and not 20 gallons like it shouldn't been if the tank were empty. Unless almost half the gas tank is full of rust and only 10 gallons of gas can fit inside. I imagine that's impossible right?

I want to ask you all how the fuel tank might be rusty and need replacing when the see-through fuel filter looks clean? Can someone explain how this could be possible? I still plan to have the tank, pump, and fuel lines looked at as soon as I can get a reliable mechanic to do so.

[jopizz]

Your car will certainly tell you when it needs a new tank. I don't believe it was out of gas either. I think the old gas cap was not allowing air into the tank which was causing a vacuum preventing gas from getting out. As long as it's running well and the filter looks clear I think you can wait on the new tank for the time being. However if it starts to misfire and stall out and the gas in the filter has an orange tint to it then you should invest in a new tank.

John

[ssj335]

Thank you John!!

[Tbird1044]

I'm pretty sure there is a fine filter screen in the pickup tube inside the gas tank. This can plug off and starve the engine from getting fuel, and the visible fuel filter you are looking at will only have minor particles. It's kind of like filter one and filter two. If it's running okay now, keep driving it, and if it stops again, determine if it stopped because of lack of fuel. If it is the problem, then continue to look at the fuel tank.
Nyles

[bird 60]

Nyles, I don't think that applies with the Squarebirds. All they have is just the Float. I had a '61 Rocketbird & that had the filter. I had it changed because it was all clogged up. If anyone knows any thing different please let us know.

Chris....From OZ.

[DKheld]

Nyles is correct - definitely a screen filter in the tank on the new Canadian built tanks and I would guess they replicated the original. I would think the original filter screens were stainless though.
Darn - already sent my original tank to the scrapyard so can't cut it open and double check.



Kristen - these screens or filters in the tank are very fine - won't let anything through even as small as a grain of sand - mostly only liquid. Rust flakes are much bigger than the screen holes so over a few miles of driving and constant suction on that screen the rust flakes lay on the screen and no gas flows out of the tank. Stop the engine and the suction stops so the rust flakes can disperse about the tank bottom again. Car will start and the cycle starts all over again.

I paid about $125 to have my tank boiled (cleaned) and coated then 2 tow bills @ about $50 each. ($225). That's about the same cost of a new tank and I wouldn't have had the headache. Of course that was 15 + years ago and the repro tanks were not readily available so my only choice was to try and fix the original or have one made. I know you have to factor in installation costs etc so your case is different. As John mentions - see how it goes and keep the new tank in mind.

Trunk weather strip.

I estimated about 17 feet is needed.
Here's some for $30 - free shipping.

Dennis Carpenter - $25 plus shipping

Guess you would also need a small can of adhesive for each of those.

The push on style that Ray has on the lower part of the body around the trunk. Not sure this is the same height as his maybe he will measure and let us know if this is exact.

Here's 20 ft for $33
No adhesive needed on this type.

Looks like after buying a can of adhesive the cost would be about the same. You would probably also need some masking tape to hold the trunk lid style in place long enough to glue it all then shut the trunk and let it dry.

Eric

[YellowRose]

Car Broke Down First Drive

My weatherstrip on the trunk flange measured 5ft across the back, 5ft across the front, and 3ft down each side for 16ft. I think either I had the OEM 210" strip or my custom guy had a big roll of it, and just pulled of about 20ft and cut off what he did not need. It is glued on in place. I just found out that I cannot add! Lol... I told Kirsten that it was 21ft long! 5'+5'+3'+3'=16'!

[jopizz]

I had a '61 Rocketbird & that had the filter. I had it changed because it was all clogged up.
Chris....From OZ.

I guess Ford realized that the screen could get clogged and decided to move the screen/pickup tube to the sending unit in '61 so it could be more easily serviced.

John

[simplyconnected]

The pickup in my classics looks like an inverted cup with a flat screen across the bottom.

The EFI pickup in my Mustang has a mesh 'bag' around it. The whole thing sits in a large 'dish' that always keeps gasoline in it, even if the car is climbing mountains. This is important because gas pumps in the tank use liquid gasoline to cool the electric motor. Running out of gas can burn out the motor quickly.

I have never seen a fuel delivery system without a filter in the tank. Replacement tanks also have a filter. - Dave

[ssj335]

Update:

Went to a show this weekend (about 45 minute drive each way). As anticipated, after about 30 minutes the OIL light would come on when stopped. In order to avoid a stall out, I shifted into neutral each time I was gliding to a red light or stop sign. This method avoided any OIL light from coming on. And the car never stalled.

I used this approach the entire ride home. The car sat for about 2 or 3 hours before my return trip. The OIL light was beginning to come back about 5 or 10 minutes into that drive. I never gave the light a chance to come on in either direction b/c I employed neutral as soon as I noticed it beginning on the first trip.

I went out to see the mechanic the local bird club use around here (he lives near the show I went to), but he was not home. I am prepared to get whatever parts I need (gas tank, sending unit, lines, etc). My only problem is I have no local mechanic I trust to look at it and tell me which part(s) are bad. Going to try to reschedule with him but it's about an hour trip and I fear I may not make it.

[Frango100]

That the engine doesn't stall when shifted in Neutral, would make me think that the engine itself is running ok, but that the resistance applied to the engine when in D, makes it stall. How is the idle speed set when in Neutral? Will it drop a lot when D is selected?

[jopizz]

You can try raising the idle speed as suggested. If you need instruction on how to do it's pretty easy. As long as you can get the air cleaner off it's a cinch.

John