Sept 20th - Sept 27th
September 20th - Rough Running Investigation I spent part of today looking over the Ford GPW, which hasn't been out since Beamish last year. It wasn't running well at the event, but we'd trailered it there, so getting home wasn't a concern. Since then, life has been so busy, I haven't had time to look at it, other than turning the engine over every so often to keep oil splashed around the engine and exercising the brakes and clutch. Like "Jessie" yesterday, I took the fender off and the valve cover and checked all the valve springs were ok. I also checked that the valves were moving and checked the gaps. All but number 8 were ok and even that was within tolerances, but the gap was opened up a fraction more. The PCV gasket on the valve cover plate was torn, so I made a replacement. I also gapped and fitted four new plugs.

The fuel in the fuel pump had turned green. While it was E5 petrol which is allegedly 5% or lower ethanol content, this eco fuel is pure crap, soaking up water and damaging brass carburettor components, solder and rubber pipes and seals. I don't know how old the fuel was at the time of Beamish last year, but it was well gone now. I had disconnected the fuel feed from the pump to the carburettor to get the valve cover off. While it was disconnected, I hooked up a pipe and a container of fresh fuel directly to the carburettor and tried starting the engine. It started straight away, idled smoothly and picked up cleanly when I opened up the throttle. This is where it had shown signs of burbling and slow pickup before. I did two or three tests on fresh fuel, which also helped to pump out the fuel filter on the firewall and fuel pump of contaminated fuel.

As a result of investigating the fuel system, I drained the remaining two gallons from the fuel tank which was also very green. While I was working on the valve cover plate, I noticed the centre was sooty on the outside, suggesting the exhaust flange gasket was failing, so I pulled that apart and ordered a replacement. I've left the Jeep in bits until that arrives and will then put it all back together again and add some fresh fuel before further engine tests.

September 27th Reassembly and Testing I think I'm back up to three green vehicles on the road again, following the work done today. The new exhaust gasket was fitted and then I started reconnecting the fuel system. A test prime with the pump showed fuel weeping from the end of the pump union. One of the brass unions on the fuel pump had slight damage through to the threads on the inside. I ordered two replacements, but soldered the hole so I could carry on testing today. After getting the pipe work back together, I added five gallons of fresh E5 fuel. I gave the engine a test run which appeared ok for a short time, then I started getting fuel pouring out of the carburetor cover plate.

I pulled the carb to bits, checking various gaskets and screws for potential leak sources. It went together and came apart a few times, with test runs between and the leak continued. The fact that it only happened after a little while running suggested the float chamber was filling up and then overflowing out of the metering needle hole in the top. I stripped it all again and adjusted the float, which simply involved bending a tab on the brass float, so it wouldn't fill the float chamber as much. Each time the carb came off and apart, the fuel line had to be disturbed at the carb and pump unions; leading to additional small leaks when reconnected. Probably a good job I'm going to replace them. Anyway, I think I got there in the end, as after the float adjustment, the engine fired straight away. It idled ok, picked up smoothly from idle both slowly and with a quick rev, without the burbling and hesitation it had previously shown at the Beamish 2021 show. Now I just need to take it out for a test drive.

Engine test run video below. One run while the fender was still removed in case I needed to strip things down again. The second run was after the fender was bolted back in place, the light wiring reconnected and the horn refitted.