Mark B
Donation Time
All-
My Alpine has been sitting in a garage since early December and a brief unseasonal warm day allowed me to fire it up on Saturday. We had previously had some lows in the negative digits and I wanted to just run it up to temp and air it out. It took a few extended cranking and waiting periods before it fired and almost immediately the smell of gas filled the garage. I shut it down quickly and sure enough, a good 14 inch puddle under the fuel pump. I was expecting carb overflow, though I have replaced the needle valves. It turns out that nearly all of the screws surrounding the glass bowl of the fuel pump needed a twist. It was a bit odd, as if something had contracted enough to cause a momentary leak upon startup or a very high pressure situation that blew some gas by a previously sound gasket.
In any case, I rolled the car out into the open and located an extinguisher. When all the fumes had dissipated, I fired the car back up and not a problem. No leaks, no stumbles, all good.
Upon reflection, I realized how unprepared I was should something have really gone south, and my mental note was to certainly exercise a great deal more caution and preparedness in the future. I will likely be in the same boat again in the Spring if we have any sort of winter here, and will not have driven the car for 45 plus days.
Once sorted, it was a blast to pound around for an hour or so in 60 degree weather and certainly chased the winter blues. All of the sand on the roads was fun and gave the impression of much more power as the back end would break out slightly in turns or a wheel would spin if I hit the grit under power in twisty parts. Quite fun.
Bottom line, take care and be thoughtful as you are pulling your car from winter storage.
Thanks,
Mark B
My Alpine has been sitting in a garage since early December and a brief unseasonal warm day allowed me to fire it up on Saturday. We had previously had some lows in the negative digits and I wanted to just run it up to temp and air it out. It took a few extended cranking and waiting periods before it fired and almost immediately the smell of gas filled the garage. I shut it down quickly and sure enough, a good 14 inch puddle under the fuel pump. I was expecting carb overflow, though I have replaced the needle valves. It turns out that nearly all of the screws surrounding the glass bowl of the fuel pump needed a twist. It was a bit odd, as if something had contracted enough to cause a momentary leak upon startup or a very high pressure situation that blew some gas by a previously sound gasket.
In any case, I rolled the car out into the open and located an extinguisher. When all the fumes had dissipated, I fired the car back up and not a problem. No leaks, no stumbles, all good.
Upon reflection, I realized how unprepared I was should something have really gone south, and my mental note was to certainly exercise a great deal more caution and preparedness in the future. I will likely be in the same boat again in the Spring if we have any sort of winter here, and will not have driven the car for 45 plus days.
Once sorted, it was a blast to pound around for an hour or so in 60 degree weather and certainly chased the winter blues. All of the sand on the roads was fun and gave the impression of much more power as the back end would break out slightly in turns or a wheel would spin if I hit the grit under power in twisty parts. Quite fun.
Bottom line, take care and be thoughtful as you are pulling your car from winter storage.
Thanks,
Mark B
