Thanks guys. That’s how I will glue mine on then.
–Drew
Fresh from the machine shop and a 20 thou overbore, I borrowed a friends paint booth and HVLP gun. It got a coat of epoxy primer followed by two coats of bright red paint.
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Well, it was 55 deg F here in Maryland today and the sun managed to peek through a few times, so I took Daphne out for a 25 mile run to warm everything up, plus needed to fill up the gas tank. I’m using Star Tron (vs. StaBil) in the tank because I plan to get the car out on the road at least every few weeks as long as no salt and no dampness on the roads. There’s a station in Sterling, VA that sells 110 octane ethanol-free race fuel in 5-gallon cans at absurdly steep prices, but that’s what I plan to top her off with during the winter months just to be on the safe side.
Top down, windows down, heater doors open…a very comfortable drive. At one point a very new Porsche 911 cut out in front of me and mashed his throttle, so, being an eager teenager in a 60+ year old body, I down-shifted and took up the chase. He eased off a bit to let me catch up and off we went for a nice multi-mile run. He didn’t have to slow down for the tight sweepers, but I did. She’s 55 year old on new but skinny (5" rims) Pirelli’s so discretion was the word of the day (well, except for the speed limits broken). I think each of his rear tires puts down more rubber on the contact patch than all four of my tires. Nice to know the old girl still has it in her. I turned off at my cross road and let her cool down for a couple of miles before turning down my street.
Damn, but I sure do love driving that car.
Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!
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I assume there is no other source of ethanol-free fuel available?
Well, nothing particularly close that I’ve found. I can drive out in the SUV to Sterling (45 minutes) and buy three cans and use them to top up the tank after a run…should last all winter. I haven’t been able to locate a closer source in Maryland that sells high octane non-ethanol fuel. I fill her with 93 octane Sunoco (wow do I miss the good old days of Sunoco 260…that smell…like Cam2 racing fuel…sigh…). I figure topping her off with 110 octane non-ethanol plus using Star Tron to protect against the dreaded ethanol jelly blobs should be a decent belt and suspenders approach.
This is my data source: https://www.pure-gas.org/
If anyone knows of a location closer to 20878/20854 in Maryland that sell 93+ octane non-ethanol fuel, I’m all ears. But I don’t mind spending a few extra dollars at the place in Sterling since you do get it in easy to store/use 5-gallon containers.
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I would have thought (and admittedly have not given this much thought) that the one time when ethanol might be an advantage was during winter storage. I think it would tend to mix with any moisture rather than having condensation accumulate separately. But I could be all wrong about that.
All bad, all the time. You need to cook the data to make it make any sense at all. We can get non corn gas about 25 minutes away, which is near eating spots we like. Our Yamaha surged badly on corn gas and our other cars used about 10% more corn fuel than real fuel. This was tested and confirmed for many, many years, as we always filled with real gas visiting the kids outside the metro area, so we had many tanks and many years to measure the difference. If you use 2 cycle engines which are stored off season you know how bad corn gas is.
Everything I’ve read says that the ethanol in E10 can absorb water…up to a point, after which, you can get phase separation and you end up with a blob of water and ethanol sinking to the bottom of the tank (I’m grossly paraphrasing here) which, of course, is not where you want it to be since you have a fuel pickup down there. A non-alcohol fuel additive can help disperse the water. Problem is worse in cold weather. So, best options appear to be to use a non-alcohol based fuel stabilizer and keep the tank pressed to avoid condensation. E10 fuel can go bad in as little as 30 days. There is a recent thread on here somewhere that covers this topic. Non-ethanol fuel should last for a year or more without issues. So my plan is to use a fuel stabilizer (I’ve chosen Star Tron, others use Sta Bil) and after each run, top off the tank with 100 octane non-ethanol fuel.
From West Marine:
“When E10 gasoline comes into contact with water, ethanol will allow fuel to absorb some or all of that water. This is actually somewhat beneficial, but fuel can reach a saturation point and water can phase separate to form a distinct layer in the bottom of the tank. The upper “gasoline” layer will be depleted of ethanol and have a reduced octane level. The lower “phase separation” layer will be a corrosive mix of water and ethanol. No chemical agent or fuel additive can be added to E10 gasoline, in a reasonable quantity, that will fully prevent phase separation or recombine a phase-separated layer.
Winter storage of ethanol-blended gas
Seasonal storage with E10 fuel is another likely time for problems. During storage, fuel will tend to oxidize; it will become “sour”, and may absorb water from condensation. Water-holding capacity of E10 fuel is reduced with lower temperatures, so phase separation is more likely with winter temperatures. E10 can hold approximately 0.5% water at 60°F (.64 ounces in a gallon, or 12 ounces of water in a 20-gallon gas tank), but can only hold about 0.35% water at 20°F (.45 ounces in a gallon).”
Anyway, I may be going overboard (note the nautical reference), but it will give me piece of mind. I’m sure others have different ways of dealing with this issue. As I said, I don’t plan to store the car all winter…I plan to drive her when possible, and if she does have to be laid up for a month or two due to weather, at least she will be protected as best I can. At least I think so?
so exactly what happens to the E10 fuel that stays in the bottom of the gas station tanks for more than a month as it gets diluted with every tanker refill. I guess the solution is the constant dilution with new gas.
Trial fitting the new stuff for my car. Sheet metal is from SNG. sills and floors are Robey panels and fit pretty well. X panels are SNG’s own brand and also fit fine. Lower quarters are also SNG house brand and not sure yet as to fit as I have not reached that area yet. New frames are Robey frames that I bought 25 years ago and they do not fit well at all. Looks like the lower outer arm on each side is about 3/16 inches too long. Not sure what to do about that but I will wait untill I have all the sheet metal in the right configuration before doing anything.
If you mean the holes do not line up and are 3/16 out of alignment that’s not really uncommon. Many people have had to persuade their frames to align with all the bolt holes.
If you mean the front frame rails there are many distances that need checking. All these interact. When the ‘trapeeze’ (sp?) bolts on the picture frame the distance from the bulkhead to the bonnet mount may be fine, but the perimeter of the cowl may not line up with the installed bonnet (the bulkhead mounting points may differ in relation to the cowl edge). While usually you’d expect a small difference, if you start shimming the frames to match the longer lower tubes you may get way out of kilter when the bonnet goes on or you align the suspension. I have one “old/new” frame member and it also had a length issue. I elected to get the tub square and the alignment true and worry about the bonnet later. Our car carries shims at the picture frame and one bulkhead mount. The car aligns right where I want it and drove perfect on its first run.
My point would be make sure your reference points are OK, namely the bulkhead. That part rarely gets changed and should be as made. I measured wheelbase, corner to corner - everything I could think of. The original tub was really only off 1/16" - which is within significant figure measure and could be easily ± of my measurement as the doggone plumb bob has a 1/32" point for cryin’ out loud.
As was pointed out, the holes may not align on any frames without a little coaxing, and shims aren’t a butcher job if they make everything the correct dimension!
You know, I was just thinkin’ , and that lower mounting point - the point where the outer rail mounts, DOES get changed all the time. Is the rail too long or the bulkhead mount in the wrong place?
Pretty sure the rail is too long. I compared them to my old rusty originals and the other 3 mounts are the same but the lower outer mount is 3/16 longer on both sides. The sills on the car are new and the body mounts are not attached to them yet so I can easily just attach the body mounts back 3/16 but that opens up a new can of worms with the bulkhead panel. Really is too bad that you can’t weld this stuff. My next step is to remeasure everything on the tub to confirm that everything is where it should be with the sheet metal and then explore shimming I guess. I must say that I am quite disappointed with the quality of the Robey frames. Hopefully they have refined their production tolerances since these ones were produced.
John. Actually both. I expected the holes to not line up and that can be fairly easily addresses. Interestingly the holes in the picture frame brackets do not match the holes in the (original) picture frame very well. . That will likely require the use of a round file as well as tapered punches. It is the extra length of the lower outer arm that is the more difficult problem.
Ole, I have sent you a few e mails, but don’t know if they are getting through, can you please contact me re the sunshades. Thanks
Pat
Just sent you a PM … Ole
put a small RED ZIPTYE on all parts from LHS only , untill cleaning commences
maybe contact E type fabs and ask them what the length of their part is.? Quite a time saver if they send you one that fits vs one that does not