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Yes, el Frazoo, it is on the very cust of happily running.  All I have to do is dial in the carbs with their new, not-really-winter-friendly jetting in 30° weather and it'll be fine.

On that spark thing, Dr. Clock........   Worse one I ever got hit from was when I laid my hand on the plug wire of a magneto-driven garden tractor.  I honestly looked at my hand, expecting to see a 2" hole blown into my palm - THAT's how hard it hit.  Old magnetos pack one helluva punch.

BTW:  My Uncle Waldo, a farmer, worked his Ferguson tractor way too long before doing an engine rebuild, so it had a habit of fouling plugs.  His temporary fix (which lasted maybe ten years) was to put a drinking straw spacer between the plug wire and the plug cap to make a 1/4" gap above the plug.  The engine smoothed out, ran great with almost as much power as new and didn't foul the plugs any more, and I honestly don't know why.

Goddamn! Cars are fun.

I just think of all the trouble we're not getting into because we're in the garage (or in the hotel parking lot at Carlisle) under some malfunctioning chassis or engine. Deadly mishaps that won't happen to us:

*Parachute doesn't open.

*Thunderstorm pushes balloon basket into power lines

*Avalanche

*Blizzard hits just as you summit

*The bends

*Shark attack

*Shot by fellow hunter

*Fall through ice hole

I could go on.

 

Well, there WAS that time when Henry was working on Kelly's carburetors.

In the Hotel Carlisle parking lot.

With a small bunch of people, all standing around, watching (lots of hands in pockets).

With heavy Thunderstorm and Tornado warnings in the direct neighborhood.

So they pulled out their golf umbrellas, making perfect lightning rods......

And didn't you just try to set your foot on fire, working on your MG-TD?

And haven't I tried to remove my kneecap with an angle grinder?

If the neighbors or EMTs don't get involved, it never happened.

Last edited by Gordon Nichols

It starts.   It Runs!  It even (gasp!  Be still my heart...) IDLES!

Ran it long enough to dial in the mixture screws and sync the carbs at idle so THAT part is done.  Once decent weather hits (it was about 40º F out there this afternoon) and the salt is off of the roads I'll do the usual "Spring Thing" and check the valves (they sounded loose until it was really warmed up), check the timing and really sync things up. Today was mainly to get an "in the ballpark" sync and get some treated gas from the tank to the float bowls.  I forgot I left the heater on so it was a little weird to reach in to turn the engine off and touch a warm key.....

Anyway, Fall prep is done and cover's on for the Winter.  I'll wake her up in the Spring.

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