Re: fuel systems

[DAlexan424@aol.com]

In a message dated 98-05-29 06:17:54 EDT, you write:

<< Ever wonder how N81VA can fly for 1000+ hours without a fuel failure.  
 Keep things simple, or you are asking for trouble (IMHO). >>

Well said Bob. It does seem like we sometimes get caught up with the details.
What is it about people that make them want to take a proven system and make
it "better"? I'm in that subset of "improvers" as well!!! Ask me about a
Ducati that cost $18K to get ready for racing.

Reminds me of an elderly school teacher we had as a customer many years ago.
She took great pride in the fact that she was self taught in many areas
including auto repair. She brought her Alfa-Romeo in for a diagnostic one day
and the cause of her concern was low compression due to leaking valves. We
told her that the head needed to come off to have the valves ground. She drove
the car home and several days later reappeared in the shop with the head to
have the service work done.The vavles were ground and she was sent on her way.

About a week later we got a call from her stating that the engine wouldn't
start and that she had run out of ideas. The Alphalpha was towed to the shop
and we were horrified to find every valve bent. When asked if she had timed
the cams when she put the head back on, we got the "deer in the headlights"
look. Apparently, she had placed the head on the block with no consideration
as to where the pistons should be, probably just as they were when she took
the head off. To compound the problem, the car rolled backwards in gear and
did the valves in.

For Christmas, we bought her a pair of woolie mittens so that she would keep
her hot little hands off the car.

Sometimes, I think that we could use a pair ourselves.

Dale Alexander
173RGE