Hey, your cars on fire!!!

[Milt]

Took my 63 out for a nice weekend drive. Beautiful day and not too hot. Did great going over a 4000ft pass and ran strong and reasonably cool. Stopped for lunch and checked under the hood. I have had a small problem with the power steering reservoir leaking a little. I saw some fluid on the left side of the engine. Checked and it was down a bit but plenty to get home.

On the way home I thought to myself what a reliable and comfortable old car. Did not tell my wife these thoughts as I didn't want to test fate. On way home I had to stop for a little more gas. Had to back in to get to the pump. Cranked the steering and heard a funny popping noise. Got next to the pump and the car fills full of black smoke. Pop hood and get out. A guy in front of the car says "hey, you cars on fire!".

Turns out the rubber line from the power steering pump with the swagged metal fitting had broken. The pump proceeded to pump all the fluid on the exhaust pipe.

So my thoughts are - here is my beautiful car on fire at a gas pump. The fire was pretty much limited to the exhaust pipe and was put out with no damage.

So here are my questions.

In Nov 2001 a PST 1300 complete installation setup from Myer's Studebaker was installed on my car. Could the car possibly not have had power steering before this?

Then on July of 2004 a power steering bypass hose was installed. What is this?

Other small pesky problems I have are

Where to get my tach rebuilt?

The car studders when I get on the gas. Nothing major, just a little hesitation before it start to accelerate.

The car looses it prime when it sits for a week. I have the correct pump(New) and so forth. But if it sits I have to crank on it for about ten seconds to get gas back to the carb.

Front disc squeel. Especially when backing up, but sometimes when going forward. Pads are newer and rotors look good.

Thanks, and check you power steering hoses!!!

Milt

So

[Gunslinger]

Glad you had no real damage from the fire. Fiberglass is not pretty when it melts!

Can't help you on the power steering questions...not familiar enough with it.

The tach...there are vendors who can rebuild your tach, but more than likely whatever problem you have is the sending unit...it's mounted under the dash by the steering column. On '63's it a round flat can. Later cars it was a squarish plastic unit. Look in the Avanti Magazine for vendors that can help you.

The hesitation on take off...carburetion more often than not. Could be misadjusted mixture screws, floats out of adjustment, choke malfunctioning, etc. The carb could be ready for a rebuild if simply adjusting it doesn't help.

Car losing its prime when sitting...could still be carburetor...floats out of adjustment, but you have to keep in mind gasoline today is blended much differently than when our cars were first built. Virtually all cars built today are fuel injected. They require different blends (as well as EPA requirements). Gasoline as it's blended today evaporates much faster than in the old days when all cars were carbureted, so the fuel in you carb dissipates much faster and when it sits for several days, the float bowl is dry when you try and start it. It may be aggravating, but there's really little if anything you can do about it. The difference in gasoline blending could be part of your hesitation during acceleration.

Disc brake squeal...it could be a number of things. The rotors could be somewhat out of true, though that is usually found with a pulsation during braking.

Since your disc pads have been changed, modern non-asbestos compounds can cause all kinds of headaches...from the squealing you describe to excessive brake dust on your wheels.

Did this condition start when your pads were changed? Did you have the rotors turned? If not, they could be glazed and that can cause the noise. If the rotors are measured and there's no warpage, instead of turning them, try using emory paper on them to break the glaze. Do the same thing to the pad surfaces as well.

[SBCA96]

I have been detailing the rebuild process on my 63 Avanti power steering

rebuild on the SDC forum. I need to get with Lew, and maybe get a tech

sticky of each on this forum. SDC refuses to use stickys, and the same ol

questions get asked over and over again. Lots of GREAT info have been

lost on page 15. Its a real shame. Bob Johnstone has been transfering a

lot of what I have done to HIS page :

http://www.studebaker-info.org/

Tom

[WayneC]

The car studders when I get on the gas. Nothing major, just a little hesitation before it start to accelerate.

Usually due to a bad accelerator pump diaphragm in the carburetor... the purpose of the

accelerator pump is to give an immediate shot of gas down the carb throat when you first

push the gas pedal; if the diaphragm is bad, or if the actuating lever is misadjusted, then

the car hesitates.

Considering your other carb issue, perhaps it's time to rebuild the carburetor.