General Bumble's Bee

[bumble]

Managed to dodge the showers and enjoyed a great drive to Rothbury in north Northumberland then back home via the beautiful coastline. Car is running impeccably and even the petrol smell has gone from the cabin! Drive safely
Steve

 

[Dave-M]

Steve what was the solution to your petrol smell, I've had the rear panel off to check the pump area and no leaks. I really am stumped as to where the smell is coming from. Don't have the hood up very often so no smell when hood is down.

 

[bumble]

Hi Dave. I am equally baffled by the source of the smell - it just went away! However, when driving in town with the hood up and the passenger window open a little, the smell returns. I think it may be coming from the area of the filler cap itself and at low speed, the low pressure area created behind the back edges of the hood cause the smell to be sucked forward! Hope that makes sense.

Also on my car, the fuel tank filler neck doesn't appear to be connected to the car body. I think that there should be some sort of seal around neck to prevent spillages entering the car - because of this I am always very careful when refuelling the car to prevent any spillages. It is frustrating and I am open to further suggestions! Steve

 

[Dave-M]

Steve thanks for the reply. But I only get the smell when /my wife is in the car. Mainly because she is always complaining about getting her hair messed, so I give in and put the hood up. But then she is to hot so the window is up and down like a yoyo.that's when she/ I get the petrol smell. You could be onto something regarding the filler. When I undo my petrol cap I always get a sound of like back pressure escaping. Is this right?

 

[Crachat]

Dave, we get the same noise on undoing the filler cap, hence (I presume) the warning on it to release slowly. No petrol smell though with the hood up. Back in the 70's I had several cars which did the same with screw on caps and could lead to petrol soaked trousers...
and that is why I was driving with no trousers on your Worships

 

[HP]

The fuel cap on mine used to leak ever so slightly, worth trying a new one?

 

[bumble]

Dave - I believe there is a possibility that we may have both married the same woman The circumstances that you have described are identical to those that produce the smell in my car.

Pete - I have replaced the fuel cap and have eliminated that as a cause. Is there a tank breather? If so, it might be worth rerouting this further away from the cabin. S

 

[bumble]

Happy New Year to fellow Barchetta owners. Not much to report from the Bumble garage. Change to the fleet means the Merc and Landrover have gone and my 'Retirement Classic' has been shelved in order to buy a second, but much newer XC70 AWD. House is currently for sale so I have been tidying up the garage. I have been selling some BMW 2002 spares that I have had for years and, for those Cocacola lovers, take a look at the two pics of a distributor which was left soaking in Coke for 12 hours! Off to Cyprus on Saturday for some sunshine and a few beers and I hope to get Christine back on the road much earlier this year. Drive safely. Steve

 

[bumble]

I spent a few minutes waking up Sleeping Beauty and noticed this split on one of the air intake hoses. As it is on the 'intake side' of the air filter, is it likely to cause me any issues? Can you still buy this part?

Steve


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[Dave-M]

Hi Steve.
Long time since I had any original pipe work, got a K&N fitted with some silicon pipe work on mine, so hard for me to tell from your picture. Is it before the air mass Meter , if so I think it would be OK to just tape up. Ifmits after the meter could give you problems with running smooth

 

[Dave-M]

Is that the one item number 6?
http://eper.fiatforum.com/eper/navi...3&WINDOW_ID=1&SGRP_COD=23&SGS_COD=0&DRW_NUM=1

 

[bumble]

Thats the part Dave. Thanks. The split is on the smaller dia pipe that draws air from the box along the top of the radiator. I 'grabbed' this pic from the internet.

 

[Dave-M]

Steve I don't think these parts are available, from what I have read on this forum, but worth calling fiat and asking, a good repair with some rubber mastic should be good enough.

 

[bumble]

Thanks Dave. It should be easy enough to wrap with some decent tape. S

 

[desert rat]

Good to see that you still have your B.


Is this the part your looking for?


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fiat-Barc...86?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_77&hash=item259cbf705a

 

[bumble]

Thats the part Wayne, thanks. Hope all is well with you? Anyway, my B is taxed and, I thought ready to go! Unfortunately the battery wont take a charge and needs to be replaced. I bought a new battery only to find the original had welded itself to the battery tray. When I finally convinced myself that there are only the two clamps holding it, the strap over the top and the clamp at the front edge of the tray, I hit it sharply a couple of times with a rubber mallet to dislodge it. When I removed the battery, I was expecting the tray to be a rusty mess but was surprised to find only surface rust had been holding the battery. However, not wanting to fit the new battery onto the rusty tray, I decided to remove it to paint it. The tray is held on by four 13mm bolts. There are two bolts which are easy to see and secure the tray to the inside of the n/s wing and a further two bolts which are hidden beneath the forward battery clamp. To remove the clamp, prise it upwards with a screwdriver as you unscrew the single bolt as the square nut that it screws into is not captive and needs to be held in its locating hole to stop it turning. There is also one wiring harness securing clip to the rear of the tray and thus is easily prised off with a screwdriver. On removal of the tray I discovered that the two holes that secure the tray to the wing are slotted and do not require the bolts to be completely removed. I gave the tray and both clamps a clean using a rotary wire brush in the angle grinder followed by two coats of smooth Hammerite and will refit it tomorrow.


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[gar074]

Looks great!

I did mine last year - funny how such a straightforward job can give such satisfaction (and it helped to take my mind off all those rusty patches, seized bolts, etc, that I know are lurking elsewhere!!)

 

[biscotti]

Done mine too last year.the lower bolt stumped me for a bit getting a socket on it but i beat it in the end battery tray expert

 

[bumble]

All reassembled and new battery fitted. I even cleaned the threads and nuts on the battery strap hooks and painted them after fitting the battery! Started immediately and I went for a quick blast into Berwick to check the tyre pressures and to pick up a couple if pizzas for supper! After the discs were de-rusted, the car went like a dream. If I ever have the time and money, things like the battery tray should probably be bead blasted and powder coated. Cars tucked up in the garage as more rain coming! Drive safely ... Steve


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[bumble]

Had a run to Duns this afternoon. It is Jim Clark weekend and the Lotus Owners were out in force. The main street is closed off and various high performance cars allowed to go full tilt for a few hundred metres!


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