False Alarm – Hopefully

I drove Heidi up to PA yesterday afternoon with a replacement (Purolator) oil filter, a gallon of Rotella oil, some speedy-dry, and the tools, etc. to replace Lucy’s filter. When I arrived, the puddle that greeted me was thankfully much smaller (about 10 " in diameter) than I’d feared and the oil level in the crankcase was only down about a 1/2 pint from Full. I had Ariel start up the engine while I looked for the leak source. After a few seconds, oil did start to run down the sides of the filter. I tightened the attachment bolt, wiped off the outside of the filter, and watched for a few minutes. No more leak. This engine had run a few hundred miles since I’d put the replacement filter without any sign of filter leakage or noticeable drop in the oil level. I thought about replacing the filter anyway, but changed my mind since Ariel was in a hurry to get the car back to her apartment and make it to class on time. I put the new filter, oil, wrench, etc. in the trunk of her car, kissed her good-bye, and wished her well. She’s quite capable of replacing a filter and cleaning up a mess if it does happen - now that she has the stuff to do it with. She also knows to check the ground under the rear of the car and pay attention to the idiot light.

I then headed on down the road to the Corvair Ranch to pick up my order of bearings and gaskets needed to re-rebuild Ringo’s engine. I also had Jeff throw in a GUP Pittman arm bolt and nut and a GUP exhaust pipe to replace the leaking one.

The Ranch’s parking lot always provides some Kodak moments. I posted the pictures to my Flickr account here. I’m sure some of these will be used for my Facebook & Twitter Haiku4photo postings.

Speaking of photos, here are some of the engine work done last weekend.


It should be noted that on the first and second legs of yesterday’s adventure, Heidi’s top was down. As the sun began to set leaving the Ranch, the top went up.