Finally had a good day a couple of weeks ago and decided to take Monty out for a drive. I was anticipating an uneventful trip because the new carburetor had performed so well on its first test drive after installing and tuning it. But, no, it was running like crap. Could hardly keep the engine running.
Checking the fuel filter showed it to be virtually empty. Revving the engine produced a small trickle of fuel into the filter, but it should have been more. Bad fuel pump? Filter looked clean. Float valve stuck? What's the easiest thing to check -- fuel filter. Haven't changed it since the car was restored. Yeah, yeah. I know. Changed the filter and started the engine. Still ran like crap and died when I released the throttle. Then I remembered I've also got a filter up front at the tank outlet which can't be seen, let alone changed, without taking the right front wheel off.
So up goes the car, off comes the wheel and there is a clear plastic filter with an absolutely black filter element. Changed that filter, started the car and voila~ Monty is running like a champ again. Both filters full of fuel and engine running smooth as silk. Lesson learned... so I decided to change the engine oil, too. After all, it's only been about, well, since the break-in oil was changed. Draining the oil did show it to look almost new. It still had a translucent green sheen to it. But, I'll start being more diligent about that stuff.
Guess I need to change the gearbox lube next, and see if I can find my grease gun...