Frog Van, Right Spanner

Frog Van, Right Spanner - Part 2

I don't buy spanner's that often so the price of quality spanners tends to be a minor shock to the system. I needed a 10mm fixed head spanner in order to continue work on fixing the Frog Van that I started yesterday.

Looking at the range of spanners in my local auto shop I could either get a high quality, single spanner in just the size I needed or, for two dollars less, get a pack of six cheaper spanners that includes the one I need. No brainer, right? (I bought the cheaper spanner pack).

Rather than go into a long blog post about disconnecting a few wires and pipes and undoing four bolts with my trusty new 10mm spanner I thought I'd just post a before and after picture...

Before (above): This photo is looking from above directly into the top of the carburetor (air filter removed). Notice all the pipes and wires around the top. I'm sure a skilled mechanic wouldn't be daunted but this is me and, as I said in my previous post, I'm not a natural mechanic. I know what the carburetor does but all that other stuff around it is almost a complete mystery to me.

After (above): This photo is the same section of the engine with the carburetor removed. Those four nuts you see on the corners of the blue gasket were the reason I needed a 10mm spanner. What you're looking at is the inlet manifold (the metal pipes that the carburetor was attached to) and, underneath that, the exhaust manifold.

Just looking at the after picture you can see near the top of the image where both manifolds are bolted to the engine block some fairly black deposits that shouldn't be there. It's not oil but carbon deposits (I presume that's what comes from burnt fuel?). That area should be clean like the front of the manifolds, where they are attached to the engine (middle left of the picture).

I'm hoping changing the gaskets will be enough to get a proper seal which in turn will hopefully solve the van's backfiring problem.

We'll see. It's slow going but hopefully it'll all work out.

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