Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/131367
Bloody Knuckles rotting shreds and that the coolant hoses are showing a few cracks. Well, a new battery and cables, fan belt and hoses will get the obvious easily repaired. I am also pretty sure that Cedric will need a new cap, rotor and spark plug set. The wires are looking brittle and the cap had some moisture in it. However, it is the fuel situation I am most worried about. CHANGING LANES Having sat for some 10 months since it was last used, Cedric no doubt has some water in the fuel. By nature, gasoline has a lot of water in it and natural condensation adds to that to the point where the ethanol in the fuel just can't absorb the moisture any more. This can cause corrosion in the fuel lines and carburetor, plus screw up the fuel filter, which is designed to filter out impurities but not water. The last time this happened, a couple of years back, I had to drain the tank, rebuild the carburetor and replace a couple of fuel lines. This time I plan to do things a little differently. For one thing, I can't get under the rig as easily as I used to be able to do and I am currently too poor to have Cedric towed in for service. So it is up to me. Luckily, I did remember to pour some fuel stabilizer into the tank last fall, so hopefully, things won't be too bad. They will be bad enough, however, so that if the big Dodge does fire up, there will be popping and rough running due to water in the tank. My plan is to add about 25 gallons of fresh fuel, put in some more stabilizer and add a water eater. Ethanol can certainly soak up some water, but since today's fuel is 20 bloody knuckles 0613 cl.indd 2 at least 10 percent ethanol, I dare not add any extra. My plan is to use about a 1/3 of a cup of acetone, which will help clean out the fuel lines as it also absorbs water. Acetone mixes nicely with gasoline and in the old days, racers such as Barney Google put the chemical in their tanks to add a little extra oomph on the racetrack. Today's gasoline mix is more complex and acetone isn't required for boost, but in a case such as Cedric's, it should do the trick. Of course, things don't always work out as planned, especially for me and being the card carrying member of the Edward A. Murphy society that I am, I have prepared for the inevitable problems that will crop up. If the engine still won't run after a tune up and my dickering with the fuel, I can always use a little canned ether to try and start the engine... or some propane. A hand-held unlit propane torch can feed a little flammable gas directly into the carb and get the plugs to fire up the engine. Then, in theory, the doctored gasoline will allow the engine to run good enough so that I can properly resurrect Cedric from it's current comalike state. After that, all I need do is fill the tires to the required PSI, flush out the drinking water tank, fill the propane tank, stock some food and take off for Warren's cabin. He may live near the middle of nowhere, but Cedric knows the way and Warren says if I call ahead he'll have the steaks cooking and the beer chilled when I arrive. All I have to do is raise up Cedric from the dead. If I succeed, I just may change its name to Lazarus! JUNE 2013 // WWW.CHANGINGLANESDIGITAL.COM 5/7/13 10:41 AM