As I was just tooling around the neighborhood ..... all alone. BAM! it hit me... the Pigeon Forge Fall Rod Run is this weekend!
Took the '72 Kammback up to the mountains .... on a whim .... last minute kinda thing... no preparation at all.
As I'm cruisin' the strip, I saw 2 Vegas there. One pro-street early model and a later model ... no other H-bodies.
SOOOO.....Last night, about midnight-thirty, I decided to head home... the long way, up and over the mountains and down alongside the river. Through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Beautiful full moon and every star out..... cool weather with windows down and kick panel vents open ...- cooling the hot air coming off the hot floorboards (carpet removed). 215 V8 making great noises through the glass pack muffler as I vary throttle/load going up and around the winding mountain curves. SWEET! Just awesome!
...... Except for the loud whine of the danged T-50 5-speed. I'm really not liking the noise this sucker makes! Thoughts of a T-5 or T-56 swap come and go with each up shift and down shift. This is a great place for spirited driving after dark. It's pretty much uninhabited at night.
Going up, I passed one Ranger as he was coming down the mountain, just as I entered the National Park .... cool, there probably won't be another one on this road this late at night. WIN!, as i tighten my lap belt.
30 seconds later, another car passes by..... I think, "Dang tourists..... gonna be crowded... no 'spirited' driving for me tonight. ". This AWESOME road rivals the famed Dragon/Cherohala Skyway, because it's got some decent straights, BEAUTIFUL scenery along the river (full moon) and relatively uninhabited after dark. I'm talking MILES of uninhabited. Other words.... FUN!
Oh.... fuel pressure.... back on topic.
I notice the fuel pressure gauge is low... about 1 psi. Normally 3. I switch the dash mounted fuel pump rocker switch from "run" (with oil pressure) to "start" (always on) to see if that brings the pressure up. Imagine this, it drops to 0. Repeated flicks of the switch does nothing for the pressure.... still 0.
Momentarily, the 215 sputtered and soon died as the carb bowl ran dry of fuel. Great, now what?
Wire jiggling and finger flicking the pressure sender (no tools) does not get me any pressure. Can't even hear the fuel pump whine. Crap! The back-up in-line firewall-mounted fuel pump in on the Hatchback. DAMN!
Quick check of the phone (but knowing it's futile) NO CELL SIGNAL!!!!
Phone flashlight battery at 30%. Won't have light for long (no charger). I see a loose hose in the engine compartment that appears to be a fuel tank "vent" that probably went to the long-gone charcoal canister.
Just on a thought, I blew on the end, hoping some pressure might: #1 clear the line to the carb of possible debris, #2 fill the carb line if vapor-locked (hot engine but very cool air temps), #3 because I got nothing else to do.......
1 am, along side a rushing (quite loud) mountain river, full moon, no one in sight, my head in the engine compartment, back/ass to the wild, ..... the sick feeling of being attacked by one of the numerous black bears(non-aggressive - unless young'uns are around), or other native critters crosses my mind.
1 am in BFE... no one around for miles. Do this quickly, get back in car, .... idiot.
At least it's pretty cool way up here next to the river, I won't burn up if I have to sleep in the car tonight , as I'm wearing shorts and a tee. Low 60s probably by 3 or 4 am. Hmmmmm...... No blanket or any gear in car (just went on a whim).
Wait... thousands of tourists at the rod run.... someone will come by soon.
Stranded
Not liking the idea of just waiting around (for momma bear to come along), I try starting the engine. Maybe oil pressure will get the pump working after it has cooled a bit. (It's pretty cool up here). 215 roars to life!!!! .... but gauge shows no oil pressure. Damn! Engine idles a while then sputters to a stop. HMMMM....... Blowing into the "vent" must have pressurized the tank, filling the carb bowl. Hmmmm.... open fuel tank cap, blow in vent hose again..... no pressure/resistance. Cap tank, blow vent and get pressure/resistance. Possibly filling the carb bowl again. OK, try starting..... it works, but still no fuel pressure.
Ease out in first, quickly to 3rd then 5th. 500 rpm, lugging just under idle in 5th not using much fuel, but I'm moving forward nicely. Make a few hundred yards before running the carb bowl dry.... maybe.
REPEAT....... a few times.
No cars .... at all.... nobody ... an hour has passed. No signal.... looks like this is the only way I'm gonna get down to civilization (about 20+ miles). Hope the starter and battery last.
Better cut the lights and just use the flashers. I mean, this place is deserted. Riding the double yellow line as the flashers flash for illumination, I think, "Heck, I'll be able to see oncoming cars headlights long before I encounter them." This couldn't be a bad idea.....
Now, I'm over the top and going down the mountain. The stops to blow into the vent hose get less frequent : #1 because I'm going down hill, and #2 I'm now cutting the engine off as I coast.
Bump starting without using the starter, when close to losing forward progress. Gotta save the battery so that if I make it to level ground, I'll still have a few miles to go before reaching civilization.... This is gonna suck.
OK..... this is gonna sound odd .... other than the thought of some native critters seeing me as a food source while I'm head down into the engine compartment, THIS IS AWESOME!!!! No engine sounds (no radio), FULL MOONLIGHT (occasional yellow flasher light), LOUD river rushing sounds, tree frogs and other critter noises, cool air rushing into the Kammback's cabin, absolutely NO ONE around for MILES, input steering and an occasional braking event while coasting down a mountain river road. Wow! Awesome. Interrupted by an occasional bump start and hearing the 215 belch out it's glass-packed roar, followed by some powered motor vehicling.... then silence again to hear the awesome sounds of the National Park at 1 am.
Slowing, grade is evening out.... I think I'm close to the Cades Cove intersection (relatively flat).... Just as I bump started the 215, I noticed the fuel pump rocker switch flashed red momentarily (red light with no oil pressure).... so the pump is getting power again!!!!! Strange electrical demons.
Fired it up and the gauge shows much less than 1 psi, probably 1/2 psi. How will it run? A few tests showed that running under 2000-2500 rpm would be fine cruising, but any major throttle use above that would drain the bowl pretty quick. Gotta be careful with the acceleration part in lower gears.
Works good cruisin'....
so I pass up civilization (everything is closed anyway) and head for the interstate for my 40-mile ride home.Made it home... literally died within sight of my house. Large hill requiring throttle and lower gears drained the bowl. Blow vent hose.... fire up... pull in driveway.
I have a stock replacement in-tank fuel pump somewhere, so that will be on the agenda soon..... but I'm also gonna install an inline pusher pump on the firewall like on my '73 hatchback .... just in case.
