[Mister Pontiac]

After purchasing my latest 71 GTO this past summer, I was driving home to AZ from IL. About 11:00 am, cruising across I-40 and 75 miles short of Amarillo, the 90+ degree Texas sun finally did its work and the car started to vapor lock. Fortunately it limped the 1/4 mile to the first available exit, and I was able to get it parked under a shade tree behind the local quickie mart. One block away, there was a generic auto parts store.

After some quick troubleshooting, I found a bent (and nearly crimped shut) fuel line between the carb and fuel pump. So I walked to the store, sourced a 6 foot section of fuel hose, a Q-jet spacer gasket, a couple fittings, and a can of hand cleaner. Fortunately, the guy I bought the car from had given me a spare (big can) fuel pump which was in the trunk. After swapping pumps, installing the spacer gasket, and then routing the full 6 foot of fuel hose out and away from the engine heat back into the carb, she started and ran beautifully.

When finished, I ate lunch at the quickie mart, took a 2 hour nap in the driver's seat under that glorious shade tree, and hit the road again as the sun started sinking low in the west Texas sky. The next morning, I was home in Phoenix with no other issues.

Glorious!

The things memories are made of...