Warren's had another go at the truck to beat the power loss problem (runs OK for 15 minutes, dies at any more than 1/4 throttle, let it stand 10 minutes and it's fine for another 10 minutes then repeat).
Yesterday he fitted mint Strombergs, removed the restrictors, replaced the entire ignition system except the distributor (which he found to have significant drive wear but didn't have a new part for).
He found a few nasties - a loose spark plug, plugs not gapped properly, ballast resistor knackered and bypassed, coil (not surprisingly) fried. The fuel pump was replaced last week.
The truck now goes like an absolute rocket, and I was singing the Halleluhah chorus all the way out of Sheffield. Until Hillsborough, where it saw a hill and dropped dead. This time a 10 minute rest only got me another half mile and I had to admit defeat and come home on the back of a truck (it was just too dangerous to limp home as I did last time, as the stops were more sudden).
The RAC guy was clearly impressed with the work, declaring it 'sweet as a nut' and with 'a banging spark'. He called their tech centre, who suggested checking the diaphragms. I'd have bet my mortgage on them being perfect, which of course they were.
I had previously eliminated the old 'run with the petrol cap off' trick, but didn't try that last night. All I can think to do now is give it a run today (locally!) and try out that theory. If that doesn't fix it I can beg someone local to fit me in on Monday / Tuesday to drop the fuel tank again and replace all the fuel lines and wash out the tank.
Does anyone have any other suggestions? Or a box of matches?
Tim Hobbs
'58 Series 2 '77 101FC Ambulance '95 Discovery V8i