August 14th was the Fair and Rodeo Parade in Los Alamos. We had hoped to enter both our 1921 LaFrance, our 1942 GMC and Rescue. However, the LaFrance stalled 50 feet from CD-1. More on that later. However, we were able get the GMC downtown and into the parade. However, it died right in front of the judges stand. My guess is that hurt our chances at winning. Rescue managed to finish the parade. I heard stories that at least two other vintage vehicles had troubles that day so there must have been something in the air.
We figure the GMC just overheated and the primitive and ancient electrical system needed a break. After it sat for awhile it started right up and we drove her home. Some auxiliary fans in the engine compartment would probably help.
As for the LaFrance I feared I may have broken something during all the work I did on the ignition system. However, it felt more like a fueling problem. After thinking about it some more I wondered if there was a fuel filter that might be clogged. Yes, there is – right at the input to the carburetor. The filter was almost totally clogged. Cleaned it but haven’t tried to run it yet. I’m hoping to get our expert mechanic over with an old school timing light and dwell meter and make sure she is tuned up.
With the GMC down we were able to watch the rest of the parade. These bull riders where the best of the bunch in my opinion…
Although the parade didn’t work out like we expected, I believe we all had fun and we handed out lots of candy to the kids along the route. The next opportunity to run the vehicles will be the Electric Light Parade this winter assuming the county has it.