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three days to get and the filter came as part of the complete fuel pump assembly. The cost, in the phone vernacular of the parts counterman, was "over three hunnert". "Three hundred...?" "And some change."... came the reply. Some quick calculations showed a parts and labor charge of a half a grand. We knew that the news would not sit well with the owner. We wondered why any car design engineer would be brainy enough to build a pump, fuel filter, gauge sending unit, and pickup...all in one unit, and then stuff this piece into a difficult undercar location. Probably the designer was without six children to raise.
No More Shortcuts Oh, we were tempted at first to just remove the fuel filter portion and substitute an in-line filter instead, but we figured at 104K miles, the pump was probably already worn and damaged. So after pump replacement, we reinstalled the tank. Everything checked okay on the road test, Fuel pressure stayed up as normal. But we noted, with the customer's use that though the fuel level sending unit was replaced in the repair process, the fuel gauge worked in an odd fashion. The needle would drop off the full mark only after a third of the volume in the thirty-plus gallon tank was used. |
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Six Pack (cont’d) |
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Chrysler Corporation shared the sturdy 318 c.i.d. V-8 engine across several product lines. The engine evolved and was updated to fuel injection in later years. |
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During discussion with the customer about the gauge error, Six Pack said that she was accustomed to a gauge error. She chose to leave it reading that way. She said, with the lives of six children to share, she was used to her tank showing a bit too full.
Six Pack’s husband had showed up with her at the garage bay door to pick up the van when the repair was completed. He was sporting a big smile. You see, in order to maintain her delivery schedule for the children’s activities, she’d temporarily commandeered |
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Bjorn’s collector car. The repair being finished meant to him that the Duster could return to storage, safe and sound until the next car show. Now, don’t get the idea that he mistrusted his wife’s driving prowess. In fact, he often stated that as long as the car had an automatic transmission she was a better driver than he. Bjorn made no brag when he said she could steer a safe path down the road while both chewing a knot out of a child’s sneaker and yelling at the rear view mirror that reflected a seven-year old busily picking his nose. In fact, it was a known fact throughout the small town in which they lived, that Six Pack could handle just about any family wheel spin that threw mud.
Notable Appearances Each Sunday, the whole crew would show up in church for the early morning service. They’d come in at 8:30 a.m. in a rather disorderly fashion unless Bjorn was home. He worked as a blacksmith and was often away on |
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Bjorn and Six Pack babied not only their children, but preserved a grape-colored Mopar. Not built for carrying a large family, however, the car had been retired after their family became bountiful. |