Oil Draining - Fumoto

[Ed Price]

There has been a lot of talk about how to drain the engine and transmission oil.
Some of us just let it flow into the bilge (!), others use a suction wand with a
pump or vacuum cleaner, and still others try to use an extension tool to unscrew
the engine oil drain plug and flow the oil out the bilge hole.

Maybe there's a really good solution, if it fits. Take a look at the Fumoto
Engine Oil Drain site at

http://www.fumotovalve.com/

These little ball valves permanently replace your existing drain plug. There are
a number of different models, although they don't have a cross to Triumph 1147's
on their list (but you could just order by the generic thread size). More
importantly, one of the valve styles, the Type "N", has a short nipple on the
valve body. This allows you to slip a plastic hose on the valve before you open
it. You could just snake the hose out the bilge hole and into a container.

This might also work for the land and water transmissions. We could use an
existing drain plug, and possibly add a drain hole in a convenient location. (I
have heard that draining the land transmission leaves a quantity of old oil in
the differential; maybe one of these valves could be mounted low on the
differential case, possibly by drilling and tapping a new hole in the case.

The fit for the engine valve might be somewhat tight. It's hard for me to
remember just how tight, because my engine is now out of the car. I think it
would be a very easy fit in a newer Amphi (with the large bilge plug), but it
will be a closer fit in an old Amphi (like mine, with the small threaded pipe
bilge plug).

Possibly someone could try one of these plugs (only about $25) and let us know
how it works out.


Ed
El Cajon
67 Rust Guppy


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[nelson625@aol.com]

I can add my endorsement to the Rust Guppy's recommendation for the "Quick
change" engine oil Drain Valve. In I have used them on several vehicles for at
least 10 years and they make the job a snap. Especially the version with a
nipple allowing an extension tube to avoid oil going where it is not wanted on
some vehicles. The http://www.fumotovalve.com/ gives you all the info about the
product as Ed put in his posting.

Off the subject, but yesterday I took a gal for a ride in the "Split
Personality." This was a girl ( properly, I should say a woman, though she was
a teen
ager when I sailed with her years ago ) whom I had met years ago on the
Brigantine YANKEE on which I sailed around the world. At that time, she was
just
on for a week while we were cruising the New England Coast after we returned
from around the world. It turned out that her ex-husband had told her that "when
we buy a car, it is going to be an Amphicar !" That was a number of years ago
and she had never seen one "in the flesh" before yesterday. She now lives
near Los Angeles and is the Vice President of the Los Angeles Maritime
Institute
( LAMI ) which operates several large sailing ships - large schooners and the
brand new twin Brigantines - the "Irving Johnson" and the "Exy Johnson" -
named after the captain and his wife with whom I circled the globe on the
YANKEE. Anyway, even though she is now a veteran sailer and "Tall Ship" lover,
she
found the Amphicar experience to be thrilling. Any Californians or others who
have teenagers or even adults interested in promoting the lore of the big
sailing ships might be interested in investigating the Top Sail Youth Program.
LAMI is berthed or based at Berth 84 at the foot of 6th Street in San Pedro.
They are (I believe) a non profit organization devoted to helping young people
experience the magic of sail and the teamwork that is part and parcel of sailing
a big ship. The Irving Johnson is at this moment enroute to Hawaii.Their
organization holds fundraisers and has many volunteers in all kinds of
capacities
from crew members to office personnel. The mission statement on their "The Top
Sail Sheet" states: "Providing character-building sail-training adventures
for youth." For additional information, their web site is: www.brigantines.com
. To get on their mailing list, you can call (310) 833-6055. I realize this
is a bit off topic, but may be of interest to a number of the Amphicar Lovers.
A bit further off topic, but on my wall, I have a copy of this same lady's
now deceased father's Pilot's License issued in 1930 and signed by none other
than Orville Wright ! I do hold a commerical Pilot's license and was in Kitty
Hawk for a week for the Centennial Celebration 2 months ago of the Wright
brothers first flight. I treasure a picture I carry when I met Paul Tibbets and
Tom
Ferribee 5 years ago (the pilot and the Bombadier of the Enola Gay) and in
Kitty Hawk, I met Capt. Bob Morgan, the pilot of the Memphis Belle who is now in
his 80's. He talked to us and answered questions at a panel discussion and it
was spell binding. I was also quite fortunate to accidentally meet a group of
relatives of the Wright Brothers.

For those not interested in sailing or flying, my apologies. I am looking
forward to seeing a number of you in Mount Dora in just about a month. Remember
Hugh Gordon and his entourage as well as Gord Souter will be there along with
other Amphicar luminaries.
Vic "Splash" Nelson with the 1967 "Split Personality" near
Daytona Beach


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