Mileage update, 1,244 mi later...

[Andy Illes]

Horst.... eat your heart out about mileage...  

As to the gas leak..... Al, I got the canister out (the idiots used a mile-long [rusted] bolt to clamp the thing.... AAARRRGGGHHHH).  Anyway... yeah, there are 3 different diameter nipples... one marked "carb bowl", another "fuel tank", and another "purge".   Btw... the canister is plastic, so my rusted-out theory went "kerplunk".   Interesting discovery however.  The "carb bowl" nipple was capped off, and the carb hose was hooked to the purge jobbie, and the line from the gas tank wasn't clamped - I'm guessing that's the leak.   Someone along the way just hooked it all up wrong - and I'll connect the hoses according to what it says on the canister.  When I replaced all my hoses, one at a time, I just connected them to exactly where they were before... you can't see the connection instructions at the nipples without removing the canister (which I obviously didn't do at that time).  I got a new canister filter while I was at it (Wicks #84998... $3.14), and as soon as it quits raining, I'll stick the thing back in, then go fill it to the brim again and see what happens.  The canister itself is Dodge #357759, for whatever that's worth - it's not available.  Btw, if anyone else does this.... watch it... or you'll have tiny charcoal granules ALL over!!!

I don't know if mine's right, but the "carb bowl" nipple was on the bottom, with the "purge" one top.  I have no idea whether the installation direction is important, or whether I should cap the Purge one or just leave it open..... any thoughts?

How badly did I get damaged?  My Loxahatchee place "only" lost all of the roofing shingles on the W side, which soaked the attic insulation and collapsed the bed and bathroom ceilings, trashing all the furniture, and most of the pool screening got ripped off - the pool's a mess.  Besides that, a lot of branches down, but all in all, not as bad as it could have been... or as bad as the folks right on the beach got hit.   However, Okeechobee is totally gone, nothing left standing except for 6 cypress trees.  "Hello... FEMA???"   Glad I have the Clip to hunker in though...  

[handyman]

We havent heard from Andy hope the crockagaters didn't eat the Clipper  opps sorry forgot to hit second page old age again

[handyman]

Sorry about the house sounds pritty bad like the canister says 1 to the tank the other to the carb and cap off the purge   the purge was used on the lite weight sicx cyl and the 318 they had a purge valve your troubles should be over but still don't top off bad a on any modern car or truck because of the vaper cans   make sure to cap the purge port a peice of tubing and a screw will work

[Andy Illes]

Horst... the exhaust leak wasn't burned gaskets.... just loose bolts/studs, but I replaced the gaskets anyway since I already had them.  I was surprised how loose they were, I had expected a wrestling match!!!   If any of you do this (a fairly easy 1 hour job, btw - they're all easily accessible with the doghouse out), drain some antifreeze first.... the back studs (in the 360, at least) go into the water jackets, and WILL come out... and pee all over you while you're trying to work.  I'd also suggest using teflon paste putting 'em back in, btw.

Ummmm... what else?  Oh yeah.... my tranny fluid's down a quart, though I don't see any leaks (the tranny tail's damp, but no drip), and there's none in the radiator either.  I had the tranny serviced (filter, fluid) before the NY trip, so I assume it was full then (uh huh... in neutral, not park).  Any ideas why???   Btw, I only used 1 quart of oil on the entire round trip.... not bad.

[Horst]

Tranny fluid missing.....
Check your trans cooling lines  - sometimes they can leak, but it just smears along the lines and other parts near the radiator and trans and you don't really get a noticeable drip.

Most likely though -  the shop didn't put enough in........but that's probably better than too much........

Did you check the fluid right after the service (before you went on the trip)?

[Conrad]

Andy, I use an anti-sieze compound when re-inserting exhause manifold bolts.  I think teflon would not stand up to the heat.

[Andy Illes]

Horst and Conrad - thanks for the replies, guys.

ATF... the lines weren't the least bit wet anywhere.  Like I said, all I  noted was the tail end of the tranny's noticibly "damp", but no drips.  You're probably right that it just wasn't completely filled when I had it serviced... and yeah, I did look at the time and it seemed ok to me too, but whatever, huh?   Well, she's full now.... we'll see how it goes.

Teflon... regular Teflon paste's good to 310*F, which is plenty for heads, and Teflon boiler paste's good to 412*F, which is what I used.  Teflon tape can take even more.... 650*F.  Probably anything would work, thread sealer or whatever.... it just needs to be sealed.