[warren brown]

Thanks Dave - strike a light!Well - all the tune up bits arrived on Wednesday and this morning I replaced the plugs, distributor cap and rotor. And not without some drama. I was keen to start on Wednesday afternoon but discovered a three foot brown snake basking alongside the truck. As the .410 long-handled snake-dispatcher won't be ready to pick up from the shop until this week - there's a three-week cooling off period - I went for the analogue Spear and Jackson long-handled snake-dispatching shovel - but even though Tanya kept a keen eye on the thing - it slithered off and disappeared. eeeugh! I know engaging with one of those things with a shovel is probably a sure-fire way to get bitten - but I felt more comfortable armed. (btw - last week some dill in Western Australia was bitten trying to pick one up by the tail!!! Dead within 20 minutes! Good grief...Both of the cats have been bitten within the past three weeks - and we were sure one was off to cat heaven - but it pulled through.).
So - today was the day. The plugs were in a pretty ordinary way - and when I removed No 2 plug the porcelain had split in half. The plug socket - a Kinchrome 13/16 - collapsed on the inside. It has a kind of plastic retainer surrounding a magnetised metal ring - and the ring just broke up. Fortunately all the metal shards from this thing were contained inside the socket and nothing -thank God - fell into the cylinder. I don't know what caused what - whether the plug broke buggering the socket or the socket broke buggering the plug. I have to say I was surprised - the plastic bit inside the socket is really light and brittle - I've always quite like the Kinchrome stuff - and I'm not sure why the porcelain broke as there's no load on it - the socket was squarely engaged on the plug nut. The old dizzy cap seemed okay - just - but was a bit old, worn and how's-yer-father and even though I couldn't see a crack in it - I just replaced it anyway. Same for the rotor button. I was going to replace the leads - the new ones that arrived are DIY crimp the ends on type - and after making up a set I decided my effort was probably worse than the bespoke flash silicon ones already there. Removed and cleaned the air filter gauze - over and over - and it sure needed a clean. Put new oil in the oil bath - filter back in. The interior of the fuel tank looks crackerjack much to my amazement - and eternal relief - no sign of wasps but they could have been there - certainly there were wasps in the Studebaker when I bought it. New fuel filter is still clean - so I fuelled her up and pushed the starter. Fantastic!!!!!!! Back to running a smooth as - (I was going to say 'a baby's bum' - but there's a Royal Commission into that sort of thing here). Anyway - we've got power back!!! I've driven it around the property - hi range - low range - in six-wheel-drive and no chaff-cutting noises under load. I'll post a few photos when the missus returns with the phone cord! Thanks for your advice everyone - absolutely sensational!!!!!