I had a bus that started backfiring on the exhaust side. It did it a couple of times and I was just beginning to get concerned when it did it and blew the exhaust manifold to smithereens on one side. It got really loud, really fast. Luckily I had just left the bus lot. That was only a 429 gas engine, too!
Funny story - my favorite bus of all time had a 370 gas engine. One of those things where you just feel like you are just right "at one" with the machine each time you turn the key. I had an evening trip in the winter. I was on my layover and would start the bus periodically to keep it warmed up and run it long enough to heat it up inside. I had walked the isle to check behind the bus and decided to start it. I just reached down and hit the key and pumped the gas once with my right foot. I kind of had to stand back a ways as it was a 4 speed.
Well, it didn't start. So I sat down and fired it up but it would only idle which was very odd. I let it run for about 15 seconds but it just seemed to be choking out. That's when it hit me that something was wrong. I threw open the door and lifted the hood and put my hand on the air breather - it was hot as a firecracker. I took the wing nut off quick and made my plan. I knew when I lifted that lid the filter fire would get oxygen. Unfortunately, no part of my plan involved getting my winter gloves. I lifted the lid and the filter burst into flames. I grabbed it and threw it out into the snow in front of the bus. No lie, it was like a bonfire about four foot tall. I was in downtown Kansas City by the coffee roasterie. I just knew someone in one if those lofts was going to call the fire department. About that time my trip calls, so I put the breather top back on and drove the rest of the night with no air filter. I learned two things - too much fuel without enough starter action can cause even the best bus to backfire just enough to light the filter on fire, and waffle marks burned into your palms take months to heal.
Amazingly, sucking in that super heated air didn't do any lasting damage. It ran a little different for a while, but there was A LOT of soot down the two barrel carb. I was mad because you could have eaten off that carb before and now the throats looked like a campfire hotdog. It looked that way until the day I sold that bus. I never did start it again without sitting down and revving it good to make sure nothing was ablaze.
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Today's Featured Article - Third Brush Generators - by Chris Pratt. While I love straightening sheet metal, cleaning, and painting old tractors, I use every excuse to avoid working on the on the electrics. I find the whole process sheer mystery. I have picked up and attempted to read every auto and farm electrics book with no improvement in the situation. They all seem to start with a chapter entitled "Theory of Electricity". After a few paragraphs I usually close the book and go back to banging out dents. A good friend and I were recently discussing our tractor electrical systems when he stated "I figure it all comes back to applying Ohms Law". At this point
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