close call, fuel everywhere!

["Dave Jersey" <arborman@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hey y'all
The Award Winning Burrito Express{AWBE} made it to Picasso Moon and back.
She ran nice and cool but is too rich yet.  Will be playing Jet Roulette for
a while unless someone has a magic wand they can wave over a progressive
Weber and tell me what works best (yeah I know YMMV).

Got home from work today and had to wrench not on AWBE but the lawn mower.
My darling wife hit the big rock.  I wasn't mad long, just too long, and SHE
has to pay for the parts ;-)

What's this got to do with buses you ask?  Lawn mower and AWBE are next to
each other in the barn.  As I was wrenching away on the mower I could smell
gas.  Lots of gas.  I looked under AWBE and there's a bug puddle underneath
it.  That's not right I said to myself.

I opened the lid.  Not leaking from carb, oil smelled like. ummm. oil.  I
looked at the fuel filter.  What I saw scared me.  I am not a proponent of
rubber fuel line or plastic fuel filters.  I had installed a brass/glass
unit from JC Whipme.  Replaceable element and all that.  Seems the threads
had stripped, allowing the pieces to separate, and a full tank of fuel
leaked into the floor of my barn.  I suspect this did not strip/start
leaking while sitting still.  I KNOW I didn't overtorque it upon assembly
(well not much anyhow).

I had both kids, 1 of the dogs, clothes and camping gear in the bus with me.
Yes, I carry at least 2 fire extinguishers.  I've also seen gas fumes go off
and I have no illusions about how fast I can move versus how fast a fireball
can go.  Just ask anyone why I usually don't have any hair on my hands.

As much as I like being able to see how much crud I have in my fuel filter,
this is entirely unacceptable.  Next stop is FLAPS and all metal fuel
filters.

A little word of advice from your Mad Uncle Dave.