4/22/2025
It’s very clearly Tube month over here at the Emma blog.
You see that Tube I highlighted in green, and the nipple lookin’ thing it connects to? This blog post is about that Tube and that… nipple.
Today’s adventure started like most of them do: with me lying to myself that I was just going to check something real quick.
The goal? Address a minor vacuum line cleanup. Nothing serious—just replace an old janky braided hose from the carb to the distributor with proper 3/16″ fuel line. Easy, right?
Janky Hose
Except, of course, it never is.
What followed was a deep dive into the broken mechanical soul of Emma’s ignition system.
One vacuum hose became a vacuum test.
That became a dizzy cap removal.
Then I’m standing in the garage, sucking on a hose like I’m on OnlyFans, wondering why nothing’s moving.
Spoiler: it’s because the vacuum advance canister is completely dead. No resistance. No motion. Just a dry, wheezing nothingness, like an asthmatic ghost.
So now a new vacuum can is on the way.
The timing issues I’d been chasing in 2nd and 3rd gear? The shuddering? The surging like Emma just wanted to go faster?
Suddenly not such a mystery.
All this time, I thought I was dealing with fuel. Turns out it was timing. Dead vacuum advance = no light throttle response.
Also, I might’ve solved that by bumping the timing to 40° at one point. Did it run well? Hell yeah. Was that safe? Not even a little.
Anyway, I’m going to cap off some old crusty heater blower motor wires because they looked like they were ready to throw sparks just out of spite. The replacement blower’s in the mail.
At this point I’m emotionally prepared for a full rodent exorcism when I crack that housing open.
TL;DR:
- Replaced a vacuum hose ✔️
- Discovered the vacuum advance is dead ❌
- Ordered new parts ✔️
- Sucked on a hose like a cam girl✔️
- Realized the car’s been yelling at me for months and I wasn’t listening ✔️
Title still stands. This sucks. But in a good way.
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