Aw what the heck.
It was as a still silly fellow in my late teens. The old family car, which I had inherited as my personal vehicle while going to college (it was a 1968 Buick Skylark V8) had developed an engine knocking problem. One of the assistant professors of engineering that I liked to shoot the bull with suggested it might be a problem with carbon in the cylinder head, and recommended a product called Carbout. Consisting of chlorinated hydrocarbons (prolly banned now) it was supposed to be poured into the carburetor until the engine suffocated, then the engine allowed to sit a few minutes. So I did just that, at about 1 dark 30 in the morning, finally heading out onto a nearby 55 mph stretch of road to “clear out the carbon.” With grey smoke billowing for half a mile behind. I thought nobody would be out there then. Well that’s when the blue bubblegum machine appeared behind. Talked with an attorney who was a friend of my dad’s and he suggested speaking with the prosecutor at the traffic court. I did that, explained what had caused the smoke, and they canceled the ticket. Probably laughed at this silly redneck boy as I left.
finally heading out onto a nearby 55 mph stretch of road to “clear out the carbon.”
And a beer was always necessary to keep the nerves steady. ;)
That almost sounds like the time when my ‘85 Chevy Chevette and later my ‘77 four door Cutlass Olds both had leaky modulator valves. The white smoke I could generate made me feel like James Bond!