Mechanical Fuel pump oddity

[dfuehrer]

Hey everyone,

I think I know what needs to be done here, and thought I would ask if anyone else has ever experienced this...

While driving my '78 spider last Friday evening, she suddenly lost all power. After I made my way to the shoulder and a couple of attemps at restarting later I noticed a strong odor of gasoline. When I poped open the bonnet, low and behold, fuel was POURING out from around the ouput fitting on the fuel pump. Upon closer examination I discovered that the brass (?) fitting apparently pressed into the pump casting was completely loose, but still clamped to the rubber line! It was just sort of hanging there! How does that happen?? I had to lossen my fuel cap to relieve pressure to stop the fuel from all siphoning out...

So here I am, looking for a replacement pump. Looks like $35-$60 online, and very similar to the last one I did about 30 years ago (was it really that long ago??) on my old Chevy. Are there any special tricks and tips I should be aware of when undertaking this project? Does anyone have any suggestions for getting a replacement pump?

Thanks!

Don

[124JOE]

i had a problem like that
the fuel retun on the carb fell out of its hole
so i ended up using J B weld to fix it permantly

[dfuehrer]

i had a problem like that
the fuel retun on the carb fell out of its hole
so i ended up using J B weld to fix it permantly

JB Weld? Really?

[124JOE]

around the outside and push into place then wait till is cures
the runny stuff not the paste

[dfuehrer]

Well it sounds easy enough. If it doesn't work I can still wrench. I'll give it a try!

Don

[dfuehrer]

OK it is all glued up now. Had to taper the brass nipple a bit with sandpaper to get it to go back into where it came out of. Leads me to believe that the pump itself had a manufacuting defect "built in". Now that the engine is cool, it was a much tighter fit. To ensure it was in, I tapped it a bit with a rubber mallet. Tomorrow night I'll see if it holds, or I order a new pump...

[So Cal Mark]

or tap the hole and use a threaded fitting

[dfuehrer]

I had thought of that too, but was talked out of it. Maybe I shouldn't listen to the negative people around me!

[dfuehrer]

Well my repair worked, sort of. At first I thought I had gotten it. Apparently there is another leak somewhere on the pump, so I will be changing it. It didn't leak like before, but slowly started after about 5 minutes of running and getting up to temperature. Don't want to risk gasoline in my crankcase!

[fillupd]

I just ordered a pump (#151-6699) from Advanced auto on the internet. There is a code for 20% off, P20, and it was 10 bucks for second day air. Total 47.00 after tax delivered. Not too bad.
Mine had 3.5 lbs pressure but wouldn't hold a vacuum. Hopefully this will end my chugging problem.

3 people I know got gas at the same station and they said their cars ran like crap until they got gas elsewhere. I'm thinking there was so much water in the gas, it got hot and boiled in my pump and damaged my diaphragm. (Have I been smelling too many fumes?) I did pump all the fuel out, added sea foam, heat and replaced with premium 91. That little expensive experiment didn't work very well.
Good Luck with your installation.