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Gas line plugged?

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ceedub

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I'm finally ready to start my rebuilt '73 'B but seem to lack one important ingrediant: gas! The fuel pump is new and will pump gas from a container to the carbs but will not suck gas from the tank. Is is possible that the outlet line is somewhat plugged. It does not appear that I can remove the elbow connector from the tank and I am not sure what happens inside the tank from the exterior elbow. I wondered if it is advisable to drive some air back through the elbow to free up any clogs, but I'm not sure if there is a one way valve that I might screw up with too much air. Is there some kind of chemical, perhaps, that can be driven back into the tank to dissolve whatever may be clogging the outlet system. Thanks in advance for whatever input you may be able to supply.

Cheers,

Ceedub
 
Take the float out of the tank & look up inside its opening with a flashlight to see what might be blocking/clogging the pickup....how long has the car been sitting? Did it have gas in it while it was sitting?

There's a good possibility that there's either some rust or crud or "mollasses" - old gas that has started to jell - clogging the line....did you drop & clean the tank before trying to revive the car?
 
I am not sure if this is good to be doing or not(ir your worried just stick with Tony's recommendation) But I had a rough 77 B that was plagued with problems, one of them being a VERY clogged fuel line(or pickup)...I tried blowing air back through it but I didn't have enough pressure...I taped the end of a hand pump to the line and gave it a few pumps....soon we heard bubbles in the tank...clog was gone and the car fired up....I am not sure about any valves...but if there was-they're gone now /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
The tank was empty when I got the car. I did drop the tank and thought I cleaned it well enough. It certainly looked pretty clean to me. What could I spray in the outlet to dissolve the crud; brake cleaner?
 
100 pounds of air will blow most anything out and as far I I know there are no valves at all.
 
& that yellow thing in the photo is a filter that's permanently attached to the end of the pickup - & its probably full of gas mollasses, rust, gunk, you name it.
 
Sounds like the filter from heck. Think I would consider getting rid of it and haveing a couple of in line filters where I could get to them.
 
That filter on the end of my old pickup tube almost got me killed. I went into a blind curve the filter plugged off and there I was. Providence smiled on me and the car and I escaped in one piece thanks to a good Samaritan with a pickup truck and a tow strap. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/angel.gif
 
Problem solved! Thanks to all for comments. I sprayed carb cleaner into the elbow on the tank and used about 30 pounds of air pressure and I heard a thunk and the line ran free. I guess the filter is no more.

Cheers,

Ceedub
 
you might want to consider putting a replaceable filter in front of the fuel pump to protect it from the crud in the tank
 
Hey that looks familiar!
I thought that the filter in the tank might be a problem so losing it was no big deal.

If I had known the problems that a dirty fuel system would have caused in the begining, I would have taken it all out and replaced. I still need to order new fuel lines when I have the $$.
 
You might also want to get that old filter out of there in the slight chance it rolls against the pickup & gets sucked against it & blocks flow.
 
The deal on fuel lines. Go to your favorate place get two 1/4 inch brake lines and a connector to tie them together. Cut of the ends bend as needed and cut to length, reinstall. Maybe 15 bucks or less. Connect to what you have at tank and pump and such with rubber hose. Install several of the throwaway filters one in the rear and one in the front. Oh yea, tools required, a tube cutter, cheep.
 
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