Drained fuel tank again, probed with borescope, etc.

This morning, I drained the gas tank again because the borescope that I had purchased was due for delivery today.  The mail carrier's timing was impeccable!

While underneath the car, I noticed a problem and made a temporary repair.  The rubber hanger for the parking brake cable had broken, and the cable was chaffing on the lower control arm.  I added the rubber hanger to my parts needs list and secured the cable with a couple cable ties.

Fuel pump inspection / cleaning

The four 4mm screws holding the pump assembly to the motor were a little seized.  I drilled a 1 1/2" hole in a scrap piece of 2 x 4 lumber, to allow for the bell end of the pump motor to sit flat.  After that, it only took one or two hits with my impact driver the free - up the screws.

My cheap Harbor Freight impact driver has never failed me, yet...

I was surprised at how clean the pump internals were.

There was a burr on the inlet side of this casting, which I removed with a razor blade.

Dr-DJet is proven correct, the motor is filled with gasoline.

An elegantly simple design that is very effective at moving fuel, using centrifugal force and fluid displacement.

Removed the fuel pump

After removing the fuel pump, I noticed that each port is labeled.  The labels seemed odd, compared to how it had been installed.  The center port was plugged (no longer used) and had a 'D' label, while the supply to the engine was labeled 'R'.

After further research online, thanks to a few great information resources including Dr-DJet, it does appear as though my car's fuel pump had been plumbed incorrectly!

This could explain why my fuel system was not holding pressure with the engine off, because the check valve is in the center port.  I plan to disassemble, clean and inspect the pump (not the motor) tomorrow morning.  It will be interesting to see how servicing the pump and installing it as designed affects pressure and flow rate.  I will need a 5/16" tee fitting.

My pump had 'D' plugged and 'R' as the output.

I borrowed this picture from Dr-DJet; see above link and a link in the right column.

Drained the fuel tank

Last night, I sprayed some good penetrating oil onto the gas tank drain plug.  This morning I removed the plug and drained the tank into a couple of gas jugs, filtering it as it drained.  I was hoping to drain the sediment from the fuel tank, but I didn't get much out.  The drain plug did not have much dirt on it, so it's possible that sediment is not the issue.

I ran out of time today, but my next chore will be to replace the fuel line that feeds the pump.  I plan to attempt to clean the strainer with compressed air, just before connecting the hose to the fuel pump.

The gasoline was very fresh, so I filtered it and poured it back in.

It helped to have two jugs and funnels.

The drain plug was fairly clean.

The bung appears to be brass, brazed into the steel tank.

I had anticipated much more sludge than this.

Installed fuel pressure gauge, new filter

When the car stalled and wouldn't start a couple weeks ago, it seemed to be starving for fuel.  I purchased a fuel pressure gauge on ebay, which just arrived today.  I had a new fuel filter but wanted to check the pressure before changing anything.  As I suspected, the gauge indicated normal (29 psi) because the system was not completely clogged.  I replaced the filter, installed a new distributor cap (I had received the wrong one from IPD because my distributor is not original) and Bosch wires.

I picked up my father and by that time the idle was way too high (close to 2000) so we pulled into a parking lot and adjusted the idle speed  and then the fuel pressure (which had increased to around 32 psi).

After driving only a few miles, the car started to act like it wasn't getting enough fuel so I headed towards home.  I was about 3/4 of a mile from home when it died again.  This time, I had a fuel pressure gauge and a tool roll.  I'm pretty sure that if I could watch the gauge while driving then I would see it fluctuating but at idle and revving without load, it was rock solid at 29 psi.

Now I am reasonably certain that the fuel tank needs to be cleaned out before any more joy rides.

This Marshall gauge cost me 18 bucks and I am pleased with it.

The fuel pump has an extra hose which is plugged with a bolt.

New OE wires.

The IPD wires for cylinders 3 and 4 were a little short, IMO.