Hi Folks. For the forensic detectives and pathologists out there, I
removed the front end from the roadster today and the Hilborn pump from
the cam drive. As I suspected, I found the 3/8" hex 'spud' drive on the
pump sheared off because, for whatever reason, the pump seized up. No
sign of harm at all to the cam drive we built, but I'll take the timing
cover off anyway to see if any cam gear teeth are broken (I hope not,
and doubt it).
I was careful to handle the pump like the manual said, squirted oil in
it anytime I put it on dry, and my hose and filter assembly on the new
tank was immaculately clean when I put it together. So Hilborn can tell
me what went wrong, if I did anything wrong, 'cause I don't want this to
happen again. these rascals are expensive!
It occurs to me that maybe this form of pump PG150C-0 did not like the
previous mounting arrangement I had, original '50s Ardun belt drive
setup with pump up high, so every time it stopped the fuel ran back to
the '32 Ford tank, and I was using an electric priming pump to the
output side of the Hilborn pump, so it had to pump air out of the main
feed line every time to suck the gas up. Probably no more than 3 hrs
run time on the pump since new.
So any fuel injection experts out there please jump in and tell us what
made the pump seize up. Note that with my new fuel tank, the pump is
lower than the gas in the tank, so it stays full all the time, which is
ideal. 2 gal tank is right in front of the cam driven pump.
Cheers from ArdunBill in the Great Dismal Swamp, Chesapeake, VA, who's
proud at least that his homemade pump drive conversion didn't bust.
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