I got the barrel connector jammed together and things ran fine for about
three short trips around town. On the way back from my last errand, the
fuel pump quit again. Sure enough, after a little fiddling with the
connector the pump ran fine again. About two blocks from home it quit
again, only this time the pump was running like mad. I nursed it up
into the driveway with a lot of choke, jacked the thing up, and played
around under the rear to try and figure this thing out once and for all.
When I got good juice through the connector, the pump would run, but I
could hear a hiss, like an air leak. I'd replaced everything else, so I
decided to take loose the brass fitting at the tank. Uh, oh. It
wouldn't move. Wrenches were rounding it off, so I got the vice-grips.
They just proceeded to shred the fitting. Finally, I got a little
movement and was able to slowly, bit by bit, undo it. The fitting is
trash now. Comparing the line against one off of my '77 showed the bung
on the end of the line to be cracked. Maybe I overtightened it way back
in June and it just started giving me problems in October?
So, the connector has had half its rubber cut off, squeezed together
with pliers, and then taped up (for now). The fuel feed pipe from the
tank has been replaced. It's running like a champ. If it quits
tomorrow, I'm going to cry.
- Kendel
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