Packard Forum Index » Pre-War (1899-1942)

Got it Dave, thanks. BTW, I do agree with you on the pump option, it is just a matter of economics right now (and time) and I want so very badly to be able to get the car on the road with half a modicum of reliability and reasonable performance. After that, all this 'other stuff' is just 'tweaking' and I can enjoy the car in the meantime.

Just an update my progress, I spent another 6 hours on the car today. Dropped the gas tank and removed the pickup/sender unit assembly. We tested it with a vacuum pump and it leaked down right away. We tried to make a new pickup tube out of steel fuel line but could not even come close to getting it to bend in the sharp 90 deg needed. We switched to semi rigid copper and had somewhat better success - at least we ended up with a new tube soldered into the sending unit flange that does not leak. We put it all back together thinking we had at last figured it out and took it for a drive. First hill where it needed gas under load and it stalled. We looked in the fuel filter and it was nearly empty. We waited for the standard 30 seconds and the car started right up and we drove it back to the shop. In taking the fuel line off at the carb and activating the pump, we noticed all kinds of bubbles in the gas being delivered - has to be air!!!! The only thing left is the pump itself and so I pulled it out and we put it on the vacuum pump and sure enough, it leaked as well. Not as bad as the pickup tube but definitely would not hold a vacuum. It had a small metal filter threaded into the intake side and that's where it appeared to be sucking air. We took it all apart and sealed the threads and reassembled it and it does not leak now. We were, however, out of time and the re-installation and further testing will have to wait for another day.....
My mechanic friend is still absolutely convinced this is a fuel issue and while, I agree there ARE indeed fuel issues, I am still not convinced the stalling business is fuel. Oh well, we'll put it all back together and see what happens. If that doesn't do it, I am not sure what we will do next!?!?! VERY frustrating!!!!

Frustrating would be an understatement! If there is a golden lining at least by tomorrow I expect you will know one system that should be able to be ruled out as having a problem.