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Well folks, it WAS that piece of junk regulator! I just remembered earlier this afternoon that I had an "old school" regulator tucked away in the closet. It was probably manufactured back in the late fifties/early sixties. Anyway, I put that one on in place of the piece of junk and she purrs like a kitten now! No lag, no flooding, just nice and even running just like she's supposed to. Feeling pretty happy right now... Thanks again to everyone!

Scott

Glad you found the problem! Add that regulator to the list of parts you just can't trust!

I can't read the name on the regulator in the picture on the previous page. What is it's name and where did u get it???

Found this listing @ O'Reilly's

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Anyone have experience with the Holley units? Same price range as the Spectra and MrGasket. After that they take a huge jump with Mallory at around a hundred and keep going way up from there.

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I have a Holley unit on the Carib, but haven't driven it enough to determine its worthiness. It did cut down on the pressure from the electric pulse pump, so its adjustment seems ok.

It is lost on me why one would need an electric pump and regulator on a "modern" Packard V8. The single action pumps are very reliable and between my brother nad myself we've driven over 250,000 miles on V8's and never had a fuel problem except for runnin out of gas in our early years when gas was 25 cents a gallon.

If a Packard V8 really needed an electric pump and regulator, then every car made since 1935 needs one.

Can someone enlighten me??

Fred, let me enlighten you.

New cars have electric fuel pumps, therefore all cars with mechanical fuel pumps were unreliable.

New cars have 12 volts, therefore all cars with 6-volts were unreliable.

New cars have electronic ignition, therefore all cars with breaker point ignition were unreliable.

New cars have disc brakes, therefore drum brakes are unreliable.

New cars have electric wipers, therefore vacuum wipers are inadequate.

Etc. etc.

Seriously though, I can see one exception; for cars that are driven perhaps once a month or even less, an electric pump pushing thru the mechanical pump and used just to prime the carb has some merit. Perhaps also as a backup for folks who live in VERY hot climates or high altitudes and might be subject to vapor lock. But in both cases, I'd never rely solely on an electric pump, it should be used briefly to push thru the mechanical pump on those rare occasions where it's needed. Among mechanical pump's several virtues is that they tend to give early warning when they are beginning to fail, electrics simply stop.

But Fred, don't you also think this type of thinking is the product of the generation of cars which people grew up with and understood? PS - and perhaps coupled with a lack of curiousity in understanding the older systems.

Fred and Owen (Dave), I agree totally with Dave's reasoning. I often hear the line from the street rod gang, which goes something like "I took out the original engine because I like the reliability of my 350 Chev....in case I want to drive to Winnipeg." as if cars 60 years ago weren't driven 300 miles on trips.
I do have an electric pump on my '47 for the primary reason Dave mentioned; that being to fill the carb after a long sit. Modern gas seems to evaporate faster than the old stuff I remember as a kid. I debated with myself long and hard before I installed the pump rather than having to crank the engine over for long periods to get gas up into the carb bowl. I got tired ofremoving the air cleaner to dribbling gas down the carb throat so installed the electric inline and I am glad that I did. I know there are benefits of a long crank to get oil up into critical engine parts and that is a concern.
P.S.I also carry a spare mechanical pump just as I used to carry two spare tires on my work trucks.

Once upon a time there were no available parts and a lot of these cars would not run without an electric pump.

Also, some of the castings are worn out and the valves don't seal so many pumps can't supply the maximum flow of 6.4 miles per gallon.

A worn out V-12 only gets about 5 mpg so it is starving for gas without an electric pump.

Finally, in the old days there were some really fine electric pumps - like the Stewart Warner - and today most of the pumps are junk.

Hope this helps.