Good news...it workie! It was still idling fast, and so we adjusted the air and idling on the carbs and it looks to be running well. No hesitation and the engine is actually the quietest I've ever heard it, hehe.

When I bought the car a couple months ago, it was already idling pretty fast. I basically learned how to drive stick shift in this car, and it was was pretty easy to get into 1st gear without stalling. Tonight, after the final adjustments (still needs balancing by a person who's more a pro than I, but that'll come later) the car drives like a totally different automobile. The lower idle means I have to change the way I hit the gas and release the clutch, and I stalled right off the bat. Ah well...I guess it's better that I learn how to *really* drive a stick as opposed to something that was based on bad tuning. :)

Anywhoo...thanks again for the help, guys.

- Dan

Hey all...

Thanks for all your input. After doing some tinkering with the car, it looks like one issue was the fuel mixture levels in the carburetor. I increased it some and with hitting the gas pedal a little bit on startup, it started right up. I know they will still need to be tweaked, and will do that this evening with a mechanic friend of mine.

In regard to the fuel pump, the previous owner installed it in place of the mechanical pump when the seal on it leaked. I am not sure what his rationale was for it, but he figured it was better. The place where it was installed was not the best considering the physics of the setup, but that's what I inherited, hehe. Either way, I did just now buy a new electric fuel pump because the one that was in there was making some nasty racket. I installed it in the same place as where the previous one was, but this is only temporary since this is in a pinch (so I wouldn't have to *push* the car to the inspection station rather than drive, hehe). I'll reposition the pump in a bit, but either way, after installing the pump, the car started right up without issue even after sitting a while.

Either way, I'll know a little better about how it will all work out tomorrow morning when I try to start it.

Thanks again and I'll give an update.

- Dan

An electric fuelpump normally "pushes" fuel forward, -you have placed it "over" tank-level - therefore -the slightest possibility for air to let the fuel run back in tank makes it impossible for the pump to "suck" fuel forward. An electric fuelpump is often just like a waterpump - shovel-wheel that pushes fluid that ALREADY are in the shovelhouse!

The original fuelpump was all mechanic - both pushed AND sucked - since the gas-system in the 120-130's wasn't as todays, airtight allover, you could look at possibilities for the air to get into the system. -check you gascap!? -does it seal proberbly? and so forward...

If you really WANT to have electric fueling - mount the pump at the tank outlet!

There's most likely nothing wrong anywhere else than a little fuelpump that just wasn't right..

She was build to be feed with knife and fork - you're pushing her to eat from a spoon..

:-)

/Soren


(By the way.. The mechanical fuelpump on the B16 engine-models, had a little "botton" so that you could activate the fuelpump BY HAND if your car had sat for a longer periode! Think of that!!)

spec for the mechanical pump is Max...3.5 lb sq in. (0.25 kg sq cm) Min...1.5 lb sq in (0.11 kg sq cm) Your pump should produce this as well as a decent stream of gas at the output if you disconnect it. The gas tanks often throw crud into the fuel line (see walrus3 recent 140 posts re: Yellow peril for trouble shooting) and this can happen whenever. You need to do a full tune up to diagnose lean fuel issues as they are last in line after ignition and valves. These cars can be fussy until you have them sorted, might as well get up to speed on that as it won't be the last time you need to tune it, and you need to do it yourself as no one else knows these well enough to do a good job.

How long you had the pump? New? Any relationship to the fuel pump installation?

Where is the pump located, front of car or rear? Electric pumps push great but pull poorly! The little "Facet" style solenoid style pumps especially!

I think I might check the setup of the carbs, again. I know I got mine too lean last time and it was a bear to start, cold. In fact I might even run the full drill Valve lash, timing, dwell, carbs. I did last night just for the hell of it.

Caveat: I'm non expert on your vehicle type, heck I'm hardly an expert at all. But judging from my experience with cars (for almost 30 years) this definitely sounds like a fuel starvation problem to me.

As to what the cause could be, I can't say for sure; does your car have a fuel pump in tank? If yes, this might be the culprit; if no, the pick up tube may have developped holes in it. When on hills, air would be pulled into the line causing the problem you describe. I've seen pick-up tubes develop pinholes from corrosion at soldered joints (ususally right outside the fuel tank, but it can happen in-tank due to condensation) so it may well be your case here. I'd take the fuel pick-up tube off the tank and check that first. Be prepared to replace that part if necessary, because taking it off if rusted will probably break it.

HTH,
Chris