[bullheimer]

seems like it always used to be. i use a glass one just so i can see fuel flow. i have been having what i thought were dist. /coil problems for the last few weeks. then i had no gas at all in my fuel filter. put on a new gas pump (350 chev) and it started right up. re adjusted my floats on my holley having screwed them all up the other day. it ran great. but the glass filter showed alot of air and never really filled up. ran good for a few minutes then went dry. out of gas. i am wondering if it can be that easy. i will pour in a gallon tomorrow. i put one in last night and all i got was about minutes of run time? this is a stock engine. i am starting to think about that leaf that blew into my filler tank. but. i blow in the gas line from the filter to the tank and get hardly any bubble noise, like the tank is empty. no suction either. then i put a tube into the filler hose and blow and it sounds like there is a bit of gas in there. but then when i bang on the tank it sounds about empty. confused. was supposed to get some gas on the way home from costco but was too tired. i just hope when i throw in some gas it runs for awhile so i dont have to drop the tank.

[willys36@aol.com]

My wife's '56 Bel Air had one of those clear glass fuel filters. The thing always ran half full of gas and I worried about it all the time. Now I only buy steel can filters and I don't have to worry any more!

[lakota]

Inside your gas tank, the pick up tube has a screen filter on it about an inch in diameter. It's also perched a half inch above the bottom of the tank so it won't pick up sediment. If all you have is one or two gallons of gas in the tank, then the filter may not be submerged, and it's cavitating (sucking air). Put four to five gallons in the tank and try again. If it's still the same, look for a crack in the rubber hose connecting the gas line to the gas tank.

[farna]

Sometimes the inside of the rubber hose can deteriorate and collapse, partially blocking an otherwise good looking line. If adding gas doesn't help, replace all the rubber lines between filter and tank. If that doesn't do the trick, plan on dropping the tank and cleaning the pickup screen or replacing the sock filter on the end.

I couldn't find a sock filter for my Rambler when it was bad, so I made one! I got a sock that was made for an internal fuel pump, but was long enough I could cut the pump fitting off. Then I tore the remains of the original off, leaving rubber piece about 3/8" thick on the tube that was from 1/2" to 3/4" in diameter. I slipped the cut off sock over that and wired on with stainless wire. You can get a neoprene stopper/cork (not real rubber, gas would eat that up -- but all the hardware store stoppers are neoprene now, you'd have a hard time finding a natural rubber stopper) from a hardware store or lab supply and do the same.

[bullheimer]

thanks. you guys are right on. I tapped on the tank. sounded empty. i went to pour in a gallon and it came out the nozzel and just stayed at the top. FULL! pound on the tank again. empty. then i had a Kung Fu flashback to when i first got my truck running and couldn't put gas in it. no vent! so i put one on and all was well.
i pull off the vent line and blow into it and it wont go! i could have used the un-used return line from my 'burbs tank as a vent, but i started thinking about the leaf that i thought blew in and pulled the tank. the sending unit has the tiniest little hole for a vent, it's absurd. i did eventually use the return line for my vent, 1/4 inch tubing, and ran the end up into behind the fenderwell. i looked for that leaf, nothing, very clean tank. except for that little f'ing SOCK! BLACK AND SPLIT IN HALF. so not being able to replace it i just ripped it off and stuck in all back in. i will put another filter in front of my new fuel pump. my old pump shouldn't have let gas run back thru it over night anyway. so now i'm back on the road. i re adjusted my carb's floats. still seems to have a harder time starting tho. i think i may pull a few plugs out and check them


Hey Willys! glad to see yer still around!

[willys36@aol.com]

Oh yea, still kicking. Never left, just that there are so many smart guys around that most questions are answered B4 I get there and I don't have anything to add!

[tm454]

But I'd pull off the glass filter. I have known a number of people to have fires caused by loose ends on the glass filters. The glass filters were VERY popular on the bike builders..great for a chopper...but a friend nearly lost his 54 Studebaker because the glass filter ends came loose and he was driving a flaming engine compartment down the road..didn't know it was leaking and saw the hood start to burn...had an extinguisher on board and saved it...just dumb luck...I pulled them off my cars and my chopper..I didn't need to see one of them burn to convince me. Stainless filters looks so Cool anyway!!


Tazz

[bullheimer]

yeah willys seems like we gots lots smarter folks around now.
i cant say i would recommend a glass one anymore, as the last one i used leaked brand new. you could see the ends (caps) were not parallel to eachother. tightening it did no good at all...leaked worse.. took it back and exchanged it at napa for free, but did not use because the ends again, were not parallel to each other. i have my old one back on that has never leaked in years. i can smell the gas if it does. but i will use a steel one before my fuel pump rather than that new glass one. thanks