fuel disassembly
Today was a beautiful day here in Boulder. 60 degrees with a bit of wind. I decided to take apart the rest of the fuel system to look for more rust.

I started with the main fuel line. I had already twisted the tank end of the line while removing the fuel tank. It was held on to the frame rail with two brackets, each attached with a clutch head screw and square nut. They were rusted beyond removal, so I took my Dremel to them (carefully) and cut off each bracket. Turns out the caution with the Dremel was justified, since even after sitting for several months, there was still fuel in the lines. Confucius says, "Man who Dremels near fuel line yields explosive results."

Next, I went for the fuel pump. The fittings going into the pump were rusted together quite well, so I had to break off the lines just past the pump, and remove the fittings themselves. I took off the rest of the fuel line running into the carburetor, but I'll save the carb rebuild for later after I buy another carb rebuild kit. I imagine the carb has some rust and stuff it it as well. The fuel pump was just held on with two bolts, so it came out easily. A quick glance at the repair manual led me to the conclusion that the fuel pump is not original. I hope that the standard gasket I can order from Chevy Duty fits this pump where it attaches to the engine block. I figure it probably should. The pump has a "finger" that rests against the camshaft, which pumps the pump in time with the engine. No fancy attachments or anything inside the engine, which is good.

After getting the pump out, I cleaned up my mess by the truck and moved the pump to my front porch for disassembly. This pump is a lot simpler than the standard one, as far as I can tell. I took off the top of the pump and the top diaphragm to begin. There was some sandy material between the top and the diaphragm, so I brushed that off. No idea where that came from, but after a few decades, a little dirt works its way in everywhere, I suppose. Inside the pump, though, there was a pretty decent deposit of sand and rust. This is why a fuel filter must be somewhere between the fuel tank and the pump. I pulled off the top half of the pump, and cleaned it out with gasoline, a pocketknife, and a needle (which I just now realize I left outside somewhere). After getting the sand out of the top half, I cleaned off the rest of the fuel pump and put it back together.

That about does it for today. I hit Checker Auto Parts with my roommate for a case of oil for my Mazda (which leaks like a sieve), and found a conduit bender there for $10. Next, I need to go to the junkyard in Erie and find a gas tank that will fit under the bed. I'll use the gas tank resto kit from POR-15 to clean out and coat the inside of whatever tank I find at the junkyard.