Hey Beth,
The weekend is almost over..I hope yo are just returning froma nice drive in your Plymouth, having fixed the fuel problem…
Beth, obviously I have no life, I am living for your reply, did you get your car to run?
Hi everyone. Last weekend (Nov. 10/11) changed fuel filter (I had
an extra one) old filter was completely dry. No gas leaking out of lines or dripping out of filter or even smell of gas with old filter. Put gas in carb twice. NO go. Sat. 18th, Rick’s friend Dave came over. We put starter fluid on the carb. We then put gas in the carb, for 5 tries. She backfired a few times, but as soon as gas evaporates–nothing. The car had a good 3/4 of a soda bottle of gas poured in —enough for the pump to have
been primed. I think either 1) fuel pump is defective or 2) I have crud
somewhere in the lines. This weekend I will disconnect linkage at filter and try pedal and then do same at carb to be triple sure. Sigh. I would have loved to have gotten Louise out of the garage! My bodyg uy will be towing Wanda beginning of Dec. Will of course keep posting. Beth.
: 
Missed reading a few intervening messages–Dan you are not the
only one who can screw up on this ---- computer stuff! Roger and Ron,
you are right, I want desperately to go to Carlisyle this coming year.
Give me some directions when we get closer, even if I have to drive my 91 Buick down, I don’t care, of course I would like to see Wanda get more ready this Spring. And I want to see some 59 Plymouths BAD! This greeat unlike Nov. weather has been pure torture for me, not being able to drive EITHER of my old gals. I feel like I have a Forward Look Curse on me or something! I will park Wanda on the grass when she is able to go so I don’t block Louise. To hell with the lawn-crazed neighbors! LOL Beth.
Then Carlisle’s the place for you, Beth…
Let’s see you in this picture next year!
Dan
new gas tank, new fuel lines, new fuel pump, new fuel filter…
You didnt say if teh fuel tank sending unit is new..I would be PO’ed if I paid someone to installl a new gas tank, and they “forgot” to check the sending unit for clogs..
Hey, is there fuel in the tank?
Pouring gas down the carburetor will not prime the fuel pump. The fuel float in the carb is a one-way valve.
If I were there, I’d disconnect the fuel line BEFORE The fuel pump and blow compressed air back toward the tank. Then I’d connect a funnel to that line and fill the line with gasoline. I’d re-connect that line. I’d do the same procedure to the line after the fuel pump, then I’d put some fuel into the carb and try to start it.
The rainy season is here with vengeance, so I can’t work on my car.
Roger: Thank you for the info about the gas in the carb not being enough to prime the pump. I did not know that. You are right asking about the fuel tank sending unit. It looked clean and the piece in the tank also looked clean when I took the tank to my regular shop to get it installed. There is 12-13 gallons of gas in the tank. I added some dry gas also. Will try the compressed air, I hope tommorow afternoon. Tommorow is supposed to be chilly but no rain for Connecticut. Happy Thanksgiving,
everbody take a ride in your 59 for Wanda! Beth.
The DriGas will have no effect on a blocked line.
It makes no sense to me that you can’t get gasoline to come up the line from the tank!
Compressed air is a convenient and fairly safe way to check for blockages. Remember to remove the gas tank cap before you begin.
Here are some more thoughts:
1)The sending unit in the tank originally had a screen over the end of the pickup tube. That might be blocked w/ crud.
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we know you bought your tank from Mopar Mel..I hope the tank was decent inside, and didn’t shed a bunch of rust which is now blocking your “pickup tube”. MM sold me a carb that had broken flanges..it was inoperable…I mean come ON!
Moral: Never assume he is sending you operable parts. -
New fuel lines- you said Wanda has them. The fuel line is metal tubing in places and rubber tubing in other places. What is new on Wanda? The old rubber tubing can turn to gook ON THE INSIDES with the modern gasolines..this gook will block the fuel flow…it can also cause tubing failure (and a fire). If the metal tubing is old, it can rust from the inside. If it is kinked/pinched, obviously you will not get fuel flow.
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“Priming” a pump means filling the pump chamber with liquid. Air bubbles, large or small, ruin the pump function. Think of a Windex spraybottle…It won’t spray unless there is liquid in the pump.
(One way to “prime” a fuel pump is to pressurize your gas tank while cranking the engine. The added air pressure forces gasoline up the line and into the pump, and things would get going from there, if you simultanously crank the stater. Pressuriizing a tank isn’t easy for the average guy. So try to blow out the fuel line w/ compressed air..you’ll hear the bubbling in the tank if the line is clear… the only problem is you will have blown the crud back into the tank, leading to future blockages)
Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you can take Wanda over the river and thru the woods before the snow flies…
Hey Roger,
Why not just jump on a plane and get Wanda fixed up - you are certainly a wealth of information.
I can’t really speak for the wide blocks - old fuel pumps and older model carbs. My car has the 1976 318 and newer style holley fuel pump and a crapped-out Holley 600 CFM electric choke carb. A new Edelbrock 600 CFM will be next.
My car was sitting two full years and we were able to prime everything but it took 6 or more tries of dumping fuel in the carb. After it fired and ran - the accelerator pump was laquered tight. We forced that loose but the car still did not run properly past the idle RPMs.
There is still hope for Wanda, it is just figuring out why she can’t get a drink!
Curt from a Seatlle day in Maryland 39 – degrees and raining!
Roger: Wanda has all new fuel lines, both rubber and metal. I can’t get the rubber off the metal behind the fuel pump. I got the clamp off no problem, but I can’t budge the rubber section off. It looks like the rubber was REALLY crimped onto the line. I can’t wiggle it free and pliers applied
gently didn’t work either. I mean it won’t bduge … I blew out the line from the fuel filter to the carb. I tried gas down carb again , same result–runs strong–then dies. I think I have no choice but to wait for my body guy to come and tow Wanda. As for the gas tank, my shop went through it before they put it on. I will have the tank dropped and made sure it is ok and the sender too, as well as also the fuel pump checked. Rick’s friend Dave suggested that it takes
usually more than a month or two for a fuel pump to get varnished/lacquered up? Screen clogged? We tapped on the pump to see if that would get rid of any minor clogging.
You don’t know how frustrated I am! All this --wonderful-- weather!
Beth.
Curt I hope it has stopped raining and I hope you get your new
carb! My guy Rick’s 69 Satellite had the newer 318, that thing was
indestructable from what he told me … lol Beth
okay, good to know tank is clean, and all fuel lines are new. And because you were able to blow air thru the carb via the fuel filter, there are no clogs there and the carb float is open and ready to receive gas. So now all you need to do is get the gas flowing from the tank! I do not know if it is possible to blow air back thru the fuel pump all the way to the tank..it’s worth a try.
I think someone is going to have to apply a vacuum to the fuel line to see if fuel can be sucked up from the tank. THis is dangerous if done with the wrong equipment, so it appears you are stuck with taking Wanda back to the shop. (If rubber hoses adhere to the metal lines, an easy fix is to cut the rubber line, then using the same knife, split the little hose section off the metal line)
I am going to go out on a limb here and guess that your new fuel pump is the old style with screws around the bottom of the diaphram bowl?
If so did the person that installed it, tighten the screws before they put it on?
The old rebuildable style pumps (with the screws around the bowl) were not tightened at the time of manufacture to prevent the diaphrams from cracking in prolonged storage.
Just a thought.
You have reminded me of a mistake my brother made fitting a new fuel pump to his Amphicar..he put the actuating lever OVER, rather than UNDER (or vice versa) the engine part that drives it. Beth, has your fuel pump EVER Worked?
Just an aside – as a kid, we drove back from Canada to Philly in a crippled '64 Chrysler. After exhausting ideas about what went wrong, we found that if we held a can of gas in the the front seat above the carb (enough slop in the hood to feed a rubber line to the carb) we could gravity feed gas and breeze home. When we got back, we discovered the rebuilt fuel pump was defective…
Roger, your misplaced lever idea seems very plausible.
Dan
Roger and everyone: The replacement fuel pump worked fine
when my regular shop returned Wanda. She started right up-one pump of pedal, hold to floor halfway–twice started with one turn of the key!
Bad weather made me wait a week before trying her again, and thats when the problem started. Can you buy rubber fuel line at NAPA?–diameter size–Is that how it is measured? If so I can buy some replacement line Thursday and try to blow the line out that afternoon, weather permitting, with hose and funnel to fill line carefully and of course gas cap off. I have to eventually buy another air compressor, mine is an ancient Craftsman, knob goes to 100, and vibrates so bad I have to brick it up so it doesn’t “walk” across my driveway. If that doesn’t work–its the fuel pump for sure! Beth
Beth,
Absolutely you can buy flexible fuel line at NAPA. Do this: cut your fuel line with a sharp knife (scissors if you have to) and bring them a sample piece. (I think it’s 5/16", but I certainly could be wrong about that.)
I explained how to split off the portion(s) which have adhered to the steel lines. While you are in the process of replacing the flex line, use the funnel and fuel technique to fill the pump and line with fuel, then re-connect everything and give it a try.
And yes, I have head of rebuilt fuel pumps being defective from the get-go…yours was installed correctly, because you reported it worked, so I think it has lost its “prime”…this could mean a defective pump, as once fuel is up to- and into the pump, it should NOT drain back to the tank…
WANDA NO GO! Yesterday blew out fuel line to gas tank, added gas to one end of rubber line connected to metal fuel line, connected other end of rubber line to fuel pump, put more gas down carb–same result. Starts but dies. And I also put a Stant vented radiator cap on. Have to wait for my bodyman to tow Wanda away 
– how I love her, rotten paint and all! Neat aside (will send copy for forum) found a circa 1960 photo of my guy Rick when he was 6/7 standing with his mom next to … a 1959 Plymouth (think he said it was a Belvedere) 4 door sedan, with icicles and a little snow on the front bumper! Beth.
Beth,
Well, Wanda may get towed away - but not from neglect on your part - I say you certainly gave her every chance known to start. I don’t think you can be looking at anything major since she does fire and run with gas.
I am sure she will start and run just fine once the culprit is found (my guess is the same as others - the feul pump).
Great story about your guy at age 6 or 7 standing next to a 1959 Plymouth. I am still searching for a picture of my Step-Grandfather standing next to his Orange 4 door Savoy - that color is still vivid in my mind.
I trust you were not working on Wanda today - it was bitterly cold and windy here today in Maryland.
Curt in Maryland
Hey Beth,
These step-by-step instruction is painfully slow, but it has to be this way over the Internet..
Okay, now we know the line from tank to fuel pump is not blocked. You put “some” gas back down the line (did you put in enough that it spilled over?) Then, sorry to say, you still have to prime the pump. I know you said you couldn’t get the rubber line after the pump to disconnect, but I do not believe you can prime a pump from the inlet side. Pouring fuel down the carb will only run the car for a short while…it does nothing to prime a pump.
I heard it got cold and nasty there, so tow that car to the shop and pay a few extra dollars to have the problem solved.