Hey everyone. I need help getting my 1974 Econoline 200 van running again. Fuel is not getting to the carburetor. It's a V8 302 with power steering, and a doghouse model and thus a major pain in the lumbar to access the fuel pump, but I'm becoming pretty good at removing and installing it nonetheless.

Anyway, I believe the fuel pump is the culprit here because the line going from the pump to the engine is dry whenever I try to start it. I've inspected the fuel lines visually and with an air compressor. The engine starts momentarily when I dump some gas in the carb.

I have been trying to find the correct fuel pump but to no avail. The one O'Reilly offers seems to have the correct rocker arm but the outlet is incorrectly positioned to connect to my metal fuel line. There's no way I can reroute this thing to work. The old fuel pump fits the line no problem.

My question is, should I continue my search for the correct fuel pump, or cut the metal fuel line and stick a section of rubber fuel line between the two sections with tight hose clamps? This seems to be the only way I can use the O'Reilly pump, and presumably any other pump because so far I haven't found one like the original.

The original had this spaceship looking housing on top. I ordered a pump that looks like it but has the incorrect rocker arm - that's going out in my upcoming eBay batch. But the one from O'Reilly has the right rocker arm so it fits, but instead of a spaceship top it has two little cylinders that stick up.

And the trouble is, the outlet cylinder is too far inside to reach that metal tubing. If I cut the tubing and put rubber fuel line between, it might reach. But I'm wary of mauling my vintage parts if I really don't have to. I plan on upgrading to an electric pump eventually but I want to see if I can just get it working for now.

Thanks in advance for your responses everyone. It would be nice to get this camper van running for summer.

 

When I needed a different fuel line from my pump to carb due to switching make of carb, I discovered that a pre-made 5/16" brake line was the right size and had the right fittings on it to attach to both the pump and carb.

So bring your current fuel line to a parts store and get a brake line to match, and bend that to suit. It's a good idea to not cut up the original parts, plus putting in pieces of hose creates more places for leaks.

 

The Econoline fuel pump was "upside-down" compared to the other applications. If you can make the normal pump fit, then by all means use it. Better yet would be to use an electric pump like the MrGasket 12S, this is a low pressure, 30 gal/hr pump that's a one wire hookup and needs no regulator or return line that are perfect for a carbed application.

 

I don't doubt your knowledge here, it's just that I'm a neophyte to all of this and I need help comprehending. You're telling me that it would be a better idea overall to go to the auto store, pick up some metal brake line, bend it until it fits (I don't know if I'll need a tubing bender?), acquire a flaring kit, put the fitting thing back on, flare the end and install, than go through with my idea?

You know honestly I would love to convert this thing to electric. I looked up the MrGasket you mentioned and it had both positive and negative reviews. One negative review that caught my eye was one that involved parking the vehicle for a period of time and how the fuel pump went out. Again not doubting knowledge here but I will be parking the van every now and then, are you sure this'll be reliable?

Thanks for the replies. I'm gonna see about working on it now. I'm finding this post insightful:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...sion-pics.html

I would appreciate any more help or advice anyone has to give.

 

I've used the Mrgasket pump, along with a couple other brands (same basic design, different mfgs) in an 89 Ranger (for ten years with a Purolator branded pump) and my 77 Comet. The Comet pump was a Mr Gasket and it lasted about 5 years, The pump I have now ? I cannot recall the brand, but it's still the same basic pump as the MrGasket unit and so far it's doing fine. Best thing about this is you don't have to sit there cranking the starter to reprime the carb after it's been sitting several weeks, all you do is turn the key "on" and let the pump run a few seconds to prime the carb before starting it. I'll see if I can find the order I bought the current pump with at Summit and check the brand name.

 

"You're telling me that it would be a better idea overall to go to the auto store, pick up some metal brake line, bend it until it fits (I don't know if I'll need a tubing bender?), acquire a flaring kit, put the fitting thing back on, flare the end and install, than go through with my idea?"

I mentioned a "pre-made" brake/fuel line. This means it already has the flare nuts installed and the flares made up.

But yes you would have to bend it to fit.

 

Fuel rated rubber hose and good hose clamps will work fine IMHO. Flare the end of metal tubing a bit so the clamps/hose have something to grip.

The fuel injection rated clamps work well in a carb installation.

 

All right everyone, thanks for all the good advice. I've decided to give Beanscoot's suggestion a try - go find a pre-flared length and see if I can bend it to my will, so to speak. I'll probably get the cheap Harbor Freight tubing bender. Anything I need to know before I start?

Also, good news - the fuel pump was definitely the problem as the new one from O'Reilly spat out some gas into a container I had ready when I cranked the engine. So I got a good pump now, just gotta get a line into it. And I don't want to worry about melting or anything, so let's see if I can go metal, I guess!

Thanks again everyone. Will update if anyone's interested.

 

Tips on bending up a fuel line - well patience, double checking before bending, and it's very important to give final tweaks to the finished line to make it attach to the fittings with no binding. In other words, the nuts should screw into the fittings without having to push the line this way or that, or twist it.

I usually do the last tweaks with the line partly screwed into the fittings. When the nuts turn in their fittings by fingers alone, the alignment is good.

Every connection is a potential leak point, so having a one piece line between the pump and carb is desirable.

 

I've noticed that most pre-formed metal tubes have some hardening, so if you try to bend them, they tend to crack. It's worse when you try to make a double flare end. I've found that they're easier to work with if you anneal them by heating them with a torch. This will reduce their tensile strength, but that should not be a problem for low pressure fuel lines.

 

XLT: You are right that tubing in general is somewhat work hardened, but the brake line material (aka "bundy" tubing) is, I believe, deliberately made to be somewhat soft to make it easier to bend. I have found the premade lines to be the same for working with as the bulk lengths, but maybe different suppliers are different.

If you make a bend wrong and try to straighten it after, you will notice how it is much harder to bend a second time.

Heating the tubing with a torch would burn off the protective coating, and shouldn't be necessary with bundy tubing.

I have annealed copper tubing this way to make double flares because it would split on the second flaring without the annealing. This was a non-automotive application.

 

I found "regular" steel brake tubing to split too easily if I try to flare them without annealing. But I also got some stainless tubing that were much more resilient, so I now try to get those whenever possible.

 

That's a surprise. I would have assumed that the SS material would be more difficult, but I suppose the alloy might be specially designed for flaring.

I have never had splitting when double flaring plain old brake (bundy) tubing. Did you chamfer both the inside and outside before flaring?

 

Yes, I chamfered the tubing inside and out. Maybe I filed them down too much, leaving the walls too thin.

 

Well at the risk of reviving an old thread I just thought I'd post an update. My dad came over for the 4th of July and stayed for a week. He did a few things I hadn't thought to do. He was able to transfer the fitting from the old pump to the new one, and then he used a tubing cutter to take off most of the line except the bend right out of the fuel pump that orients the line toward the engine. He then ran some rubber hose all the way to the carburetor. Apparently it touches nothing hot and is as good to go as the farm tractors where he's staying that have the exact same thing - plain rubber fuel hose.

She runs. Thanks for the advice and insight, everyone. By the way Beanscoot, we found the brake line at O'Reilly and probably could have used it. Perhaps I will make the upgrade someday for safety's sake. For the time being it seems to run well.