What am I seeing in here? This view is from a borescope down the fuel pump pushrod bushing. Stock 8BA. Backstory: I bought this car about 2 months ago as a 90% completed project. 1937 Ford Coupe with a later 8BA transplanted into it. Engine seems to have been rebuilt and has sat 5, maybe more, years. It has a new 97 carb on it, new fuel pump and lines, new tank etc. Nothing even smelled of gas, so I guess the previous owner never got to that stage. The fuel lines at the carb and pump were still just finger tight when I got it. I get it home and iron out all the kinks and get it wired and ready to fire and it will but only by forcing fuel into carb. There was no fuel coming from pump. Primed bowl etc but no flow from pump. I took off pump and examined pushrod and discovered what you see in pictures here. Pushrod looked to have been home made from a shorter one with a piece of copper pipe grafted into the middle. It was also bent. The end that should have been riding on the cam looked terrible as seen here: Any guesses as to what is going on here? The shiny bit running past the side of the bottom of the bushing bore turns with the cam and has a cut or Crack running diagonally across the face if I had to guess. Is the cam not installed fully? Is that the rear cam bushing walking with the cam? It seems to me that whatever that is, it is keeping the pushrod from reaching the cam eccentric. Engine looks to have zero miles on it and seemingly re***embled competently (up until the home made pushrod) Car pic for interest. Thanks for any input, this is my first flathead.
OK, so I found an image of an 8BA cam and now I see what the rear end is supposed to look like and I understand a little more about what I'm seeing down that pushrod bore. My question still is this: how is the pushrod supposed to ride on the eccentric lobe when the rear cam bearing surface is in view of the bore (outlined in RED)? Furthermore, what about the rusty looking plate or metal gasket material that also seems to be protruding into the bottom of the pushrod bore? (Highlighted with blue arrows) This also is probably keeping the pushrod from breaching into the cavity far enough to contact the cam lobe. Is it possible that the cam has walked out towards the front of the engine because of something to do with the cam retainer? To all the fellows that are familiar with this part of the engine: does this view down fuel pump push rod bushing bore look normal? I have zero experience with these engines and this is the first time I've looked at these parts so I don't know!
I don't know much... but just went though a similar problem... and easy steps to check...pump wasn't working, new pump wasn't either....the rod just needs to go up and down and push the pump.. you should have to rotate the engine to get the pump out and in...the pump rod has to be in the low of the lobe... easy to check... stick your finger on the rod and see if it goes up and down... when it up... try to put the pump in... if it goes.... sum ting wong..I'm all in with making sure you have the right rod and pump... they are different..the other thing is if you have a loose connection from the tank to the pump they won't prime..
also, when you get it figured out...fill the carb bowl through the vent pipe so it will start and run enough to draw fuel from the tank... On mine I had to do that 3 times to get the fuel in the carb from the pump ... and on my other one... the needle was stuck so no fuel went in the bowl from the pump..
Buy new pushrod. Measure to the cam surface from a known surface up top. Drop the rod in and see if it seats on the cam or gets hung up on the bearing surface or other stuff you’re worried about.
Possibly the cam bearing is not installed properly. You could probably take a drill bit the size of the pushrod, grind the tip of the bit flat, pack the bit with grease and, with a pair of vice grips, turn the bit and peal out that piece of bearing. Don’t think it will hurt anything. I’ve seen this problem before.
this thread may be of help to you. (That’s if I am understanding your problem correctly). https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/flathead-fuel-pump-rod.1186006/ .
With that amount of corrosion present, I wouldn’t be trying to start the engine. Use your borescope to check out each cylinder. When you see this McGuyver type stuff right off the bat, there is likely more of it. Like you said as well, the placement of that cam bearing just doesn’t look right to me, but I’m no expert.
I have seen where the pushrod has worn short, and repaired/lengthened by brazing and reshaping the pushrod end. My experience was that the fuel pump diaphragm was ripped, which was obvious when you examined it. I replaced the pump with one that my Dad had on the shelf and we were off to the races.
I appreciate everyone's input. If anyone cares, here's the follow up: Those images I posted were taken with a bore scope type of attachment ony phone that used a wide angle lens. I had it stuck so far down in there that it was actually past the opening of the pushrod bushing, thus the perspective seemed to show things obstructing the bore etc, but it was all kosher except the pushrod itself obviously. With a new pushrod and fuel pump, I was back in action. After that fuel supply problem, I turned to the ignition because it really didn't want to come very far off of idea without having a major miss. Replaced the coil and points because they were about $30 and took her on the first little spin today. Still more things to shale down, but progress nonetheless!
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