HELP 1949 Buick Fuel Pump Issues

Hello folks

Maybe someone can help me. I had to rebuild the fuel pump in my 1949 Buick. I reinstalled the pump, but now the fuel will not come up to the carburetor. I can see the pumping action in the fuel filter but no gas. Do I need to bleed the fuel lines and if so can someone explain this to me.

Thank you,

Katherine

 

back up for Katherine. Did you check the line and the filter on the carb?

 

Mechanical fuel pumps, by design, aren't very good at drawing air on the inlet side of the pump. To work properly they need a liquid fuel supply on the suction side of the pump. If the pump was removed for an extended period the fuel may have drained back into the tank or leaked out of the inlet pipe and evaporated.

You may in fact need to bleed the air out of the pipe to get a bit of liquid fuel up to the pump. If the tank is low on fuel you might want to add a couple gallons of fresh gas. Leave the gas cap loose so the tank can vent freely. If you have an air compressor and blow-gun nozzle, wrap the nozzle with some shop rags so it will just barely seal to the filler neck and apply just a little bit of air at the lowest pressure possible and have someone watch for fuel at the pump inlet end of the hose.

Also, if you've got a small squirt bottle with a small enough nozzle you can try adding just a skosh of gas into the carburetor thru the carb vent tube. It won't take much to get the engine started quickly and help the pump to start doing its job.