Thanks for all of the great suggestions. I'd like to respond to some of them . . .
3B - your thought about the cam lobe scares me. It that's it were talking major engine repair, right? I can't see in there directly, but I'll try to get in there with a mirror and flash light and take a look.
A couple people mentioned that the problem may be getting air into the line or that the lines are collapsed or pinched. I'll double check these, but when I operate the pump manually and hold my finger over the intake hole I can feel suction. When I put the pump on the engine, hold my finger over the hole and have someone work the starter there's no suction so I think that the problem is within the pump.
StoveBolt2355 - I'll get a pressure / vacuum gauge and see what kind of readings I get. This will be useful to tell me if the pump is within spec.
Wilbur - the pump looks like the pictures I've seen of pumps for a '54 235. It was on the truck when I bought it and it has run quite a bit in the past. Of course it hasn't run for several months now because it was sitting over the winter. I was just getting a little anxious and wanted to start it up over this past weekend. I'll take a look for wear on the arm when I pull the pump again. Also, when I tighten the bolts to install the pump I can see where the arm is being compressed by the cam so I'm pretty sure that I'm getting contact between the cam and pump arm.
I also have a couple more questions . . .
Someone I talked to mentioned priming the pump. Does this type of pump need to be primed? If so, how do you do it?
Also, is there such a thing as an electric pump for this type of engine? Know where I can get one if there is? Even thought I want to keep the truck relatively stock, if this is going to be a major expense to fix I just might switch to an electric fuel pump.
