OK, here goes! This morning I decided that I would take apart this old fuel pump, clean it up and reassemble it then install it back in Lucille figuring that maybe those loose screws were the issue. So I took her for a run and struggled to get her up the hill in my development when she was still not all the way warmed up. Choke slightly out. Well, I thought hey, I'll try to make some adjustments to see if I can improve the power performance. I played with the carb and the dizzy to try and get a good vacuum reading at the intake manifold. After several ajustments I finally was able to get 17" of vacuum with the idle at 750 RPM (should be 475). The dizzy ended up at approximately 6 degrees advanced with the choke pulled out slightly. Didn't sound too bad even though I think it was racing too much. I have one of those see-thru fuel filters just ahead of the carb and I could see fuel flowing into to it. With those conditions I took her for a run on a level road and she had plenty of get up and go. I turned onto a road that starts with you going downhill and then there is a good half mile uphill grade. Not that steep. Lucille was still cutting out on me and I had to let off the gas slightly for her to resume. When I got to the stoplight she was racing like crazy because of the choke being slightly out. I pushed it back in and headed back home. When I reached another small hill I pulled out the choke slightly again until I came to a stop sign. Once again shes racing like crazy. Went back to my garage and shut her down. I looked at her fuel filter and it was full of gas.
It's that cutting out and having to increase the RPM's to get a decent idle vacuum that concerns me. So, I went out and picked up a new fuel pump I had ordered from NAPA yesterday and will swap the pumps out tomorrow. With the old pump there must still not be enough back pressure on the carb thus the reason that Lucille cuts out on the power demand side. I really should not have to use my choke or set my RPM's that high to get the performance I'm looking for, right?
