The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot '60-'66 Trucks thought it was out of gas

anybody run across this ? i was out in my 65, tooling along just fine and it started bucking. i turned for home and made it to a gas station across the street. gas gage read about 1/4 tank, but it did feel as if i'd run out so i got a gallon can from the station, dumped it in, started up, crossed the street and filled up and everything was fine from then on. i have a new sender but figured maybe it was off so pulled the sender. it is smooth from top to bottom with the gage hooked up. i now have 1/2 tank of gas and that's what it reads. i'd never ran it under 1/2 before but shoulda been ok.
it supplies a stock 327. i did put an inline filter on the frame at the tank. is this a head pressure problem or what ?
i'm going to run it down again, but i'm carrying a gas can this time. oh yeah, the vent line is open.
any thoughts ?
bob

I'm stumped. Did it start right up after adding only 1 gallon?

Yes it did and been fine since. let me throw this out. I have a little pigtail loop forward of the inline filter to align with the fuel line running forward. I could understand gravity feed not having enough head to push it thru the loop when it got to some level but don't see how it could happen with a fuel pump in the circuit. Do you think that could do it ?
I'm back down under a half tank so guess i'll find out something soon.

If the screen type filter on your tank pickup is partially clogged with rust or corrosion, then that could possibly decrease the head pressure from the tank. As the fuel level goes down, then flow might depend on the fuel pump "pulling" it from the tank, which it will not do well. But after reading your 1st post again, it sounds like you have a new sender, so that probably isn't the problem, but a partially clogged fuel line between the tank and fuel pump might do the same thing.

If any of the above sounds like I don't know what I'm talking about, haha, that may be true, since I am a novice at this sort of thing. I can laugh at myself so I guess I'm not too shy to share my thoughts and ideas.

yeah, the sender is new (LMC). I looked at it again when I pulled the sender. Still looks new. But a partially clogged fuel line is worth checking out. At least its something. I did flush it during the build but thats not a sure thing. Maybe I can run a drain snake thru it...I'll see what happens when this tank gets lower.
In any case its a sweet ride. 327, T5, 373's. Lovin it...
Thanks Lugnutz. Don't laugh, sharing thoughts and ideas is what this forum is all about.

Oooooooh T5? Now I like that! I have a T5 and 373 rear too but she's only been up and down the block a few times.
Try blowing the fuel line out with compressed air. That will be easier than a snake. You should be able to tell pretty easily if it's clogged up or not.

I have a 250ci with a Camaro V8 T5 and 373 rear. It should be fun.

well Lugnuts, you were close. even though I flushed and cleaned the tank during the build, I had a filter full of fine rusty crap. cleaned the lines, replaced the filter and it runs great. gas quantity is what the gage says empty to full. I expect to replace the filter a couple more times but now I know what I'm looking for.
thanks for the tip.

bty, if I want to upgrade my t5 gears will any WC t5 work with a tail shaft change. I just turned down one that (by the casting numbers)came out of an AMC, probably Jeep.. I wasn't sure and the shifter is way aft for my 65.

Glad you got the gas line figured out.
Stay away from any T5 with a Ford pattern case. I'm pretty sure that AMC T5 would not work either.
If you have a cast iron factory bell in your driveline, the you will need to stick with a T5 that has a Muncie bolt pattern. The 1993 S10, S15 and Sonoma trucks had a World Class T5. 1992 and earlier trucks had a non-World Class T5. If you find a 1988-92 Camaro/Firebird T5, then those are WC too. The S10 tail housing swap can convert the Camaro shift position so it fits in front of the bench seat. While the WC units are stronger, there is no reason to shy away from a non-WC unit unless you are prone to abuse it. What is your current setup? Bench seat? S10 or Camaro T5? What kind of HP from the 327?

stock 327 (out of a school bus) non-WC from an 89 S10, bench seat. I bent the shifter away from the seat a little. its my driver, nothing fancy performance wise and I don't plan to abuse.
I like the set up pretty well but there is plenty power to have a better 5th gear ratio if one comes along. i was curious if it was any more than a tailshaft swap. I've read a lot on the t5, but they often leave stuff out assuming tribal knowledge. i'll stick to a later S10/Camaro.
thanks for the help

The T5 is a fairly easy upgrade but it usually requires sacrificing something. Keeping the factory gauges and cable speedometer requires a 1988 or earlier S10 tail housing (if you want to keep the bench seat).

Every Camaro/Firebird T5 I've seen has a cable speedo connection but you can't have a bench seat.

1989 and up S10 T5s have a VSS speedo connection and it works fine with a bench seat but you live without a factory cable style speedo unless you swap the tail housing.

The 1988-92 V8 Camaro WC T5s seem to all have a 0.63 5th gear which is a 37% drop. That's a huge drop down from 4th and may tend to bog a lower HP engine like mine.

I like the World class V6 Camaro T5s with a 3.75 1st gear and a 0.72 5th gear.

that clears up some of the mystic. i know what to watch for now. BTY, thats some good stuff on your T5 link.
my 5th gear only drops about 200 RPM @ 60 MPH so i imagine its the .086 gear.
thanks again