Sunday, January 1, 2012

Day 2: Fuel tank and pump, clutch

Day two started with confirming that there was power at the fuel pump with a test light.  I turned on the ignition and confirmed that there was power at the pump.  So, the pump was dead and had to come out for rebuild or replacement.  No problems on the removal.  I took a few photos to confirm I reinstalled it correctly in the future.


SU Fuel Pump

I ran some compressed air through the fuel line to the engine to make sure it was clear. No  problem.


Hooking up the air



 Next up was draining and removing the fuel tank.  We tried to siphon it out,but decided to just drain out the fuel through the drain plug in the tank.  No problems there, except I couldn't find and eye protection, so I used a swim mask! I wasn't sure if the fuel was going to splash everywhere, so I decided to look more goofy than usual for a while....


 
After draining out the rusty fuel, we got started with removing all of the bolts, wires,and vent lines from the tank. After placing the floor jack under the empty tank, we took out the last couple of bolts and lowered the tank enough to slide it out from under the car.  I took a peek inside the tank and saw a bunch of flaky rust, which was (obviously) in the drain bucket as well.  Looks like the tank will need to be repaired or replaced- looks like a new one is about $150.




The tank is gone!  

I had Drew start with the arduous task of cleaning up miscellaneous electrical connections.  He REALLY seemed to enjoy working with emery paper and dielectric grease....

The last job of the day was to start looking into the clutch hydraulics.  The previous owner had installed a new clutch master cylinder and slave cylinder- but neither one was installed correctly.  The master was only partially attached to the car.  It's held on with two bolts, but the one he left off is difficult to get to and is accessed through a small hole up under the dash!  A few socket extensions and a magnet got the job sorted.  Next, I crawled under the car and had Drew operate the clutch.  Nothing moved at the slave at all- but I noticed the flexible fluid line was twisted and cracked.  I removed the bleeder from the slave cylinder and had Drew operate the clutch- no fluid!  I assume the flexible line is kinked, or the master needs some better bleeding.

Back in the house, I decided to crack open the fuel pump and clean the points.  I found a video online of the process.  It's actually pretty simple.  Long story short, the pump fired to life on the bench!!

Tomorrow, I'll connect the pump to the car and see if it works there.  We'll see- it might still be better to replace it or have a pro rebuild it.

Brake and Clutch master cylinders

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