MG Car Repair: fuel pump, triumph owners, carburetter

Question
Fellow up on my fuel pump question.

I did get the new pump on this past weekend, took it out for a short drive on Sun evening, didn't get to drive very much, but I have to say the car ran the best it has in a long time, ran smooth, not missing at all , seemed to be getting the fuel right, took it out again on Mon for a short ride, and a longer ride on Tues. made several stops at different store's ,put a few more miles on it, again, ran great, UNTIL I got within about 500 yards of my driveway, and it was like I killed the switch, just cut off, as I was rolling it tried to start back, I pulled the choke all the way out and it would run , but had no power, couldn't take off , finally went died, I got out open the hood, I have a clear fuel filler and it only had a small amount of gas in it, waited a few min. and it started long enough for me to get it to the house.

I am really afraid to take it out, could it be a vapor lock ? do I need to put a different kind of gas line and reroute it around the motor so it won't get hot ?

Again I really think you for your help as always, I can use all the advise I can get

Steve

Answer
Hi Steve.  This is the worst kind of problem.  It destroys your confidence in the car.  I cannot be certain, but from what you are telling me it does sound like vapour lock, and I know that these engines are prone to it because the pump is attached to the engine.  Your car has the same engine as a Triumph Spitfire, so I shall search the web to see if Triumph owners are reporting similar problems and how they are dealing with it.

Does the fuel line go anywhere near the exhaust system or the exhaust manifold?  If so, then you may need to re-route the lines away from the heat.  Can you shield the pump from heat?  Do you have a shield protecting the fuel bowl of the carburetter and the in-line filter?  When you opened the engine compartment, did it seem to be hotter than usual?

I hope this helps.

Barrie