Triumph Repair: 74 TR6 stall on startup -whooshing sound, fuel pressure gauge, psi pressure

Question
Hi Howard, great site, great expertise.
I have a 1974 TR6 that sits intermittently for a few months or more at a time. I have it on craigslist since early Feb, so have been driving a little more the past month. at that time, I topped of the gas tank with premium to a few gallons of older gas in the tank. The car has a Crane electronic ignition and the 74 emissions have been removed. I've driven maybe ten miles since then.
Car now won't turn over without a shot of starter fluid. It will run a few seconds, cough and die. Depressing, or pumping the gas there is a kind of whooshing sound those few seconds it's running. Checked hoses, no cracks that I can see or appearance that any hoses fell out. linkage on carbs moving. Any suggestions? Thanks for your help

Answer
Hi John,

I take it that what you mean by "turn over" that is it starts on starter fluid? This is a standard test to divide the problem into either ignition or fuel.

It starts on starter fluid but will not keep running on it's own. So the first test is to put a "T" in the fuel line close to the carburetors and put a fuel pressure gauge on the connection of the "T". Then use the starting fluid again and try to keep it running on the spray of the starting fluid and watch the fuel pressure gauge. You should see from 1.5 to 3 PSI pressure. If you have that then you need to remove the carburetors and remove the float chambers and check the float needles and seats to see that they are allowing fuel into the carburetors. Also check to see that there is no water in the carburetors.

If you don't have fuel pressure, you need to test the fuel pump and if you have a inline fuel filter check to see that it is not stopped up. Test the fuel supply to the pump by removing the line from the tank and lower it down low to a pan to confirm a good flow from the tank.

Howard