Triumph Repair: fuel pump, spitfire production, frame level

Question

Thanks Jim.  Yes, there is gas going to the pump and the line to the carbs is clear.  I ordered a fuel pump from Vicki Brit and it's backordered.  My pump looks like it has a short arm.  No indication of what type VB will send.  Is ther any trick to inserting the arm into the block?

Thanks

Jeff-------------------------

Followup To

Question -
Thanks for your help with the SU carbs.  I now think my fuel pump is broken. I removed the top and can't tell what's wrong, but I did disconnect the gas line from the carbs and tried to crank it and no gas came through the line.

I have not pushed air through the line yet.  Is it difficult to install a new fuel pump?  I know it goes into the crankcase, but is it really that simple?  It's a 1965 Spitfire.

Thanks

Answer -
Jeff,

I hate to ask this, but are you sure there's fuel in the tank?  That's the first thing to check.  

Assuming there is fuel in the tank.......

Are you sure you're getting gas through the line from the tank to the fuel pump?  

A simple test is to disconnect the supply fuel line from the pump and lower the end of the fuel line into a container set below the frame level.  Do it carefully in a well ventilated place as gasoline is very dangerous.  You should get a reasonable stream of gas from the line.

If you are getting fuel to the pump the check the line from the pump to the carbs.

If both of those are clear then yes, it's gotta be the fuel pump.  The fuel pump has a lever arm that extends in the block to hit an eccentric lobe on the camshaft.  Removing the pump is as simple as disconnecting the two fuel lines and removing the two nuts (or bolts) holding the pump to the block.

One thing to be careful of when replacing the pump is that there were two pumps used during the Spitfire production run.  One of the pumps has a "short" arm and the other has a longer arm that extends farther away from the pump body, ie farther into the block.  The short arm pump just bolts to the block.  In order to use the long arm pump there was a spacer that bolts between the pump and the block.


Cheers,

Jim

Answer
Jeff,

The fuel pump should be fairly easy to install.  The only thing to keep in mind is that the pump arm is spring loaded so depending upon where the eccentric is on the camshaft ("high" vs "low") you might have to fight the pump spring a bit to get it all bolted back together.


Cheers,

Jim