Hey guys,

New to the site. First off I'd like to say this place is a plethora of useful information. Once I get deeper into this car I know it'll come in handy.

I brought home my (to be) brother-in-law's '84 Z28 this weekend and now call it my own. It's been sitting for somewhere around 8 years. Stuck a battery in it and replaced the fuel filter, after finding out it was full of gray mud (?), and it fired up and got up the road about 1/8 mile. Then it died, of course.

I found out the fuel pump wasn't shoving any gas, so I stuck a new one on, just to find out that it isn't working either. A friend of mine who builds motors said that there may be 2 holes in the side of the block behind the fuel pump for the push rod, and that I might have got it in the wrong hole. Is this right? I thought I only saw one place it could even go.

Which leads me to my next question. I took the rubber lines off of the hard lines that go directly to the gas tank and no gas came out. I'm assuming this is normal since gas isn't going to move itself without the pump. But I blew air into each one of the 2 lines (one is for venting, right?) and gas didn't come out of either one, even when the tank had pressure from where I put air in it. Is something clogged up or do I just need the pump to make it happen?

Also, someone has taken the belt off of the A/C pump (which is stuck) and apparently has removed all the lines that went to it. Can I just take the A/C pump off the block, or do I need a blockoff plate or anything? And what all can I remove that is A/C related? If there was a sticky or another post on remove the A/C entirely, please point me to it, I couldn't find one.

Thanks in advance!

 

For the A/C - you can remove it all except for the box on the firewall - unless you don't want heat either, and you can remove that too, along with the heater core. But cover the hole to keep junk/mice/bugs out of car interior.

There is a A/C delete box that can replace the A/C box on the firewall - expensive for what it is, but they are in high demand - found on classifieds here or ebay or Hawks or Thirdgen Ranch etc. Search "A/C delete" and you'll see many posts.

On the fuel issue, after 8 years - there's no telling. Gas turns to varnish, and eventually to sap - I'd say after that many years, you may end up having to drop the tank, replace the pickup and sock, and work your way forward. Might be rust, gunk, anything is possible.

 

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to start ripping out all the A/C stuff. The last owner did some horrible "patch work" to just about everything under the hood and I want to de-clutter it.

Another question about the fuel pump. Can I disconnect the line that runs from the pump to the carb at the carb end and just hold my finger over the line and see if there is pressure? Will it still try to force my finger off even without gas? I'm assuming it will still push air through there at least.

Thanks!

 

Before I ask another question, this is a carbureted 305 w/ a mechanical fuel pump. Is it possible that the cam lobe that contacts the fuel pump push rod is worn off? I know for a fact that I got the arm on the fuel pump in the correct place and I lubed the hell out of that push rod. I can blow air into vent line to the gas tank and it will push enough gas up to the carb to start it for a few seconds, but then it dies. Anyone ever got a brand new mechanical fuel pump out of the box and find it to be bad? How can I check to see if this one is good? I've had this thing off of here 4 times already.

 

Like what camaronewbie said, gas turns to varnish, then to sap.

You should have seen the sending unit on my 84 Bird..it was literally disintegrated - and that's just from sitting for nearly 2 years without running. The fuel looked like a nice dark amber..kinda like a Fat Tire Ale. There were clumps of rust inside the tank and gunk jammed inside the pickup. Its a wonder she ran from late Sept 2010 - Nov 2010 without any issues, until Nov 24, but that's another story.

Your fuel pump is probably not defective...the problem most likely lies in your tank.

 

Got the fuel issue lined out, feel free to call me an idiot.

The fuel inlet and vent connection on the fuel pump were a$$ backwards of the stock GM one! Switched the lines and voila! She runs on her own now; pretty rough, but we can worry about that later. The old fuel pump spring had broken, that's why it wasn't working. Awesome, eh?

Next question! When I remove the A.I.R. system on my carbureted 305, is it going to blow hot air out of the manifolds where the steel lines were? ( I had to edit this as I asked about removing it before I searched. My bad!)

I have tons of questions, should I make new threads for each one, or keep going with this one?

Thanks for all the help, guys!