57 Thunderbird glass bowl has rubber pieces in it and car stalls

[Guest kevinscar]

Hi all, more questions

We took my Father's stock 57 Tbird out for a spin and it ran great for a little while. After a bit, under load, it stalled. We looked in the glass bowl and it has some black rubber deposits in it. We clean the bowl and it seems to run fine for a little while, but then after a bit, it stalls again. We look in the bowl and once again, there is black rubber in it. We put the car in neutral and idled, the action in the bowl does not pick up this debris, but it seems that once we go into gear, the action in the bowl is far different and that black rubber seems to be getting kicked up. Is it possible that this is getting caught at the inlet to the carb and this is what stalls us out under load? The car starts great after it stalls... like nothing happened.

When I take this car home in the fall, I plan on re-building the entire fuel distribution system including dipping or replacing the tank, replacing all lines. I'll also rebuild the carb. Just not familar with this kind of failure.

Thanks!

[trimacar]

Sounds to me like the fuel pump diaphragm is failing, possibly an older compound now being eaten away by the ethanol in the gasoline. I'd pull the fuel pump and check it out before going any further.

[1957Birdman]

I agree with trimacar, although you said in your other thread that your dad just had a new fuel pump installed. Was it a new pump or an NOS pump? It could also be that the rubber gas line from the fender to the fuel pump is going bad, with the same results described by trimacar. If it is getting soft it could also be collapsing which would cause fuel delivery problems.

Good luck and let us know what you find.

[Guest kevinscar]

Thanks for the replies. He thinks the pump is about 3 years old. It looks like a rebuild. He's unsure so that will be something to look into. We noticed that rubber gas line from the fender to the fuel pump and it looks soft. That should be rather easy to replace and we may just want to start with that. I have a few more days here and then I head back home. Will be picking the car up this fall to begin serious work on it. I'd like to pull that fuel pump here, but I'm just not quite sure what I'm going to be getting into and if it's bad, this location will have no parts for sure. Thanks for the information guys.