Dan Wow, lots of good info, and much appreciated. Let me pick through it:
No oil in the distributor?
No, I looked for that. Might be a trace, but it's not obvious.
A good check I like to try is turn the ignition on, put the car in reverse
> and with a friend push the car backwards. You should hear the pump turn
> on for 1-2 seconds and then back off every time the engine spins 180
> degrees (or if you prefer, leave the engine in neutral, remove the spark
> plugs and spin the engine with a wrench on the cam/crankshaft).
That's interesting. If the pump does not spin, what would that indicate?
>Checked transfer pump, meets specs for filling up a cntainer.
>>Checked pressure pump, hardly got a dribble. Aha!
> How exactly did you check these... i.e. what was it pumping into?
I followed the Bentley instructions transfer pump - removed output hose per illustration, pushed a long 5/16 fuel hose onto the output port, other end into a graduated jar. Jumpered the FP relay connection to run the pump a few seconds (to fill the hose. Dumped jar, ran hose 10 seconds. The jar was filled to about the point the manual said it should. About half a quart IIRC. Reconnected hose. Pressure pump - Disconnected return line from the fuel distributor. This was a 1/2" approx threaded fitting pointed to the rear, right beside and below the "belows" portion of the intake tract. Connected a long hose, same jar, ran pump for 30 seconds. there was maybe 1-2 ounces of fuel, when there should have been ~21 oz. So I determined I needed a pump.
Did you have
> the transfer pump plugged in when testing the pressure pump?
Yes, pretty sure I did have it all hooked back up. I am very familiar with the cycle sound of the transfer pump.
Dumb questions I know, but its worth a shot.
LOL I feel really dumb right now, so anything's appropriate.
Maybe there is some sort of
blockage between the main pump and the transfer pump... bad pressure
> accumulator or filter perhaps?
Filter is relatively new.
You said "sounds better"... A loud buzzing main pump is a sign of a bad
> transfer pump (usually). More specifically, its a sign of fuel starvation
> to the main pump, so if the transfer pump is good, that points even more
> to a blockage.
The old pump I could not hear. The new one was audible but not noisy. When i pulled the pump, I got a lot of fuel out of the reservoir. The screen over the pump was not clogged.
I was also thinking electrical, but I'm now thinking it
might just be a clogged filter or hose or something. Maybe disconnect
> everything and try to blow through it.
Yeah, makes sense to try that next.
Just some background, may not be significant, but you never know. When I bought the car it had set up for 2 years. Once I got it cleaned up and body repairs made, I drove it on the street for a while. It never did like to rev past about 5500, felt rich all the time. It ran OK otherwise, had enough torque to get around without revving it. The cat converter is blown out. The o2 sensor is in the cat, positioned such that it is shrouded from direct exhaust flow. Consequently, the sensor never gets up to temperature. Likely it has other 'issues'. For example, the switches - full throttle and another - on top of the throttle body are gone. But with all this, it started always and ran fine. the last couple of years i didn't drive it at all except to move it around the shop. Then I dusted it off to use as my instructor car at a track event. I ran it hard for about 5 30-minute track sessions. It seemed to run a little rough coming off the last time. Next morning it would not start.
Anyway, I'm going back out there tonight and follow your suggestions. If anything more occurs, please share it.
Thanks a lot for taking the time to give me such good detail. I hope you don't mind me replying through the NG, but your ISP spamblocker bounced this direct reply.