I re-installed the fuel tank today with the new fittings, and it is finally sealed. I put about 12 gallons of fuel in and everything is tight with no leaks. Moving on, I temporarily installed the battery tray, put in a new battery, connected all of the cables and powered up all of the electrical systems which thankfully appear to be operating correctly.
I installed the new plug wire set, connected everything and the only thing left is to install the spark plugs. Next step was to crank her over to prime the fuel system. What I thought would take a couple of minutes of cranking took only about 45 seconds to get the fuel from the tank to the carb. Unfortunately it was at this point that today’s problem reared its ugly head.…..
With the fuel system pressurized the fuel filter is leaking like a sieve. Previously, I had taken the time to disassemble the glass bowl filter, clean it and the ceramic filter element and put it back in, but apparently the gasket is dried out and not making a proper seal, so had to call it a day. With fuel sprayed on the top of the motor I was taking no chances that a spark would light the beast on fire.
At this point, I need to either re-gasket the old filter (the method I prefer) or scrap it and just install an in-line filter between the fuel pump and the carb, either way will require me to remove and re-install that fuel line. I will do a little leg work tomorrow to figure it out. If I can find some nitrile rubber stock I will just make my own gasket, if not, I’ll just have to punt. We are about 1″ from start-up, while I can’t wait to hear her run, I need to make sure everything is perfect before doing so, tomorrow is another day.
