fuel tank - bad pickup?? what else could it be?

I have a working fuel pump, about 2 gal. of fuel in the tank - but the fuel pump (or a vacuum pump) can get any gas flowing. Haven't dug around inside a b's tank - but guessing either a totally clogged pick up or broken pick up. Anything else I should check before ordering a new tank?

Tom. What's the year of the car. There are three different fuel tank pickup designs.


kelvin

It's a 1972

'72 has a filter screen over the pickup tube. If it's plugged up, then the inside of the tank is probably in pretty bad condition.

Luckily replacement tanks are pretty cheap and if the inside is full of rust particles, chances are the top of the tank toward the rear axle and around the filler neck are pretty bad too.

kelvin

You did check to make sure it wasn't a plugged vent, I hope, by removing the gas cap

vent's clear - just want to make sure I didn't miss something obvious before I buy new.

Air-hose on the pickup will tell you if the tank is at fault. Hit it with 120psi, if the rubber line bulges, the pick up is toast. Tanks aren't worth the hassle of repairing-buy a new one.

Tom - What kind of a fuel pump are you using? If it is a SU pump, a clogged line will cause it to stall. If it is not stalling, then there is an air leak in the line.
Cheers,

Tom,
I once had the same on my 73 GTV8 and could not find any fault on the system until i put compressd air to the tank.
The fuelline between the tank and the pump had an air leak at the brazed on lin to the fitting screwed to the tank. Simply unvisuable corrosion. It was easy to cur with a fitting from a plumbers shop and a fuel pipe to the pump.
Just check it out on your 71 B. The installation is he same as on the 73 modell.

Ralph

air leak on supply line gave me the same symptoms

Good thoughts on the line leak. I'll check it out. For the pump, it's a Carter 4070 (goes with the ford 302 conversion).