390 Fuel pump problem

[jdlafayette]

Hello All,  In between life's problems I got back on my '57. I built this car from nothing and finally have been trying to fire it. It is a 1963  390 that was built from 2 engines. The block started out as a clean '63 352 from a Galaxie that was bored to a stock 390 and I put 390 crank rods etc.in it.
When cranking it I found the fuel pump wasn't pumping. I took it out and operating the lever on a bench it will suck my finger in. In the car it won't. I can see I put the excentric on the cam gear. It has a large comp cam in it. I took my time assembling it and have built qiute a few engines.
It seems like the excentric isn't doing it's job or the pump lever is incorrect. Do I have a wrong combo or? I haven't removed the front cover yet.

Thanks Guys, John

[57 Ford Kustom]

Just a thought, but is the arm long enough to get a full stroke?
Tim

[Ford Blue blood]

Ford changed the cam shaft retention system in mid 63, not sure what month, so you may have an issue related to that.  If the dowel pin does not catch the pump eccentric it will just rotate, need to check that as well.  I know, the front cover needs to come back off to do that but if you want the mechanical pump to work it needs to be done.

[jdlafayette]

I'll check those things first, Thanks, John

[jdlafayette]

looks like the excentric is just spinning in the breeze

[lowrider]

Had a 63 Ford 427 way back. Put it together like you from a couple engines. Ran good all spring, summer & fall. One Sunday winter morning it's about 0* out & it won't start. Ck'd it out in the freezing cold & I know there something wrong in the timing chain area. My dad & I hook a chain up to it & drag to the Ford dealer we work at. It only takes me about 30 minutes to get the front cover off & I find the fuel pump eccentric is loose & the timing gear is ready to fall off. Inspected everything and all looked ok. Just tightened everything up & it ran fine for as long as I had that engine in it. My dad didn't mind helping out. He just went down to his local watering hole while I fixed it.

[jdlafayette]

I am going to have to take the front cover off and see.

[jdlafayette]

Hello Guys,
I took off the front cover and the fuel pump excentric is tight. The only thing I can come up with is it looks like the pump lever doesn't contact the excentric. I must have a mix match. As I mentioned before it's been so long and so many piles of parts anything could have happened. The cam excentric is 2 1/2 " round and the pump lever is 4 1/2" long from the base. Could I have a 289 pump in it or?

Thanks, John

[hiball3985]

4 1/2" should be correct. Are you sure you had it mounted with the arm under the eccentric?

[jdlafayette]

Yes pretty sure. I checked it a couple of times and it seems to contact it but not enough. I don't get it!

[hiball3985]

Did you remove the bolt and washer from the cam so you can visually see that the locating pin is engaged in the eccentric?

[jdlafayette]

Yes I took the excentic off and the dowel pin is holding it secure and the bolt was torqued properly.

[hiball3985]

Very strange indeed. I went out an measured a pump in the garage, 4 1/2" arm.

[BWhitmore]

I know this is a real stretch but is there any possibility that the inlet and outlet to the pump are plumbed incorrectly?  Also in a previous post it was stated that the eccentric was spinning freely, but when checked it is held securely both by the pin and the bolt.

[jdlafayette]

The pump says inlet and outlet on it and if I pump it manually in a vise it seems to suck in on the inlet. I thought the cam was spinning when it was together, so I took it apart and it was my finger slipping plus I couldn't be sure.  Don't know!