[Walt Fricke]

Wade

Bummer. Good idea having someone doing leak/fire watch. Starting up a rebuild is always a bit tense.

30 seconds sounds suspiciously like one float bowl's worth of running time. If the pump is bad, how did these get filled to start with?

What do these Ts run? Zeniths? And a low pressure fuel pump? Anyway, don't Zeniths have a float system, and a float level? Can you check that? If the float bowl in the carb is full, your fuel pump is most likely working.

If you can't check that, can you disconnect the fuel line at the carbs? See if the fuel pump will pump out from there. If yes, probably not a pump/obstructed line issue.

If no, disconnect the carb side line from the pump and (carefully - best would be to attach another length of hose so you can direct it into a can or bottle) see if it pumps out there. If yes, perhaps there is a problem with the long run of the fuel line.

If no, and you say you have fuel coming out by gravity at the fuel pump inlet, then there is probably a pump problem. I'd remove it and see if I could fill it with carb cleaner from the outlet side, then blow air through from that side to backflush it. If it has a screen, it will be on the inlet side. Then rig up the pump on your workbench to see if it will draw when fed 12V. If it won't, sounds like time to get another pump.

Just my approach based on what you have said. I'm trusting that you checked out the ignition side, and the distributor didn't get loose, or the points break, or the CD box (if it has one) or coil just happened coincidentally to fail - i.e., you have a nice fat spark at about the right time.

Walt Fricke