Rust in the sediment bowl and lines

[Summit A]

Think i found part of the problem in the bottom of the tank

[WHN]

Flame arrester, should be at mouth of gas tank.

Some people call it a filter.

Mostlikely not your only rust problem if your cars gas tank has never been cleaned.

How did you get it out?

[Summit A]

fished it out with parts grabber. light rust in tank i am slowly getting out. I really dont want to take tank out yet. i have replaced all fuel lines and will put in a tank filter,which it did not have. Trying a couple of magnets as well. Carb seems to be fine and clean. intermittently starves for fuel with no rhyme or reason.
cheers

[Badpuppy]

Looks like someone wanted to install it and didn't realize it would fall through. Top should be tabbed and flattened to fit in the grooves at bottom of the neck and twisted into place. They're usually pulled out because they really slow down filling. I'd skip the pencil screen, it's not original. Use a bowl filter or inline, where you can get at it.

[WHN]

The starving for fuel could be dirt/rust in carburetor and/or jets

I agree with using the inline gas filter.

What year is your car? The 28/29’s used a screw in flame arrester. I know there are a lot of Model A’s out there without them, but I would recommend that you should have one. Henry didn’t put anything on a car that didn’t need to be there. Enjoy.

[100IH]

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Go with the pencil filter on top of the fuel filter and no inline filter. Check the screen in the carb where the fuel line goes into the carb. Make sure that the fuel line is not portruding very far past the ferrule atr each end, 3/16" is ok. that arrester is N/G but good to use one. there are 2 kinds, threaded and bayonet style. they won't fall through if they are complete. last item, fuel line must be angled down from horizontal at the upper and lower sections, can trap air and starve carb.

[Summit A]

Thanks everyone.
Its a 29. I am installing all new fuel lines. Carb is clean. I thought about in line filter but read it doesn't work well with gravity feed? there is still very light rust/scale in the tank but not bad. i've been vacuuming it out and using a retrieval magnet to get some of it. Should be ready for a run next week

[WHN]

Be careful using a vacuum on a gas tank! Don’t do it.

Also the 29 has the screw in flame arrester. I don’t believe the suppliers sell them, just the 30-31 style. I have purchased a few of the 28/29 style on EBay.

We have used an inline fuel filter on our 29 for over 20 years with no problems. Also we have not had any carburetor problems since we installed filter.

On the in line filter not working well with gravity feed. As with many things in life, we all have our own views. My advice would be to understand that some contributors to his forum think that their way is the only way. These are simple cars. “Keep it simple stupid” is how I keep ours running. Enjoy.

[GPierce]

I had the same problem in my 31. I realize the 29 is different. This solved my problem.

[Terry, NJ]

Don't Vacuum the gas tank! I know how tempting this is, but......! If you had a vacuum source that didn't have sparks, yeah maybe! But all vacuum cleaners i've seen make sparks. The gas fumes could ignite. There is a pipe configuration called a "Dirty Leg" that creates a sediment pipe leg. This is a verticle pipe. There is a valve at the bottom so the load of accumulated debris can be emptied. This is a temporary solution and is removed once the debris is gone.
The debris will clog jets and passageways in your carburetor and make normal running almost impossible. You will come to thank Henry Ford for making the carburetor one bolt construction! The next time it gives you trouble, take the bottom off and see the sparkly stuff in the bottom of the float chamber. Blow out the passages and reassemble and she'll run nicely for a while till a new load of debris loads it up again. You may have to repeat this several times until you get it all.
Terry

[Summit A]

Thanks
Good advise on using a vacuum. I made sure tank was dry and work space was free of gas vapor. I think i will install a filter in the sed bowl. The thing that bugs me is the carburetor both in the garage and on the side of the road twice seemed to be free of particles and sediment. I will post if new lines, filters and float check solve the problem.

[Benson]

...


PM sent

[Terry, NJ]

Have you considered that the problem may be in the ignition? There is a pigtail under the dist. plate that can cause all sorts of problems. Trouble is, you have to sacrifice your timing to get to it. One of these days, I'm going to open that hole up so it fits over the dist. cam.
Terry

Originally Posted by Summit A

Thanks
Good advise on using a vacuum. I made sure tank was dry and work space was free of gas vapor. I think i will install a filter in the sed bowl. The thing that bugs me is the carburetor both in the garage and on the side of the road twice seemed to be free of particles and sediment. I will post if new lines, filters and float check solve the problem.

[Summit A]

Thanks I think the ignition is fine runs great. You can feel it starving for gas. Will know when i get it back out there

[Chuck Sea/Tac]

Originally Posted by WHN

Be careful using a vacuum on a gas tank! Don’t do it.

Also the 29 has the screw in flame arrester. I don’t believe the suppliers sell them, just the 30-31 style. I have purchased a few of the 28/29 style on EBay.

We have used an inline fuel filter on our 29 for over 20 years with no problems. Also we have not had any carburetor problems since we installed filter.

On the in line filter not working well with gravity feed. As with many things in life, we all have our own views. My advice would be to understand that some contributors to his forum think that their way is the only way. These are simple cars. “Keep it simple stupid” is how I keep ours running. Enjoy.

The inline filter I had from Napa limited fuel flow. What kind of inline filter are you using. I ended up with a dirty leg an inverse pea trap. Works good .

[WHN]

Originally Posted by Chuck Sea/Tac

The inline filter I had from Napa limited fuel flow. What kind of inline filter are you using. I ended up with a dirty leg an inverse pea trap. Works good .

The last one I purchased came from Mac’s. It came as a set, filter, hoses, and clamps. I put it half way down fuel line above carburetor.

There are only three things that are not factory stock on our 29. Fuel filter, whitewall tires, oil pressure gauge.

I would not do the whitewalls again. Enjoy.

[Badpuppy]

Myself, I don't see the need of a drip leg/dirty leg. The A already has one, called a sediment bowl.

[DHZIEMAN]

Rust in the sediment bowl and lines indicates a tank with rust flakes small enough to move with the fuel to the sediment bowl and Carb! Years ago, to slow the inevitable of pulling the tank, I removed the valve, inside the car on mine (with gas tank drained), removed the little filler screen and found a short hunk of copper tubing to force in the valve part that goes in the tank. For those of you with the valve on the outside of the firewall, kind of the same thing but, you will be jamming copper tube into a copper fitting. I then reinstalled the valve and put some fuel in the old girl and tried it. Worked like a champ, but, the down side is ya never get the full use of the tank any more. If anyone does this, be aware, best to remove the fuel line, and the carb, and clean out both, so as to start fresh.

Or bite the bullet and get the tank cleaned and coated to seal it!

[Ernie Vitucci]

Another option for rust in the fuel tank is to get some big flat magnets and put them on the bottom of the outside of the fuel tank, just above your knees. Also a good strong hardware store magnet in your glass fuel filter bowl. The nice thing is you can see when you need to open the filter and clean the magnet. On our 31, we put a second glass fuel filter in the line down low just in front of the carburetor with a magnet in it also. No more clogs in the carburetor! Ernie

[racingrufus]

I put a pencil filter in my fuel shut off valve that is in bottom of fuel tank. I tried the filters in line and in fuel bowl but with gravity feed they would not work. I also put large magnets on bottom of tank away from fuel valve.