I’ve now replaced my rust-riddled gas tank on my '65 Series 1 4.2L XKE with a new one from SNG Barratt ( which, BTW, was a PERFECT fit ).
Carbs are all rebuilt and clean…ready to be mounted to the manifold.
But there’s the remaining problem of the VERY dirty fuel still in the lines from the gas tank to the fuel pump and up to the glass bowl and into the line that will feed the carbs.
Not wanting to run this old/dirty fuel into the carbs, what is the best way to flush out the lines before connecting to the SUs ?
My thought was to fill the new tank with some fresh gas…turn the ignition switch on and listen for the fuel pump (electronic) to start. ( I will not be turning over the engine.)
I’ll have the fuel line from the glass bowl filter by the engine inserted into a fairly large plastic gas can, where the old fuel would be deposited. Then shut off the ignition, stopping the fuel pump, and clean up ( replacing the banjo bolt gaskets and the old fuel filter in the glass bowl ), then attaching the fuel line ( which by now has only fresh fuel in it ) to the carbs.
Sound logic ? Will this work ? Is there another way ? What is the best way ?
I was fortunate in that my fuel tank was fairly clean inside, but I wasn’t sure about the fuel lines themselves. I did exactly what you outlined - filled the cleaned tank with fresh fuel, and ran the fuel pump to flush the lines, into a clean container. That approach worked well for me!
Before I reinstalled my old fuel lines, I flushed them with some brake cleaner followed by compressed air. The firewall fuel filter will catch any remaining crud. Be sure to get the correct filter. Some of the usual’s sell a filter where the dirty side is the inside. When the correct filter is used the dirt falls to the bottom of the glass bowl where you can see it!
using compressed air is a good idea IMO, but these lines are made for 2 to 5 psi. I probably would turn my regulator down to no more than 50 psi. Other than that, collecting it before the filter on the firewall should work until it runs clear. A little safer than gasoline would be to use diesel or kerosene. It won’t hurt anything.
I used a new tank, new hoses, new steel fuel line (instead of nylon) and also installed a cheap inline filter just before the pump.
In all the years I had the car on the road, there was never any dirt in the AC glass bowl and this was the early type with a gauze but no filter inside.
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