Bratastick

Ok, I've pulled the pump off and connected it directly with a battery. I've run some cleaner through it and it does pump and will provide pressure. When free flowing fuel it pulses and I can hear whatever inside making a thumping noise. If I constrict the output with my finger it builds pressure and the thumping noise goes away. Is this normal operation. Other electric fuel pumps I've fooled with make more of a humm, or high pitched buzz.

Well I pulled the top of the Carter carb off to see how bad it might be. Hoping to get it to work enough to check out the rest of the engine and drive train. I would usually pull the whole carb, disassemble and soak. But knowing there are no parts available I figured a complete tear down would likely tear up more stuff than I could get back together. Lots of varnish in the float bowl and the acc. pump was basically glued together; main jet also. Soaked the acc. pump and it's in pretty rough shape, doubt it going to do much pumping. Pulled the jets and I'm almost ready to put it all back together. The main metering needle is stuck in the main jet so I'm soaking it. Hopefully it will break free. I pulled the front fuel filter and it seems clear so I'm going to reuse it for my testing. Drained the tank and got about 1.5 gallons of really nasty fuel. Probably 25 years old, really smelly. I thought I'd run the fuel pump and see if it would pump some new fuel through the lines but I can't get it to activate. It could be gummed up. Do I need to actually tap the starter for the pump to activate or should it activate by just turning the key on? I've got an older VW and the pump in it will run for a few seconds with key on then shut off unless the engine is running. I was a bit startled when trying to get the pump to run. I dropped a battery in it and decided to crank the engine over a bit with my son watching for problems under the hood. I cranked it over just a little and dang if it didn't try to start. I mean it actually hit and would have run if I hadn't quickly turned the key off. I had sprayed some carb cleaner down the carb earlier and I guess that's what it hit off of. Pretty exciting! Really makes me want to get it going.

did all brats have the brat decal on the rear pillar? This one does not and was wondering if it's been removed during a repaint.

That seems like a good plan. The cleaned up photo is a bit misleading. It was still wet from the washing so it did look pretty nice. Once dry the paint is pretty faded and dull. Don't know if it will polish up any or not. There are a couple of large areas on the hood without any paint and they have rusted. The rot is limited to a couple of places behind the front wheel wells, but really not that bad. Still has the original carpet in the back and surprisingly the bed shows little rust. I'm anxious to get started on it, although there are a number of things around the house that I've got to get done first.

Is there an actual drain on the tank, or do I just need to pull it off to get it completely empty?

That's kinda the spot I'm in. I really don't have any history on the car so don't want to jump in head first. My main question is there something in particular I should look for here at the beginning? A buddy of mine had an old V8 he was trying to bring back to life after it had set up for 20 plus years and he ended up bending some pushrods because several intake valves were gummed up and wouldn't move. Is there anything like that I should possibly be aware of before I throw a battery in it and start cranking? I figure I'll clean the fuel system first. Maybe try and clean out the Carter and then just see if it will crank and run. If it does then I can go through with a full rework of all the old systems.

Brought this baby home about two weeks ago. I've got it stashed in my barn for now, but hope to get started on it sometime this winter. It was actually under a "shed" and apparently under there for about 25 years. The last registration date was 1991. It has t-tops, a third eye headlight and a dirty but good condition interior. I'm not sure if the roll bar is a factory option or if the brush guard is factory. Jump seats are missing. The PO purchased it used at a dealership in 1986 and I'm thinking they may have removed them prior to selling it. I have his bill of sale and if the odo is working it looks like he drove it less than 4k after purchase. It's showing 98k now. PO son said they he never did drive it a lot that he had trouble with the carburetor. I haven't gone over it much other than giving it a quick pressure wash removing its 25 year protective coating. One rear was initially frozen up, but after winching it over pavement it freed up. The engine turns easily with a wrench. I did check under the air cleaner and it has the Carter single barrel carb so that may explain the PO carb issue. With no real history on the car what do you think the first steps should be? I can smell old gas in the tank but haven't seen any leaks so hopefully it's ok and will only need to be cleaned. http://s1300.photobucket.com/user/gntmkt/library/Brat