Have you tried blowing down the fuel line from the pump to the tank? Sometimes crud can form in the tank across the pipe and stop it flowing, or a build up in the pipe somewhere.

Mike

At college we were taught that if the pump has been put together properly if you operate the lever you should get a sort of "quacking" noise ( with no fuel in it). I remember it well!

Nick

Thanks Mike, I have blown the pipes through - pump to tank- no problem there.
Cheers
Michael

For the sake of completeness and to finish this topic....

A new fuel pump repair kit arrived yesterday from David/Matthew Beales, fitted and pump reinstalled in about and hour, we now have fuel pumping to carburettors and the car starts.

I have examined the old diaphragm and old valves (again) but can see nothing obvious... but there was air being drawn in somewhere.

All good now, thanks for everyone's advice and assistance. I'm off for a drive around the Mornington Peninsula this arvo.

Cheers
Michael

Michael,

Congrats !

Thanks for letting us know.

I had a similar problem with my Conquest New DHC that I hope to have resolved today:
The car stopped after a few hundred meters. Waiting and manually priming the pump helped to go for another 100 meters.
I dismantled the pump and fitted the refurbishment kit. Thereby installing the membrane at the same angle as it originally was. Unfortunately, the refurbished pump didn't pump enough fuel and all of sudden a click was heard and the pump didn't supply any fuel at all. So I dismantled the pump again and figured out that the membrane was not engaged properly. It was only turned by approx 45 to 60 degrees and also jumped out when I opened the pump. By pushing down and turning the membrane lever by 90 degrees it properly engaged and seems to work now.
Obviously the previous owner had not properly engaged the membrane. The car ran for many kilometers but maybe at some stage, the membare just became loose and the above mentioned problems began.
Two pictures attached: new orange membrane and old version with black membrane.

Best regards
Beat