need help with vortech 350 in an 81 malibu fuel Issue?

[malibuya]

just picked up an 81 malibu with a 2000 vortech 5.7l in it that has an edelbrock 1406 600 cfm carb
air gap intake, headers long tubes, true duals, billet vacuum distributor with new plugs and wires

The car ran perfect when i run it home clean no leaks real simple set up

It also has an electric fuel pump that i think is the issue

It is mounted by the tank and I now have it directly wired to the battery
I can hear the pump running checked it got 12.6 volts to it
but I pull the hose from the carb and it doesnt have any gas coming out, there is gas in the tank bout 1/2 full
removed the front fuel filter and still just drips out very slow

any help is appreciated

 

[Possumz]

Are you able to get any fuel from the outlet side of the pump. Right at the pump to verify pressure and does it have a regulator for the pressure as well. I use 6psi on an old holley blue. Another thing is what type of pump is it. Also to verify your pump is actually moving fuel disconnect the inlet and run a line into a fresh can of gas to see if it will pump it that way as well to make sure the pickup in the tank is not clogged up with some trash. Sorry to bore you with all the details but the simple checks will work. Been there. Hope it all works out and it sounds like a sweet deal. Got any picks to post.

 

[malibuya]

i screwed with this for a while today and finally figured it out, the tank was near empty but the gauge was reading half full, put 6 gallons in works perfect but gauge now reads 3/4 tank

 

[othtim]

Is the float arm bent? I put an electric in-tank pump in my dads 88 pickup (origannly carb'd). I bent the float arm while installing, and now it always reads a bit *lower* on the gauge than whats actually in the tank. Maybe check your float arm.
Also, is it an aftermarket gauge or stock gauge?

 

[axisg]

LOL glad you got it sorted out. Could be the float in the tank giving you grief or even a bad ground. That reminds me of the time I spent 3 days in the winter changing fuel filters and the fuel pump only to discover the car was out of gas. Turned out the ground wire to the float/sender had corroded really bad. It was showing 1/2 tank when it was really empty.

 

[malibuya]

the ground on the strap of the fuel tank, hmmm let me try that first
any way to test the wiring

 

[malibuya]

Is the float arm bent? I put an electric in-tank pump in my dads 88 pickup (origannly carb'd). I bent the float arm while installing, and now it always reads a bit *lower* on the gauge than whats actually in the tank. Maybe check your float arm.
Also, is it an aftermarket gauge or stock gauge?

factory guage for now

 

[axisg]

the ground on the strap of the fuel tank, hmmm let me try that first
any way to test the wiring

Not really, it's just a PIA to drop the tank just to spend 10 minutes to clean the terminals then trace back the ground and clean that end. After 25+ years they are bound to lose their contact sometimes. Even after I fixed the problem I would only drive 300kms and fill up because I never trusted the guage after that !!