OK, I put in the new mechanical fuel pump today. It wasn't very hard to access it once the fuel filter and two coolant hoses were removed.
The "bent hacksaw blade" trick worked great to postion the pushrod.
There were two "problem areas" that showed up during installation.
One, the old fuel pump (likely the original 1981) was made of steel (built like a tank) and the mounting flange was 5/16" thick. The new Carter pump is made of cast aluminum with a much thicker mounting flange (11/16"). The original mounting bolts didn't reach anymore. I went home and found some longer bolts and installed the pump.
The other problem is the fuel line connections. The old pump had both in and out at the same level. The new pump has one port lower than the other. The steel fuel line from the filter to the pump no longer reaches. Do I need to keep this line a hard line or can I cut the existing hard line and insert a piece of fuel hose? Also, does anyone know which port on the Carter pump is in and which is out? I could research it online but I was hoping someone would know and save me some searching.
Someone had previously mentioned that the line from the fuel pump to the carb should be a hard line and I said it was. However, looking at it closer today, there is hard line exiting the fuel pump and a hard line at the carb. However, the hard line stops at the intake manifold area and there is a hose inline with it along with a small fuel filter, hose again, and finally back to a hard line to the carb. Is this bad?
Thanks
Steve