Fuel pump flange - help!

[scoobyman]

Hi all, need some help. Was having problems of not enough fuel getting to engine. (T25, 1.9 petrol, 1985) Decided to change pump and pushrod. Also read that the fuel pump flange/insulator block may be restricting movement of pushrod, and to take this out and sand it down a bit. So I tried to remove it... And it broke. Half is left in the block. I have delicately tried to free it, but it is stuck fast and am afraid it is going to shatter in the block if I apply any force. Any advice? As a last resort, do you think I could put the top bit back and drive 5 miles to my garage (I am in south London) without the thing disintegrating into the engine?
Also - to top it all - the new fuel pump I bought has a slightly large inlet pipe that the one i took off. Nightmare day... thanks in advance. Chris

[Ralf85]

Do you actually mean a carburettor flange? If that is the case I would check to see if you can find a replacement before you drive anywhere. Mine was seriously cracked. Nobody had them in stock and I found out from Brickwerks that nobody was making replacements. I tracked a new one down in France for nearly three times the price that Brickwerks (out of stock) quote on their website. Good luck!

There is one on ebay!

[CovKid]

Well as he said fuel pump, I think not. I know what he means - the remnants of the bakerlite are well and truly wedged and he can't get out whats left. Been there. I think I had to get out as much as I could, break up what was left then turn the engine over by hand and on the starter to make sure nothing was fouling the crank/cam then drain the oil and get out the bits. Other than that its an engine disassembly but as its not as tough as the engine internals, I suspect that the remaining bits will just fall to the bottom of the sump or munched. They might block an oilway but it didn't in my case and a few oil changes removed the debris. Tough one though. You might be able to use a stud extractor to pull up the remaining piece but you'll need to go steady or it will just crack whats left.

[itchyfeet]

This bit

Get a pic up of how yours is broken

[bigherb]

It not an unknown problem. Generally it is best to try to remove them with the engine hot the ally block usually expands more than the bakerlite. The most success I have in removing a broken one is to tap a thread into the bakerlite where the push rod goes and then screw a stud in with a large washer and nut at the top then turn the nut to pull the piece out.

[CovKid]

Now thats clever! God forbid I ever have the misfortune to have to remove one again but thats a good solution.