[DeTomaso] npc fuel-line cleaning question

[Charles McCall]

Chris - 
Don't know what carb the mini runs, but the construction should be fairly
standard. 

I wouldn't assume that the big, wide, gas line would be plugged by rust, I
would assume that small orifices like the jets in the carb would be the
first thing to be plugged by gunk. 

I have to wonder if you are cleaning the right part of the system?

-----Original Message-----
From: DeTomaso [mailto:detomaso-bounces at poca.com] On Behalf Of Christopher
Kimball
Sent: domingo, 10 de abril de 2016 20:32
To: Pantera list serve
Subject: [DeTomaso] npc fuel-line cleaning question

Hi folks,
My son has as 1991 Mini with a 1275 motor and a regular carb.  I'm guessing
it has a regular, mechanical fuel pump, too.
The gas tank got rusty, and while it is out of the car getting de-rusted, a
mechanic friend of mine said I should get some carb leaner and clean out the
"tubes."  I gathered he meant the pipe going between the gas tank in the
trunk and the carb in the engine compartment.
I went to the store and got a spray can of carb cleaner, put a bucket in the
trunk with the gas line going into it to catch the flow,  and hooked the
spray can to the hose that I disconnected from the carb at the front of the
car.
I sealed the end of the hose in the engine compartment to the spray can with
duct tape and pushed the button.  Sure enough, all kinds of brown,
rusty-looking fluid flowed into the bucket in the trunk, demonstrating there
was gunk in the system.
Here's my question, though.  I got to thinking about it, and not being much
of a mechanic, I began to wonder if I might have damaged the fuel pump.  Is
it OK to flow carb cleaner backward through the system?  I'd hate to get the
whole thing reassembled only to find that by spraying the carb cleaner
through the fuel pump in the opposite direction of its normal flow I had
somehow messed something up.
Or am I just being paranoid?

Thanks for your help!
Chris