A was for Austin, but now B is for Bedford

Could there be something in the tank that blocks the suction? That happened to me in a truck years ago , took ages to work it out. The previous owner had dropped a piece of hose in the tank and it had eventually perished  causing the problem.

Thanks fellas, I reckon grumpy gumpy is on the right wagon myself. However it will have to wait for a while yet as wife wanted to know when the caravan was going to be allowed back into the high roof shed!?  

This was sort of accomplished over two weeks as B for needed to go into the roller doored shed (ex carport) alongside the caravans shed. 
 
Unfortunately the "spare" D Type Bedford was in there loaded with surplus metal tubing, spares, and accumulated items from the other D Type that I flipped over for the engine and gearbox removal. 

Then of course the "spare" had to be shifted (pushed) into the main shed that has a low roller door height which required changing the front wheels to bare rims so that the cab would go through . . .
 
 
. . . all done but now I'm steadily working on repositioning the materials that had to be moved to accomplish it all! 

I think I've said it before . . . no rush.  

PS:  Late addition as oliver1950's comment wasn't there when I started replying; I had also considered this, dropping the tank completely to check depth & clearance down through the pickup tube. While it was out I flushed the tank (again) and replaced the fuel gauge sender unit (rusted solid and with no float attached). Believe me I have spent much time trying to solve this latest issue.  

Hi PDU,
I reckon it would be worth going for another test drive with everything as is/how you last used it.  Go somewhere very quiet though, so that if the engine stops again you are not a hazard on the road.
I wouldn't worry about testing on a hill, or anything specific like stop/start etc., just keep driving until the engine stops.  If it hasn't stopped within 5 miles, turn around and head for home again, so that you are not 9 miles from home when it does stop.
Then, rather than trying to restart it, or roll the truck off the road into a gateway, or checking for fuel supply at certain points along the line,  be prepared to jump straight out and check for spark in the immediate seconds after the engine stopped.  Maybe that means carrying a spare spark plug in your top pocket (instead of spending time removing a plug from the engine), to simply swap onto a plug lead, lean in and press the starter, and watch for spark.
I think it would be well worth proving whether you actually have spark or not, at the moment of failure.  It may be that previously while you were reversing the truck back down the hill and turning it around, or working to re-route a fuel line, or bypassing a pump, an electrical fault in the ignition system has had time to cool down just enough to work again, however feebly, to get you back home.  That same fault may not show up home in the shed when everything is cold, and the spark appears good on initial test.

Brett.

 

You would think if it's an air leak in the line the fuel in the bowl should keep it running. Vapour locks are possible but rare on just a hot day, it needs to be very hot. Electrics can be confusing the issue n makes it seem like a fuel issue  
Is there dirt in the tank n pick up line clear? A gravity fuel tank is a good idea to bypass some possible causes. 

Yes I agree it could be electrical, and have experienced this on other cars I have owned.

However, along the way I had seen small air bubbles in the mechanical fuel pump glass bowl, which seems the most obvious place to start. Hence my trial and error approach checking fuel lines and using alternative mechanical pumps and/or bypassing it altogether. 

One of my next moves is to connect the second fuel tank and run that through an electric pump straight to the carburettor. Shades of the small second gravity feed tank suggested (used several times before I was twenty years old to get some dubious but cheap cars home).   

Meanwhile I must point out it was 38 degrees on my last attempt up that hill. This is why the side covers were off the engine bay in the pictures that I will add in a few minutes to my previous posts to clarify what I was talking about.  

Another possibility could it be a little hole or split partway up the pickup pipe and when the level in the tank gets below it it picks up air maybe going up the hill changed the level and exposed the hole on the flat with enough revs up it might still pick up enough fuel to keep going usually if there’s an external leak you will see a weep when you shut down and stop pumping
But as the others have said electrics can do sum strange things that look like fuel and being pommy bred Swishy would tell you your probably dealing with Lucas the Prince of Darkness

Cheers Bluey

I had the same problem on my C1 and went over everything twice looking for the cause of it, in the end it was vapourising the petrol. The heat shield between the exhaust manifold and the fuel pump was missing so it was a guess, luckily I have an original parts book that shows a heat shield. I also made up a heat shield between the exhaust pipe and the fuel line in the chassis rail, see pic.
When it was playing up I made a 1 litre fuel tank that hung in the engine bay to get me home and it ran perfect like that.
Air bubbles in the fuel pump bowl is a poor seal on the glass bowl.
Did anyone suggest the fuel tank vent?


 

Southbound wrote:

I had the same problem on my C1 and went over everything twice looking for the cause of it, in the end it was vapourising the petrol. The heat shield between the exhaust manifold and the fuel pump was missing so it was a guess, luckily I have an original parts book that shows a heat shield. I also made up a heat shield between the exhaust pipe and the fuel line in the chassis rail, see pic.
When it was playing up I made a 1 litre fuel tank that hung in the engine bay to get me home and it ran perfect like that.
Air bubbles in the fuel pump bowl is a poor seal on the glass bowl.
Did anyone suggest the fuel tank vent?


 

 

If your pump can pick up the fuel through the filter, rather than push, then I would be relocating the filter to before the pump. Keeps the crud in the tank from getting in the pump and having a small explosive device in the engine bay. 

FWIW 1950’s Fords had a fine brass gauze at the carburettor inlet. When partly blocked, caused cutting out when under higher load, like uphill.
Hope you find the cause soon PDU.

Nice clear picture Southbound, nice clean filter too. My filter was between electric pump and mechanical pump; when all remounted again it will be before the electric and then into the mechanical pump, IF I persist with that(?). 

Also: So do I Paul. Not this weekend though, maybe next week sometime . . . ?