I was using my Alpine as an everyday runner until it started to cut out every journey. The AA came out and cleaned the points and off I went again, this continued to get worse until the car was not starting. The car then lived in the garage for a while until I found time to work on it. To my suprise it started first time and ran like a dream. I got the car ready for the MOT and set off, the car died again and after leaving it alone for a while restarted. I replaced the points with electronic ignition, distributor cap, leads and plugs. The car then went off for its MOT. It passed but the car never made it home the same problem again. I have looked at several previous posts and looking at other peoples problems believed it to be fuel pump, coil or carbs. The garage looked at the car and their first opinion was fuel pump. I replaced it with a brand new old stock pump, but still have the same problem. Could the fault be the cam, so do I need an electric pump or am I looking in the wrong area. Any help would be gratefully recieved.

I would be looking in the fuel tanks. Modern fuels have the dubious task of stripping off the paint inside the tanks and blocking the fuel lines/carb with very a fine black powder. I am running a fuel filter that is recommended for fuel injection as it filters the fuel down to a finer level than normal fuel filters.

Have you replaced the coil yet? They can break down when hot, worth ruling out this before going on to anything more complex.

Do you have an electronic tacho? If this cuts out at the same time as the engine dies it would indicate an electrical fault.

I had exactly this problem on the way back from the National. The fine brass mesh filter in the fuel pump was blocked with sediment from the petrol tanks. Some fuel was getting through - enough for the car to tick over and run for a short distance but not enough to keep going. The filter in your new pump could have become blocked in the same way.

Steve

Thanks for the help. I have ordered a flamethrower coil to take this out of the equation. I think this weekends task will be take the tank off and flush it out. Can anyone recommend a sealer for the tank, I have read about ceramic sealers to prevent this problem from reoccuring. Is it worth me replacing the fuel lines at the same time?

I used the POR 15 stuff that Frost's sell, and it is OK so far. I blew out the long plastic pipe with a foot pump from the front, with the rear disconnected. Shouldn't be necessary to do any more than that.
It was only the tank paint in my car that was flaking, the cross pipes were fine.

Thanks. Looked at the Frosts POR 15, do I need the marine clean, metal ready and the fuel preservative, or are these just the normal add ons. Any advice on how to get best results on sealing the tank?

I didn't use any of the other products, but 'metal ready' might be good. I had bright shiny steel because something (Valvemaster? modern fuel?) just lifted the paint in flakes.
See Alpine Horn from last year on cleaning, but putting in gravel or a length of chain and shaking the tank is good but hard work. Gravel and a pressure washer is easier.
I dried mine by putting them together at the sender/filler holes, applying a vacuum cleaner to one outlet, and a hot air gun to the other.
The sealer is funny stuff. Pour it in and turn the tank over and over to cover everything. Goes on very thin - you won't use even half a tin on both tanks and cross tubes. But it seems to stay put. I didn't have any holes to seal.

I have found a radiator repair company in South London that will dip your petrol tank in chemicals to remove all the dirt, rust and old paint and then seal it internally and paint it externally to as new condition. There was more than one in the local Yellow Pages, so there are probably plenty of other firms about the country offering a similar service.

It's not so cheap as doing it yourself, but I didn't fancy messing about with chemicals etc. at home, and it looked as if it would take a whole weekend to go through the different stages of the Frost kit. I also thought shaking a steel tank full of stones or chain was likely to make me a tad unpopular with my other half and my neighbours!

As soon as I get the time, I will remove the tanks and take them in to the repair company.

Steve