Fuel pump (pumps?) drain back?

[Fester1169]

Hey folks 67yr old time mechanic/hotroder, but nube here, great forum already solved my why running so cool question without me even asking.
After seeing a video of a 400k Festiva, and another one of some kids trying very hard to blow one up that took from afternoon till the next morning with a brick on the gas pedal before one of the rods finally escaped. I bought a 315k mile 4 speed 89 Festiva L, not one tear in upholstery, tiny lifter noise, a little clunky right front something, sloppy shifter linkage, weak accelerator pump, nothing big, I'm sure it'll go over 400k (500k?) and look good doing it when I'm done. (photos soon)
The only real daily driver issue is, the longer it sits the longer it takes to start (to get fuel back to the carb?). I was of course thinking fuel pump. A search for: 1989 Ford Festiva fuel pump gets mixed results. Some show electric in tank, and some show mechanical. I see a mechanical on the head, please don't tell me there's another one in the tank, and please tell me it's a simple in-line check valve or something. (You know sorta like the tons of them in-line with the miles of vacuum lines, much resembling that of a loaded 69 Fleetwood Brougham. :shock: )
Any Ideas?

Fester

[Team Lightning]

89 Carby should only have the mechanical one. EFI's have one in the tank. I'd check the float level in the carb as a starting point.
Oh, the tank pump is easy to get access to. There is an access hole under the back seat. Pull the carpet back and it's about the middle of seat.

[bhazard]

The automatic cars were EFI and that's where you're getting your in tank results from.

[Fester1169]

Hey thanks folks for the timely response.
I'm thinking pump and carb rebuild kit, maybe go to Weber or Holley. I've read that would eliminate the "vacuum line jungle" syndrome, but I don't know what it would do to the mileage.

Quiz: If there is only a tiny bit of rust in only one place on a 89 Festiva, where is it likely to be...

[WmWatt]

User manual says to pump gas pedal 3 times then hold half way down while cranking engine. I drive mine 1-2 times a week and after sitting for a few days have to pump gas pedal a few times to get it to fire up Don't know why. Rubber hose upstream of fuel filtre low on fire wall can collapse with age. People put longer hose there with more gradual bend. My replacement is long enough to loop before entering filtre.

Re rust: front of rear wheel well where fender meets body. they fill it with sound deadening foam which traps moisture. can spray inside with oil by removing rear light panel on plastic liner.
less so bottom of front fender where bolted to body. front fender can be removed fairly easily before rust get's bad, cleaned up and painted.

Yeah, nice car. Simple. Good luck with yours.