Ran out of gas...Now what?...does fuel line need bleeding?

I have a Vintage speedster and I ran out of gas...ugh...Anyway, I was thinking that I would fill her up and be back in business but not this time...I put about 4 gallons back in the tank but no go. It was turning over fine but never starting unless I poored a little gas down the carbs in which case it would start right up and run for a few seconds and then die. Do I need to bleed the fuel line? Any other tricks someone might no because otherwise, i'm looking at a tow to the mechanic and a bill there too for what should be an easy fix...It has dual Weber carbs fyi...

-Casey
cmcheyne@comcast.net

Are you dead sure you ran out of fuel? One possibilty is that you may have a fuel blockage/problem that made you think you ran out of fuel. You shouldn't need to bleed anything if your tank pickup is operational, fuel pump is working and fuel filters are passing fuel.

No bleeding needed --- but how old is Speedie and its gas tank? Could have sucked up rust/varnish crud that settled in the bottom of tank. Originally the OEM VW tank had a sock screen at the outlet (in the tank). That could be cloughed. Do you have fuel filter under tank (preferred location) or in back? Swap it out with new one. When you take off the line from tank, gas should run out so have vise grips and rag to halt flow. If no flow - force air back thru line into the gas tank (air compressor better than blowing on it - ugh). If NO filters - you will learn how to remove and clean Weber jets.

clogged filters or pinched fuel line, start at tank filter and work ur way back.

just a thought, might be fuel pump too

Remove the fuel line to one of the carburetors and place that line into a container. Crank the engine for about 20 seconds and see if fuel poured into the container. If it didn't then you either have a clog in the tank, filter, fuel line or a bad fuel pump.

Thanks guys...I will try these various suggestions...