For various reasons( my old camino got smashed by a tree, and I found a shell to do an engine swap, had some title issues to work out, and the shop dragged their feet on getting it done due to staffing issues) and now the shop has told me
A. they are done swapping the engine(woo!) and it runs with starting spray but
B. They think I need a new fuel pump.

Now I'm more of the opinion that the carb is probably gummed up.

While I have no problem replacing the fuel pump, I'd rather not if it is just a clogged carb. Any opinions or thoughts beyond my current plan of spraying the carb throughly with carb cleaner , changing the fuel filter and adding some sea foam to the gas?

Assuming everything but your old (and running) engine is part of the donor car, you might want to start off checking the back end of the fuel system. That is, is the gas tank full of good gasoline, or was it sitting for a while and the fuel has turned to muck with other stuff in the tank? Try draining and flushing the tank anyway if you don't know the history of the donor car. Second, are the fuel lines clogged or pinched to prevent flow, or have a large air bubble in it from sitting empty for a long time? Try the drain plug on the tank so see what if anything comes out. If its not totally junked up, put in a jug of cheap gas. Then disconnect the inlet to your (supposedly good) fuel pump to see if anything comes thru the line to the pump. I'd be willing to bet there's not flow there and your fuel pump is OK. Tedious work, but not expensive, before you replace parts that don't need to come out. Let us know how you make out in these first steps. Good luck!

you can run a gas line from a can to the intake side of the pump and turn it over (with the outlet side off if you want) just to check the pump.

you can run a gas line from a can to the intake side of the pump and turn it over (with the outlet side off if you want) just to check the pump.

I did, and it worked just fine, then I detached the fuel line from the gas tank and put it in a 1 gallon temp tank and the car starts and runs, so I think I can now say that the pump is fine and the issues were due to stale gas.

The rough sound and smoke of it starting up was music to my ears... ( the exhaust system isn't hooked up to the mufflers yet.

I dont think your carb is gummed up, If it only sat for five months

Mine sat for over 7 years and then started up after some coaxing. Smoked a big cloud and smelled like crap, but it ran.

Do u have any updates? :dontknow: