(My conversation with another guy trying to help me...might be of use to the next person)
I replaced all the fuel lines after finding several little holes, but I guess 31 years is decent service life. I installed a clear hose from the fuel pump to the carb. I can get very little gas to exit the fuel pump no matter how tightly I pump the bulb. The tank fuel line is new also and pumps gas well.
Ok. I am very green at this but this was my thought process for landing on the fuel pump as the problem. I get very little fuel outflow from the pump even when pumping up the bulb. The fuel line from the pump to the carb is clear and I can see big air bubbles in the line that I can't pump out with the bulb. I am getting very tiny spurts...very small... through the pump but, even so, I managed to flood the engine so badly that the top of my barrel changed color with fuel and oil when I tried to start it. I assumed (Yeah, I know what that means) that I was forcing fuel from the pump into the crank case and flooding it. Does that make any sense?
I had to let the motor sit for about 45 minutes with the plugs out for the fuel to evaporate. Then it started up and ran pretty good...good enough that I was attempting to adjust the idle when I noticed the gas emptying from the fuel line and tried to pump the bulb back up... to no avail. The bulb was still reasonably firm and only tiny little spurts were coming out of the pump with each squeeze and none before I tried squeezing the bulb. Maybe there is a filter incorporated into the pump and it is clogged.... I donno.
Does this shed any light on what might be the issue if not the fuel pump?
This is the gas inlet from the tank. Like you told me kimcrwbr1, it is an inline filter. I could blow through it but it is obviously very restricted. It is currently in an acetone bath like you instructed.
I think this is an even bigger issue. No wonder I was flooding the crankcase.