Cleaning gas filter on original 216 cid

[daveboy]

Still learning my '52 half-ton with the original 216. Today, I thought I would remove the glass bowl on the fuel pump and clean the screen filter. I broke the seal on the bowl and I knew that a few spoonsful of gas would leak out until the bowl was empty. But, it just kept coming and the level of gas in the bowl never dropped, so I tightened it back up. I was under the impression that the pump pumped gas into the glass bowl, but maybe it is gravity flow from the tank. If it is fed by gravity, then do you have to disconnect the line, cap it, and then remove the bowl? Seems like a lot of trouble to clean a filter.

I probably lost a cup of gas and never saw the level inside the bowl drop. Am I missing something here?

daveboy