Pressure between carb and fuel filter

Cold start, I have pressure between carb and fuel filter. Not able to prime by pushing gas pedal. If I unplug the carb end of the fuel filter, it's very pressurized and I usually drain the gas into the carb to prime it. The inlet valve (red arrow) into the carb is fairly new, i'm thinking this piece could be the culprit. Anyone have this issue?

Isnt that just a fitting to adapt the fuel line to the carb,,,,,,,,are you saying you dont see the accelerator pump squirt down the carb when you pump the gas pedal,,,,,,,and does it start when you prime it,,,,,did this just happen or is that how you normally start this Ford,,,,,dont it start with the choke on,,,,,,,,has  that carb been rebuilt lately?

The accelerator doesn't squirt gas when its cold. It only squirts gas after it's running. I have to prime it manually and it starts up no problem. There's no choke on the van and it used to start cold no problem with a couple pumps of the accelerator.

The inlet valve piece (similar to the picture) was recently replaced by someone else after I had the engine rebuilt because the plastic cap on the end cracked (not pictured) and it would flood the carb. There may be other reasons to why the carb was flooding, but I don't have that info so I'm trying to work backwards.

well, none of that sounds right to me,,,,,,what carb is that,,,,,accelerator pump should always work when you step on the gas pedal,,,,that fitting above looks like a fuel inlet valve operated by the float arm,,,,,is there a ball on the end of your fitting,or does it let gas go straight through,,,,,maybe its some kind of a back drain valve from a hot rod,,,,,,,

That looks like some kind of backwards check valve. I'm not familiar with the Holley replacements carbs, which is what I think you have there, maybe a 1940. You might want to rebuild that carb, it wouldn't be the first carb to be rebuilt wrong by the rebuilders. The 1100 on my 170 was purchased by my friend, the previous owner, from the auto parts store and when I rebuilt it b/c of running problems I found a couple of serious errors in the rebuild. It was missing a check weight I had to make, and it was missing a check ball in a different circuit.

https://www.carburetor-parts.com/1940-Starving-for-Fuel_ep_662.html

https://www.carburetor-parts.com/Holley-1940-Technical_ep_343.html

without a choke or working accelerator pump, you are going to have a hard time starting that engine,,,,,,,probably spraying some carb cleaner down the carb to get it to start is the easy solution,,,,,,but step by step,,,,keep asking and answering questions and we will get you fixed up,,,,,,thats what we are here for,,,,,,,,

Great, thanks guys. Running low on time nowadays. Gonna try to check it out tonight.

Saw that I left this unanswered. Inlet valve was fine. Ended up needing a carb rebuild.