electric fuel pump

[dagenham]

I am giving serious thought to installing an electric fuel pump on my stock '66 200 in my mustang to get rid of the vaporlock problem. Does anyone have a setup on their car and how many psi does the old autolite 1100 carb need??(I'm asking this question because it is late and I dont feel like going to the garage to look in the manual)
Should I put a regulator on to keep it from flooding or wont that be an issue???
I was looking at a mr gasket pump that puts out 4-7psi.
Does anyone have just an electric pump and completely by-passed the mechanical one??

 

[Shrinkdude]

I have a Holley blue which is kinda loud at times. I have it regulated down to about 5-6psi which I mounted the regulator right where the mechanical was on the block. Somehow the bracket was a perfect fit there.
I am running an Carter rbs with mine with no flooding problems.

 

[LaGrasta]

I have an in-line pump, about $20, that runs at about 7-9psi unregulated. It's been on my car for about 30k miles with not one problem. I replaced the fuel filter once at about 25k.
I used a chevy block off plate for the mechanical.

 

[addo]

In response to the originally posed situation - what gives confidence that another means of creating fuel pressure will alleviate vapour generation?

Are you running the water lines in your carb spacer?

 

[falcon60]

I've found that the typical problem with "vapor lock" is fuel boiling/expanding in the line between the fuel pump and the carb. Since the pump (mechanical) has a check valve,the fuel can't flow back through it so it takes the path of least resistance.....it forces the needle off the seat in the carb and floods the bowl. The coolant passage in the carb spacer does little to alleviate the problem,so here is what I did to cure it:
Right before the carb I installed a "T" fitting in the fuel line.One leg of the "T" has an .050" orifice soldered in and this leg connects to a 1/4" return line that runs all the way back to the fuel tank filler neck where it dumps back into the tank. Not only does this cure the vapor problem during "hot soak" conditions with the engine off but it also ensures cooler fuel at the carb at all times.It has completely cured the fairly severe problems I was having here in KS with temps over 100F and crappy fuel.

 

[Thad]

It is an old remedy , misunderstood so often mis-applied
If the vapor is on the inlet side of the mechanical pump it can't pull enough gasoline to displace the vapor.

An electric pump mounted close to or at the fuel tank is operating with liquid and can displace the vapor block. To really be a remedy it must be in that position.

 

[65coupei6]

dagenham: I had the vapor lock problem every year when I went to Reno, NV for Hot August Nights. With 90-105 degree weather & 5,000 cars trying to get around all week my engine would "vapor lock"

To help cure the situation I bought some fuel line insulation and wrapped the line from the mech. pump to the carb. This helped but looked ugly.

Second year, a cheap carter electric pump was installed at the tank as a helper for the mech pump. I used it only up in Reno. But, it was loud. ( I think Mustang Geezer uses a helper electric with the mech pump?)

Third year, I was looking at a stock photo of an OZ 250 engine and noticed a little canister near the mech. fuel pump. After speaking with Addo, he told me it was probably used to help with vapor lock. So, I went and purhcased this:

http://www.autozone.com/images/cds/gif/ ... 05150b.gif

It is a Mopar fuel filter with a vapor return. I installed the filter between the mech pump and carb. The return line does not have to go back to the tank. I just installed a "T" in the fuel line BEFORE the mech. pump.

I can take a picture of the install if it will help. Since the installation of this filter all is well.

 

[addo]

Yes, like the water jacket on a 2V manifold, it's one of those details where the common market frequently can't follow a designer's logic.

I think a return style regulator is better, but it's appreciably dearer and more involved. I've watched the pressure gauge on a non return regulator and while it's fairly predictable - it's not rock solid.

Fitting an over-duty pump is another mistake; it will just waste effort pushing harder against any regulator unless you tame its internal bypass spring.

 

[ludwig]

I personally have never had vapor lock or boiling or whatever and I did NOT reconnect the heater hoses to the carb spacer/heater plate. We always mention that the heater plate was intended to prevent carb icing in cold climates. However, in the hot season, it also establishes an upper limit of the heat migrating to the carb and it helps bar heat soak.

 

[page62]

I've had carb boiling. The solution was to hook up the coolant lines to the carb base.

Not only does the coolant serve to heat up the carb quickly, it also controls the upper limits of the temperature range -- keeping it within certain parameters -- and prevents the carb from boiling. Haven't had a problem since I did it. And it's always HOT in South Texas!

 

[dagenham]

Addo, yes I have the carb spacer on the car with the heater lines running thru it. The stock air cleaner actually gets so hot that I cant even touch it when this problem occurs.

 

[fordconvert]

Addo, yes I have the carb spacer on the car with the heater lines running thru it. The stock air cleaner actually gets so hot that I cant even touch it when this problem occurs.

Thats hot. Even if you can keep pushing fuel into the bowl I bet its just going to boil again. Thats going to be a lot of fuel vapor floating around.

I have in some cases had great success just popping the hood to the safety catch. That 1" gap is enough to let a lot of heat out. On my cadillac that would not even start hot on a cool day I ended up putting in an electric fan on a mechanical bathroom type timer and letting it run for about 10mins when I shut it down hot. 99% of the time that was enough. I think cost was less than $50. EFI also solved the problem.

 

[page62]

Addo, yes I have the carb spacer on the car with the heater lines running thru it. The stock air cleaner actually gets so hot that I cant even touch it when this problem occurs.

That is odd. Are you sure you don't have some sort of cooling problem?