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Electric fuel pump


Doug&Deb

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I ditched the mechanical pump and run a big 6V Carter electric full time. I like it and it has worked flawlessly for over 4 years in my daily driver 52 B-3-C. When I was building my truck I read a posting here about a member who had a recently rebuilt engine suffer diluted oil seizure because his mechanical pump had a partial failure into the crankcase while on a trip. That episode while extreme really resonated with my way of thinking about these old cars and trucks. After all I was building this truck to be as rock solid reliable as I could. I wanted to eliminate any chance of this happening with my build.

The electric pump was mounted very near the tank with a large inline fuel filter just ahead of it. Lack of pre-filtration is the number one cause of failure for this type of pump. I blanked off the original pump mount. I also installed a Holley fuel pressure regulator and another sealed canister filter just ahead of the carb. This set up while not original...... has worked out great. If you are someone who wants to really use your vintage vehicle without constant worry I think this is the way to go.

Jeff

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Jeff, From the description of your installation you did a proper job.When I installed the electric pump on my Lincoln it was to prime the Holley 4 barrel for ease of starting as the mechanical fuel pump was working fine. If I was to install an electric fuel pump today I would probably  do as you have done. As I mentioned on another thread, I was on a trip with a few friends years ago and we stopped for lunch,one of them opened the hood of his car and gasoline was visibly "boiling" in the fuel bowl at the carbueretors,(he was driving a 1956 Cadillac with dual quads) It looked like trouble and that probably had some bearing on my decision to use the electric fuel pump solely for priming.With today's gasoline,who knows what the boiling point is,(I'm no expert)...This is a picture of a 1956 Cadillac engine with dual quads...

603177627_1956Cadillacdualquad.jpg.5220e1109b4cad33542294b5f71cbd99.jpg

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Thanks T 120. It has worked just fine. I do think the addition of the pressure regulator is a must when using a pump like the one I am using. I have never had a situation when I could not get it to start. And it does get very hot here.

These new fuel formulas are a problem for a lot of older vehicles. I have a buddy who is a true master mechanic. He see's it with all of his customers who have older vehicles. And especially with the ones that do not get driven on a daily basis. This week it was a very nice 240Z that sits for a week or two at a time. Then it is about impossible to get it started without wearing the battery down. The fuel just evaporates out of the carbs in that amount of time. That didn't used to happen. And it even happens with newer vehicles. Let um set and find out.

To help prevent some of this I keep my fuel well dosed with MMO. This seems to work and is cheap insurance.

Jeff

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  • 11 months later...
On 4/23/2019 at 9:35 AM, pflaming said:

I use a pump from Gast, works great. Since it is mounted to the frame I have it mounted on a rubber cushion. I too have a filter preceding the pump. I also have a safety dis connect via engine oil pressure, if engine kills due to accident, the pump shuts down. I got the method from Don .Coatney. 

I realize this is a year old thread, but I am very interested in installing an electric fuel pump on my 52 Cranbrook. Curious as to the safety disconnect using the oil switch. The fuel pump will not operate until oil pressure is present, which may take a few seconds on cold start, which defeats the purpose of the electric pump. Maybe I'm over thinking it???

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I used a relay. Some relays have a normaly closed contact as well as a normaly open. The key switch provides power. The N.C contact allows the pump to run. The car starts and builds oil pressure at the pressure switch.The pressure switch closes. The relay trips over, the N.C. contact opens and the fuel pump shuts off. Sorry if its a bit hard to understand. If you need I could provide a schematic.

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Another alternative, which I prefer, is an inertia switch.  These are used by Ford and others.  Pump power is routed through a switch which is normally closed, but in the event of an accident impact the force opens the switch.  So, even if the engine is still running after an impact, the fuel is cut off.  If you're at a U-pull yard, these are normally located in front of the passenger door behind the kick panel. 

 

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9 hours ago, DJK said:

I realize this is a year old thread, but I am very interested in installing an electric fuel pump on my 52 Cranbrook. Curious as to the safety disconnect using the oil switch. The fuel pump will not operate until oil pressure is present, which may take a few seconds on cold start, which defeats the purpose of the electric pump. Maybe I'm over thinking it???

 

You can easily wire a primer momentary push button switch in parallel to the oil switch. This will allow the carb to be primed, especially after a long rest without running.

 

Most of the time you won't need to use it because there would be enough fuel in the carb to run the engine until oil pressure builds up.

Edited by maok
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5 minutes ago, maok said:

 

You can easily wire a primer momentary push button switch in parallel to the oil switch. This will allow the carb to be primed, especially after a long rest without running.

 

Most of the time you won't need to use it because there would be enough fuel in the carb to run the engine until oil pressure builds up.

My plan is to completely eliminate the manual pump.

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5 hours ago, DJK said:

My plan is to completely eliminate the manual pump.

Yes, I was referring to when you wire up an electric fuel pump with the oil pressure switch for safety

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The reason for the inertia switch I mentioned in an earlier post is this:  I've seen more than one wrecked car burned to a crisp after a collision that did not kill the engine immediately.  Car disabled, engine idling, driver disoriented, pump running.  Oil pressure cutoff useless in that condition.  An inertia switch would have saved it.  My grandson had that happen to his Ford pickup 17 years ago.   engine ran for a minute or so after the fuel line broke from the engine bouncing up.   It was a really nice Ford, bumper to bumper fiberglass running board/fender flairs etc.  Nothing left but ashes and rusty metal. 

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