Scary Stuff

[midnight sun]

Attended a local car show yesterday with my 31 coupe and on the way back home I started getting a very strong smell of gas.  It wasnt very far from my home so I continued on.  In hind sight this was very stupid.  When I got home I shut off the car and opened the hood and found gasoline sitting in all of the indentations of the intake manifold.  It had been running along the top of the valve cover and then toward the back of the engine, down over the transmission housing and around the exhaust pipe.  I cleaned it all up and then had my wife come out and start the car again so I could see where it was coming from.  As soon as she started it gas started spewing out of the fuel pressure regulator.  It is a Mr. Gasket 9710 (round) and is adjustable.  The gas was coming out where the regulator is screwed together.  I am convinced that God was protecting me as I could have been a human torch because of this.  I had installed a Mr. Gasket electric fuel pump some time back because of vapor lock problems (which it cured) and was told by someone that I should also install a regulator.  My question is, does an electric fuel pump necessarily require a fuel pressure regulator?  The pump is advertised as 4-7 pounds.  The manual pump is still installed and functional and the electric is a flow through model  Thanks in advance and ya'all be careful out there.

[58 Yeoman]

That happened to me also, with a Mr. Gasket, on my '58 with Edlebrock carb.   I was told to install a reg to drop the fuel pressure with stock mechanical pump.  Luckily I was just pulling in to the driveway when I smelled gas.  I replaced it with a Holley, and haven't had a problem since.

You were lucky.

[enjenjo]

Send it back with a nasty note. Unless someone complains, they will keep selling this junk.

[58 Yeoman]

I took mine back.

[Harry]

A hot day out here on the Island. My '62 Stude got vapor lock a couple of times. Will a new fuel pump cure this? The car temp went just over 180*.
I was low on oil and was wondering if that made the engine run hot.
Should I go for an electric fuel pump too? If so, which brand?
Thank you....

[wayne petty]

i am truly amazed that they still sell those regulators..

i wonder if they would be safer to install down by the fuel pump... so if they leak.. it goes right on the ground and the heat soak from the engine after shut down does not COOK the diaphragm.... or any seals that might be in that thing..

i found one on my GTO back when i bought it... it became trash the first time i picked up a screw driver and that was 1980..



Harry   
Posted: May 05 2013    
A hot day out here on the Island. My '62 Stude got vapor lock a couple of times. Will a new fuel pump cure this? The car temp went just over 180*.


harry... a few things can cause vapor lock...

dirty fuel filter between the tank and the pump... dirty strainer in the tank...
sediment in the fuel pump check valves that reduces pumping ability...

please.. on a COLD motor...   disable the ignition system so NO sparks can be created...

disconnect the fuel line at the carb... extend it with some more fuel hose into a clean clear 2 or 3 liter bottle..   either use a remote starter button or a friend to crank the engine for 15 seconds...  while you watch the pulses of fuel from the end of the hose.. does it start instantly.. and each pulse the same as every other..   you should get close to a pint..  a quarter liter or a fifth of a liter in that 15 seconds..


now.. if you have one... use a fuel pressure gauge in the end and crank for a few seconds and see if it holds pressure.. or just hold your finger over the end of the hose for 20 seconds... it should hold pressure ...

i usually install strong magnets inside the bottom of the fuel tank to attract any Red dUST to them..

in the short run.. you can also stick a speaker magnet to the bottom of the steel fuel tank..  it will also attract the Red dUST to it..  this keeps it out of the fuel pump check valves..

restrictions before the pump.. more than a fuel injection type of fuel filter inline.. will lower the fuel boiling point.. causing vapor lock in the fuel pump where the fuel expands into gas and the fuel pump cannot handle it..

one thing.. its hot.. where you are.. do you still have a tank full of WINTER BLEND gasoline that is designed with a lower boiling point...

a huge trick...  carry a squeeze bottle of water and a gallon... use the squeeze bottle to squirt the fuel pump body... this will cool it and condense your fuel vapor and hopefully the vapor lock will be gone... my mom..  always said.. just place a half grapefruit over the pump to prevent vapor lock..  it keeps the fuel pump cooler..

if you install an electric fuel pump... please have some kind of fuel filter before it.. so its protected from any debris in the tank.. or from gas stations..  use a standard easy to find fuel filter.. something popular.. like something from a mid 90s ford.. that uses quick connects and can have hose pushed on and clamped..

[midnight sun]

Send it back with a nasty note. Unless someone complains, they will keep selling this junk.

So Frank,

In your humble opinion is a fuel regulator absolutely necessary if you are using an electric fuel pump?

[enjenjo]

Send it back with a nasty note. Unless someone complains, they will keep selling this junk.

So Frank,

In your humble opinion is a fuel regulator absolutely necessary if you are using an electric fuel pump?

I use them on customer cars, along with an oil pressure operated cut off switch. I like the Holley bypass regulator, but in your case you can probably get by with a non bypass regulator. They run about $30.

Is it absolutely necessary? no. but if you are real careful you don't need brakes either.

[BFS57]

Hello;
Oh! JC! (you know what those initials stand for) When I hear Vapor lock and 180 degrease in the same sentence I just cant wait to tell you that it's the gas! Nothing Else!! Gas with ethanol will BOIL in your carb just at 180!!!
I think the pressure regulator with a return back to the tank may be your only fix! Got a part # on that item?
I most recently put on a cool carb isolator which brings the carb temp way down but on extreme hot days the temp goes over 200 now and I get that wacky "vapor lock" like effect!
Try to buy gas without ethanol in it! They do sell it! it's high as a kite!

Bruce

[enjenjo]

This is the one I like   http://www.summitracing.com/parts/hly-12-803bp