Electric fuel pump

[daviddb]

Hello all,

Need to source a fuel pump for a 1977 TL of 845cc (whoo-hoo)

No problem from the likes of Melun of whoever but I happen to have an electrickery one on a friend's shelf for free which would be forty odd euros saved but is the output likely to be a little too fulsome? It's a low pressure alright marked as 4psi/100 litres per hour, a nice mix of measures.

I've had a cursory browse in Revue Technique/Haynes but the fuel pressure requirements didn't exactly leap out at me.

An added advantage to me is that as the car is often left parked up for three months or more within reach of the airport restarting on return should be pretty instantaneous rather than whirring and whirring some gas back up the pipes to the carb.

Any thoughts on pressures?

regards as always

David B.

(Sunny but brisk in the Pyrenees)

 

[angel]

Go for it, the pressure is not too high, and you will no more have to crank the engine until the carb bowl fills, starting will be almost instant.
One word of caution, though, some electric pumps are designed to be mounted near the tank, some others near the carb (in the engine bay) and for some others it does not matter. Check carefully whether yours is one of the first two types, to mount it in the right place.

 

[daviddb]

Thanks for that. I can see that mounting near the tank is going to be very slightly more problematic as it seems the fuel line is a metal pipe all the way from the tank to the engine bay even though the first 30cms from the tank onwards are covered in rubber. This gave me a bit of a fright when I did my first recce as i thought the pipe was all rubber and had nearly worn through with abrasion where it passes through the rear swinging arm mount.

Project on slight hold at the moment as Ami8 repairs took longer than expected - no fewer than eight holes to patch behind one rear wing and now the ignition switch on the Quatrelle seems to have gone phut. More of that in another post.

 

[daviddb]

Have since come across a snippit in Reveue Technique which gives an output ( well 'pression statique' to be exact) of between 0.17 and 0.265 bar say 2.5psi to a touch under 4psi. I see the Hardi make of electric fuel pumps are claimed to have some clever electrickery that matches flow rate to demand.

So far so good but I must admit I've gone slightly cold on the idea since finding that fuel line is metal all the way back from the engine bay to the tank. Sawing through the fuel line with a hacksaw blade and a spark setting of a 'bit of a bang' would ruin one's boxing day. One could purge the fuel line with a gently blowing air line if the fuel tank breather system would provide an exit for the gas. Or one could leave the fuel line full on the basis that liquid petrol doesn't go bang only the vapour does.

Ho-hum - yours in thought.

 

[harbourseal]

you could try a pipe cutter.
Its one of those clever things with a cutting wheel that cuts into the pipe while you manually adjust the cutting pressure while you twist it round the pipe.

 

[daviddb]

Good call Harbourseal! I have one in the box of plumbing bits and bobs - access is a bit tight at those parts where the pipe is exposed but do-able.