Who's using an electric Fuel Pump for Carb setups?

[Jayru 17]

What kind did you go with, where did you mount it, and how has it worked out longevity wise (I.E. do the pumps last with street use)?

 

Been thinking of going electric when i put the motor back in this time around. I hate the idea of losing power/having strain on the motor with the eccentric driving a mechanical pump.

 

I've got a F-303 cam, aluminum GT-40 "Turbo Swirl" heads with a Edelbrock victor Jr Intake, and 600cfm Edelbrock Carb.

 

Was looking at the Holley Red or Blue.

 

Thoughts?

[jnet4jt 10]

A buddy of mine is running a holley, but I can't remember if it was a red or blue but the thing is loud, for a fuel pump that is. For example, if you stand outside of a mid 90's chevy full size truck (1500) and listen to the way the fuel pump sounds when you are outside the truck. It sounds the same while sitting in his car but a little louder. He has been running it for about 3 or 4 years and hasn't had any problems. He's running it with a 347 stroker solid lifter, AFR 185's, somewhat streetable cam, and a demond 750 carb. It seems to keep up fine on the drag strip in his 72' mav.

Edited October 20, 2009 by jnet4jt

[superduty69 11]

I have a Holley black pump and it is LOUD. I only started running it this year with 600 +- miles and not had a problem with it other than it is LOUD.

One thing i would suggest, go to summit.com and pick a pump and read the installation instructions. There are some issues that need to be addressed, placement,pre-post pump filters and electrical. The inst. cover most of it and will give ya better idea as to if you still need one.

 

IMO if you are set up with a mech. pump and need to replace, a good name brand pump should be more than enough to feed what you have. With way less hassle.

 

Hope this helps a little.

John

[MAD IN NC 21]

Running a Carter fuel pump. The mounting is as with most being as close to gas tank as possible thus the trunk itself behind the rear end. You can hear it...

[Jayru 17]

I did a search and saw a lot of guys are running Carter pumps. Not sure if they're more reliable than the Holley's?

 

I actually like the noise of a electric fuel pump, so no worries there. I am a little worried about the reliability though. The last thing i want to add to the car is another system that can potentially fail (especially on a road trip).

 

Are you guys running an inertia switch (to kill the pump in the event of a collision), or for that matter a safety switch that kills the pump when there's no oil pressure?

[69390 10]

I have an electric fuel pump on my 390 with a holly 750 doublepumper and it isn't too noisy at all. I went simple and just mounted it in the engine compartment rather than back by the tank. I also went the not so great route of wiring it wtih the on switch with the key. Before I went with the electric pump, I had to really crank the motor to fill up the bowls so it would fire up. Now, I just turn the key to the on position and wait a few seconds so it can fill up the bowls and motor cranks over first try almost every time. The downside is I have to turn the key off to shut the pump off which I know isn't the right way to do it so I need to add an inertia switch for safety purposes.

[Fordrevhead 29]

I've been running a Holley "red" (back when they were actually red) on my carbed 302 Fox body for about 15 years with absolutely no problems. Mounted just in front of the tank (in a very tight space). A little noisy at idle but with the long tubes, H pipe, no cats and Hooker Super Comps I never hear it when driving.

[Spoofty 10]

Holley blue for 15 years just ahead of the fuel tank. I hate the noise. Even with long headers, dual 3" pipe and dual 3" Flowmasters I can still hear it at idle. I have a hidden toggle switch wired to it. Makes a good anti theft device.

[Fordrevhead 29]

I have a hidden toggle switch wired to it. Makes a good anti theft device.

 

LOL, me too! :whistling:

[Jayru 17]

Thanks for all the great comments and advise on your setups guys!

 

I'm still on the fence at the moment. It definitely seems like I'll have to spend a bit more than i had planed to go Electric (at least to do it correctly), so i may just stay mechanical because my plan's to go EFI down the road. I don't want to spend a few hundred on a fuel system I'll end up scrapping next year if i go EFI.

 

I've got a few weeks off from work coming up next week, so i plan on getting the motor back in and asses the situation at that point.

 

Thanks again!

[maxum96 32]

I have an electric fuel pump on my 390 with a holly 750 doublepumper and it isn't too noisy at all. I went simple and just mounted it in the engine compartment rather than back by the tank. I also went the not so great route of wiring it wtih the on switch with the key. Before I went with the electric pump, I had to really crank the motor to fill up the bowls so it would fire up. Now, I just turn the key to the on position and wait a few seconds so it can fill up the bowls and motor cranks over first try almost every time. The downside is I have to turn the key off to shut the pump off which I know isn't the right way to do it so I need to add an inertia switch for safety purposes.

 

 

The Holley pump should be mounted as close to the tank as possible. It's designed to push fuel, not pull it.

[MikeStang 247]

Stay with a mechanical pump....I REally like an electric pump, but every one i have run and or helped install makes noise.

But if you must install one the carter Units are among the quietest i have seen, be sure and mount them with some rubber bushings or something under them so as to help minimise the vibration.

A good brand mechanical pump should be more than enough to handle what you have under the hood.

And dont mount it under the hood please, not only is the pump not designed to pull fuel from that distance, its also not a very safe idea.

If you want to go EFI later on they ahve an intank Pump kit for around 1200.00 you can get your hands on, I would imagine this thing would be pretty quiet.

Mike

[PaleRider 12]

I'm running a Holley (attached) going to a 650 DP. Only reason I went electrical is pulley kit I went with required me to switch out to electric. I also bought a Holley switch that shuts off the pump in case of zero oil pressure.

 

I mounted it to just next to tank sending unit in back. Put a filter from tank to pump. Ran braided to existing line. I got a rubber pipe coupler (used to join PVC) from Sear cut the rubber to fit between backet and mounting point on car. Also used rubber washers to mount pump to bracket. Can't hear it all when car is running - I have magnaflows with headers little loud but not obnoxious.

 

In any case I would have stuck with mechanical if I did not need to because of my pulley setup. In your case I would just consider it part of changing to EFI if and when you do. Also I noticed on my pump it said it was for carb'd engines. May want to check what the differences are.

 

 

http://www.holley.com/12-125.asp

 

 

 

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/HLY-12-125/SuggestedParts/?prefilter=0

[maxum96 32]

Put a filter from tank to pump. Ran braided to existing line.

 

 

You probably should have the filter after the pump. The pump is designed to push fuel, not pull it. So when you put the filter before the pump you're putting a restriction on the pump inlet. You want all the volume you can coming into the pump because it's just gravity fed out of the tank. The OEM's mount the filter after the pump.

Edited May 5, 2010 by maxum96

[PaleRider 12]

You probably should have the filter after the pump. The pump is designed to push fuel, not pull it. So when you put the filter before the pump you're putting a restriction on the pump inlet. You want all the volume you can coming into the pump because it's just gravity fed. The OEM's mount the filter after the pump.

 

 

Thanks for pointing out - make sense.

[Angel 24]

The reason why the filter should be installed after the pump is because should the filter begin to fail or fall apart, the debris won't clog the pump. Or so Ive read. But now that I think about it, if it's after the pump, won't the debris just go into the carb? Clogging jets and what not? Idk.

[PaleRider 12]

I've read that others have put 2 filters one before the pump and one prior to the carb. Seems like overkill but would fit in with yuour reasoning.

[DRASTiK 22]

an electric pump will handle debris much easier than the carb. It would take something rather large coming from the tank to hurt the pump.

 

Most OEM systems have a sock filter in the tank (on the end of the pickup) which keeps the large debris in the tank and then after the pump, there's the filter to catch the smaller particles before it hits the rest of the fuel system. The sock filter is not restrictive at all, but it does keep larger contaminants from getting pulled to the pump.