posted @ Monday, August 14, 2006

The good news is that Mr. Johnson at Transfer Flow was able to expedite the order for a replacement sending unit without a fuel pump. I am hoping to have it early this week. The bad news is that we missed a really nice show in Rolla, MO over the weekend. This has not been a good year for the show circuit for Project Responder. However, I hope to have the fuel problems taken care of shortly. The Holley 12-125 high performance pump arrived late last week along with the necessary fittings and fuel filter. I had the new bracket fabricated at Haslag Steel and I'm just waiting for the sending unit so I can get the truck back together and back out on the road. That's all for now. Stay tuned for more later this week.

Link: Getting back up and running

posted @ Saturday, August 5, 2006

Finally, after some thought and debate, Austin and I decided that the truck was not getting enough fuel. So I installed a fuel pressure gauge at the carburetor and found that indeed, the pump was only delivering about 4psi when it should be 6psi. The problem is that the fuel pump is in the tank. It was supplied by Transfer Flow and for whatever reason, it's not putting out.

What makes this so frustrating is that the pump is located in the fuel tank. To get to it, I have to drop the tank which in itself is a real pain. So I began by running the pump after disconnecting the fuel line at the carburetor and pumping the fuel into several gas cans. Once the tank was empty, I disconnected the fuel line at the tank, the electrical connections and the filler tube connections. Then I used a cargo strap to secure the tank and then I removed the metal straps that secure the tank to the frame. Then with two people, I grabbed hold of the tank, released the cargo strap and set the tank on the ground. Next I removed the six nuts securing the sending unit/fuel pump and removed it from the tank.

What I want to do now is to replace this unit with just a sending unit and fuel pickup so I can put a Holley fuel pump in-line on the frame rail so that should the pump ever go bad, I won't have to drop the tank again. The problem is that Transfer Flow is out of stock and it's going to be three weeks before they have one available. This means I'm going to miss the show in Rolla and the shows in Illinois. I'm trying to work with Transfer Flow to get a replacement out sooner, but right now, it looks like the truck down for the three count. We'll keep you posted.

Link: The engine is finally 100%