Home engineered vehicles are always interesting. My engine goes around town and crawls great. However, when I go up a decent grade(10%) it overheats and starts chugging. It seemed I wasn’t getting enough gas and running lean. I’m running a mechanical pump with a backup electrical inline pump. I have tried the electrical pump pushing the fuel through the mechanical pump with little effect. This led me to bypass the mechanical pump altogether. In disconnecting the pressure line two things reared their head: 1) broke the mechanical pump taking the pressure line off, sh*te. 2) found the fuel line to be like this:
I wish I could blame the infamous PO, but my finger prints are on this thing.
So I straight lined from the electric pump to the carb. Drives nice, so let’s head home up the 10% grade. Pulls strong( very happy), might have gotten a little throttle happy on said grade. Starts to overheat (maybe a little delayed in the climb), so pull over. Barely out of the traffics way, it dies and won’t restart. Assuming the timing has slipped
again, I start fiddling with the distributor. When I notice the electric pump is pushing enough gas that it’s leaking out the carb. Arghh, it was pulling so good!!! Sure it got a little hot, but not all that bad. I leave the truck on the side of the road and pick it up in the morning.
So I need a fuel regulator. it’s Sunday- so theres only one parts store open. The only regulator they have is a Mr Gasket, never my first choice. I buy it and hope the best. After much fiddling, I get the truck running again. Break out the timing light and reset the timing. Looking good, but Mr Gasket strikes again. The fuel regulator leaks no matter how tight I get the fittings. Hard to say for sure, but I’m pretty sure it is leaking from the body.
So this is home engineering- there are ups and downs. Plan is to install a well rated (Holley) regulator and gauge. If this works I may delete the mechanical pump altogether and carry a spare.