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Running fuel lines/electric pump

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drooartz

drooartz

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Okay, as the swine flu has me away from my office this week (my employer, the Park City School District, is closed until at least May 11 due to a positive case) I'm making plans to get some work done on the Tunebug -- we've been expressly forbidden to go into our offices, so might as well get something useful done. :smile:

I've 3 major projects left before I can put the engine in:

1. Fuel lines/tank/fuel pump
2. Transmission check/refurb
3. Brake lines

The brake lines are ordered but will still be a little while, so I'm going to try and get the other two projects done first. An upside to the current chaos.
 
So here's the plan for the fuel lines and pump:

1. Order proper electric pump ORDER
2. Purchase new fuel line (hard and soft) ORDER
3. Mount fuel pump
4. Wire fuel pump to ignition switch
5. Install sender in gas tank
6. Install gas tank BOLTS/NUTS?
7. Attach wires to sender and harness
8. Connect fuel gauge wires
9. Run hard lines
10. Run soft lines to the fuel pump (connectors/ends? ORDER?)

I'm not entirely sure what I need. I have both the original tank and a new replacement. I've already had Kim calibrate my sender, so I should be good there. What I'm really not sure about is the new pump and lines. I'm converting to an electric pump, so I'll need one of those plus a pressure regulator (?) and new hard and soft lines.

I've got no idea, really, how to do this, so I'm counting on y'all. I assume I need a short run of pipe from the tank, then 2 runs of soft line to and from the pump, then a hard line to the front.

No idea how to mount the pump, either (this is a Bugeye, originally with a mechanical pump).
 
Drew

If you get the $50 pump from any auto parts store, the round one, you can mount it with 1 bolt, I use one of those self drilling bolts and a piece of rubber between the bracket and the body.
It is best to hold it up in place with the fuel line on it to see where to mount it. It goes somewhere behind the right rear wheel and on the rear bulkhead.
You can bolt it up to the rear shelf but watch the hole or drill doesn't twist the rug up as it comes out inside the car.
Also watch what fuel line you use, I have had brand new fuel line melt with whatever is in gas these days. 7 miles on a completely new fuel system and my filter and carbs were full of black mung. The tank was clean, the fuel lines were melting from the inside. I only use VW cloth covered fuel line ever since. It fits so nice you do not need clamps on the lines.
Run the white wire along the right inner rocker with the rest of the wires to the rear end. Use white wire as it is the correct color for the fuel pump just to keep it "right" incase somebody else works on it in the future.
On a Bugeye, come out of the trunk where the fuel sender wire comes out.
 
Thanks, Frank.

Should I reuse the initial bit of hard line out of the tank, or run new line? Do I just cut the hard line, or does it need a lip before the soft line clamps on?
 
spritenut said:
Also watch what fuel line you use, I have had brand new fuel line melt with whatever is in gas these days. 7 miles on a completely new fuel system and my filter and carbs were full of black mung. The tank was clean, the fuel lines were melting from the inside.
Click to expand...

I'd bet dollars to donuts it is ethanol in the gasoline.

That brings up another question. Unleaded gas is bad enough, but what about ethanol? I know it will ruin lawnmower engines, boat and snowmobile engines, etc.

And ethanol will be mandated in larger and larger percentages as time goes on. The law is already on the books.
 
That is the pump.
Autozone has it for around $42, I just bought one for the Ladybug.
Just blow thru the line from the tank to the pump, blow into the tank to make sure it is not clogged.
 
Drew, I would recommend keeping the bit of hard line from the tank, and bending it forward, up and over the axle as far as it will reach and then adding a short length of rubber fuel line to the pump,a short piece of rubber out of the pump to hard line running up under the passenger compartment up to the engine bay.
 
Exactly...minus the "compression" shown in the picture!! :iagree:
 
Just noticed that my wire to the pump was blue rather than white as Frank had suggested. The pump in the photo is a SU pump by the way.
 
Frank has it correct as usual. Do it his way and Tunebug and Miss Agatha will be the same.
 
Thanks, that's what I needed!

Now, question 2. I have the original fuel tank, which is externally in good shape, though I'm sure it's a bit funky inside. I also have one of the replacement tanks often seen on eBay. It's new though substantially lighter than the original tank.

So which do I use? The original tank seems to be higher quality metal, but it's probably a bit rusty inside. The new tank seems lower quality, but it's new after all.

Thoughts?
 
The replacement tank spout may not fit as well, and the fitting for the fuel line may be different. I had to get an adapter for mine.
 
No matter which you choose, you must put a filter before the pump.
 
Good to know, Trevor. I'll take a good look over the original tank, and probably us it.
 
I just bought one today. Mr Gasket Micro O.E. Replacement Electric Fuel Pump - 42S. The pressure was 2 - 3 1/2 lbs, I think. It was the lowest pressure pump that Autozone sells. $44.95

When they looked up the one for my Midget, it cost $119.95

It comes with a filter for the inlet - you need some teflon thread for the threads. Then you end up with two nipples that expect 3/8" hose.
 
Dang. I don't know how you can live with that, Makes the $119 seem kinda cheap, don't it?
 
I bought a SU fuel pump for time. To me it's just not a british car without that "tic, tic, tic" when you turn on the ignition! Yes, the electric ones can be pretty loud. Isolate them the best you can with rubber.
 
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