I happened to see Teby's car at one of local air-cooled mechanics to look at his Setrab fitment. The mechanic lifted the car overhead on the lift and we both could see that the brand new fuel filter that been installed was leaking. Apparently the $1.99 filter the mechanic installed was not properly glued together and was dripping fuel. Thankfully Teby hadn't picked up the car yet and wisely Teby's filter is located outside the engine bay.
This got me to thinking about moving mine. I went to NAPA and picked up the NAPA Gold 3031 metal fuel filter, thank you Gordon for that part number, and about 6 feet of new fuel line. I drilled a slightly larger hole in the fire wall to accommodate the larger outside diameter of the new fuel hose. Then I attached one end of the new fuel hose to the mechanical pump with a hose clamp, put the fuel hose through the firewall, and got under the car. I measured the amount of hose I needed and cut off the excess with some very sharp wire cutters. I fitted the fuel filter to the end of the hose with a hose clamp and attached a two inch piece of fuel hose (included with the filter) to the other end of the filter. Again using some hose clamps for all attachments. I pulled off the old hose from the metal tube running from the tank and before TOO much gas ran out I reattached the new hose to the nipple.
I inspected the old fuel hose and it was a rubber material with what looked like cloth braided material over it and found that it was very brittle. It wouldn't stretch anymore and if I tried to insert a Phillips screwdriver into the end it would just split and fall apart. I looked at my engine bay and saw that there was some of that same type of braided hose going from the exit side of the pump to the tee feeding the carbs. I trimmed off some more hose and replaced that too.
Then I got under the front of the car and could see that the six inch piece of hose that went from the bottom of the tank to the tip of the metal tube that runs to the back of the car was the same braided hose. Up went the front of the car and off came the old brittle fuel line. I got a long piece of fuel line and a five gallon bucket to drain the fuel into because I did not think I could make the swap quite so quickly. I wasn't too concerned since the fuel gauge read "empty" but I've learned that the "empty" reading can be a relative term. Lucky for me I had the bucket because nearly three gallons of fuel came out of my "empty" tank.
I replaced that fuel hose with the new stuff and that got me to thinking (here's where the "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" thing comes into play) about the fuel sending unit. Which way do I need to bend the arm on the float to get it to read 1/4 tank when there is 1/4 tank of gas? I'm thinking I need to bend the arm so the float sits lower in the tank causing it to rise thereby reading more fuel in the tank. Does that sound right? Right now it is a solid "E", no bouncing, and there is three gallons of fuel in the tank. Three gallons is a hefty reserve; I'd be comfortable with a gallon of fuel as a reserve.
Thanks.
.......and no ethanol.
