Upgrading the fuel tank

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Dragonsteel

Dragonsteel

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I am upgrading the fuel tank in the 71' Dart due to the mechanical pump eating a push rod.
I first tried another push rod but the cam lobe was too damaged, next I tried a Speed master external electric fuel pump that made it to the gas station and back and then died. Not wanting to go that route again I have purchased a Tanks Inc. efi tank. My question is for anyone who has done this conversion, have you had any starvation issues
with the internal electric fuel pump? The tank has a boxed section around the pump and sender area that looks to be around 1 gallon in size. I will be using the regulator that came with the Speed master kit to step down the pressure for the carb along with a return line.
The efi pump and tank have vent lines that will be tied together and vented above the tank.
Any thoughts or issues to look out for?

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If you are using a carborator, an EFI pump will have more than enough volume.
 
You can not just run an EFI pump on a carbureted setup. Around 7psi against a 60 psi system. Put all the spark makers away. You're going to have a mess to clean up.
Oh and you don't eat a cam lobe. You can destroy and eccentric. Or do you have a small block chevy in it?

I love my efi system. Just took awhile to set it up proper.
 
You need a regulator to lower fuel pressure and a pressure gauge to see how much pressure you have. Usually about 5psi is good. I have that setup on a 74 Duster 318 with an Edelbrock 1406 Carb. I love the quick start ups when I don't use the the car for a month.
 
Check out his photo garage. Wow! Nice work. Beautiful car. Big block.
The original post addresses all responses about fuel pressure and return lines. And it doesn't show "edited".
 
Blind Squirrel said:
You can not just run an EFI pump on a carbureted setup. Around 7psi against a 60 psi system. Put all the spark makers away. You're going to have a mess to clean up.
Oh and you don't eat a cam lobe. You can destroy and eccentric. Or do you have a small block chevy in it?

I love my efi system. Just took awhile to set it up proper.
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This. If it’s an EFI pump you can’t even regulate it down for carb fuel pressure. Buy one good fuel pump, like a Mallory or a Magnafuel, set it up with a return line and forget about it. Trying to go cheap on an electric fuel pump will just cost you much more in the long run.
 
tinman2 said:
Check out his photo garage. Wow! Nice work. Beautiful car. Big block.
The original post addresses all responses about fuel pressure and return lines. And it doesn't show "edited".
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Where does the original post mention a return line?
 
He does mention a return line in the original post. I have an EFI pump and regulate it down to 5psi and have a return line that bleeds off excess pressure, so it definitely can be done. I also have a Gen 2 hemi that had Fitech F.I. on it and when it crapped out on me I put the 2 four barrels back on and ran it like that for a year. So the regulator does work for F.I. and carbs with the lower pressure. Just adjust it.
 
It can be done and isn’t a big issue. Aeromotive makes a regulator for just this purpose. You will definitely need a return line.
 
Thanks for all info guys! I have my fuel lines on order. I went with Russell an6 fittings and fuel line. Here's what I am thinking, tell me if i'm wrong. One of the fittings I purchased is a "T" which is were I am going to attach the return line, but I am thinking I should put right in front of inlet on the regulator. I'm hoping it will push enough through the regulator which is set at 5 psi. I also will be putting an inline filter in front of the "T" fitting.
 
It's pretty difficult to get the hose on the fittings so be prepared to struggle with it. Also get a tee off the regulator tapped 1/8" for the pressure gauge. Since you're new to this, I was lucky to have a speed shop near to me because it was a trial and error fit for me. There are so many different fittings as you lay out one step you'll see you may have a wrong fitting and back to the store for something else. Hopefully you have a speed shop that has the fittings you need. Waiting for summit or Jegs to send fittings it'll take a long time to get done and expensive. When installing fittings in hose, lubricate it to make it a little easier. I also used a vise to hold fitting to push on hose. It was well worth the effort after it was done. Also make sure regulator can adjust from 5 to 60 psi, but as I said any brand will do, and make sure pressure gauge can go up to at least 60psi.
 
tonysrt said:
It's pretty difficult to get the hose on the fittings so be prepared to struggle with it.
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That won't be a issue as I purchased (2) pre-made 14' lines because I didn't want to deal the hassle of assembling and getting it wrong.
Right now I have the fuel pressure gauge mounted on the regulator, but it's only a 15 psi gauge and I don't know the specs on the regulator other than it is one for a carb set up, which is why I was thinking I should put my return line in front of the regulator inlet.
 
Won't you need a restriction in the return to allow for any pressure to build up?

Or does your regulator handle that.
 
Dana67Dart said:
Won't you need a restriction in the return to allow for any pressure to build up?

Or does your regulator handle that.
Click to expand...
As long as he uses a return style regulator, he's good. He can use a schedule 40 return line and he'd be fine. lol
 
Dragonsteel said:
I am upgrading the fuel tank in the 71' Dart due to the mechanical pump eating a push rod.
I first tried another push rod but the cam lobe was too damaged, next I tried a Speed master external electric fuel pump that made it to the gas station and back and then died. Not wanting to go that route again I have purchased a Tanks Inc. efi tank. My question is for anyone who has done this conversion, have you had any starvation issues
with the internal electric fuel pump? The tank has a boxed section around the pump and sender area that looks to be around 1 gallon in size. I will be using the regulator that came with the Speed master kit to step down the pressure for the carb along with a return line.
The efi pump and tank have vent lines that will be tied together and vented above the tank.
Any thoughts or issues to look out for?
That box section is there to eliminate the pump pickup running dry on hard acceleration, cornering or braking it keeps the pickup submerged. Great tanks use one for the EFI setup. Nice powder coat finish . If you have a breather line on your filler tube just tee into that and block the breather outlet on your tank and use one from the pump.

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Dana67Dart said:
Won't you need a restriction in the return to allow for any pressure to build up?

Or does your regulator handle that.
Click to expand...
That's what I'm not sure of. The regulator has (1) inlet and (2) outlets, one of which I currently have the pressure gauge on.
which is why I was thinking that putting a "T" fitting in front of the inlet and running the return off of the "T", but i'm not sure it won't just blow all the fuel back into tank. A carb only needs around 5psi and wether the pump would push enough past the "T" to get 5psi is the question. If not then I will have to change to a return style regulator.
 
Dragonsteel said:
That's what I'm not sure of. The regulator has (1) inlet and (2) outlets, one of which I currently have the pressure gauge on.
which is why I was thinking that putting a "T" fitting in front of the inlet and running the return off of the "T", but i'm not sure it won't just blow all the fuel back into tank. A carb only needs around 5psi and wether the pump would push enough past the "T" to get 5psi is the question. If not then I will have to change to a return style regulator.
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You can do a return line with that type of regulator but it’s not that great. You can buy a really nice return regulator that doesn’t creep for about 160 bucks. That’s cheap money.
 
Dragonsteel said:
That's what I'm not sure of. The regulator has (1) inlet and (2) outlets, one of which I currently have the pressure gauge on
Click to expand...
Why don't you post the pn of your regulator and perhaps others could post the number of return regulators
 
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