351 Windsor - Mechanical Fuel Pump versus Electric Fuel Pump?

[DriftingCloud]

Originally Posted by Tommy

First, when the weather gets cold, it may sit for a month or more between starts. I like knowing the float bowl is full before I press the start button so I don't work the starter and spin a dry engine too much.

Lippy made this point, too. I hadn't thought about that much yet. Mine can sit for a while as well. I am running an electric choke on my Holley Double Pumper, but it still needs fuel to start. The faster that's received the less wear and tear on the engine during a relatively dry crank.

Originally Posted by Tommy

My electric pump is noisy, but then so is everything else in this car.

Fair point, and I'm still laughing at the simplicity of this. There's no subtly to a Cobra. I guess my issue is with noises I like versus noises I don't. Ha ha...

Originally Posted by Tommy

The Red Holley has an internal fuel pressure relief valve that limits the flow of fuel to the carburetor by redirecting some of the pumped fuel back to the intake side of the pump. That means when the engine is not demanding a lot of fuel, the pump is repumping the same fuel over and over. So, instead of taking heat from the pump away to the engine, the fuel will allow the pump to run hotter. Putting a fuel pressure regulator (with a return line to the tank) downstream from the pump will solve that problem and likely allow the pump to last longer. If you do that you'll either need to use a pump without an internal pressure regulator or one that allows a pressure setting higher than the one on the external fuel pressure regulator.

I didn't know that about the redirection. No wonder they don't last very long absent a fuel pressure regulator and tank return line. Heat build-up in a fuel pump seems like a fairly bad idea.