Hi,
Regarding fuel pump noise... a couple of unrelated data points.
On my street TR6, I can hear the pump when I start the car. Actually, I
can hear the pump very well when I start the car. Ironically, when I've
been on the side of the road, or just not in my garage - I can barely
hear the fuel pump running. In fact, the 10 or 15 times I ran out of gas
a few years back (gas tank sender unit problems!) - I developed a
"method" of putting my ear to the top frame to see if I could hear the
pump running. I'll bet that looked strange to passers-by!
Anyway, they can be loud.
Now, regarding shutoff. The oil pressure switch is a pretty good idea.
Better still is a inertial switch. You can pay a bunch and buy one from
one of the vendors out there, but I'm told that later Ford products use
them and that you can get 'em for cheap $$$ at pick-and-pull. I _should_
do this with the race car... just haven't got a roundtuit yet.
But probably the best thing you can do is to install either a fuel
pressure idiot light (cheap - under $25 from Racer Parts Wholesale or
Pegasus Racing) or even better put in a fuel pressure guage (use the
"remote type"!) so you can _see_ what the fuel system is doing at any one
time. Of course the remote style fuel pressure gauges cost around $100 -
but you'll always "know" what's going on with your fuel system...
With regard to the cheapo inline fuel pressure guages... I bought two of
those one year so I could have an under-hood guage. They worked fine for
a month or two and then stopped working altogether... I have no idea why.
Of course, I realized they were dead when I ran out of gas on the highway
and I popped the hood to see that even with the motor off the guage was
still registering something like 6PSI (_waaaay too high!_) and I then
pulled a fuel line to see no fuel flowing.
Interestingly - when there is no fuel in the system, the pump makes the
most noise!
Last point, I shared your anxiety about fuel flowing all over the garage
when I pressurized my system the first time. The only problem - it _was_
flowing all over the place. I had leaks everywhere. But that was because
of some oversites that I had about re-using the fiber washers on the
Webers and that sort of thing...
Oh well.
On the plus side, I've put 25k miles on the street car since the Facet
pump. Still works like a champ! I like that - cheap _and_ dependable.
Hmmm. I have a "tour" this weekend. I'd better pick up a spare pump on
the way home tonite! I mean, afterall - it is Friday the 13th and all. I
shouldn't be pressing my luck now, should I??
;-)
rml
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