General fuel system health questions (newb edition)

[Nadir Point]

Yeah, and I don't expect to get in alot of fiery race crashes, either. You're running around 6psi on a system that will more than likely be cutoff in that kind of crash than keep pumping into a fire, regardless of any safeguards. Reliability is a more important factor, to normal drivers like me.

 

[Gerald Morris]

One BAD thing about advancing age is, IF we pay attention to car parts costs in those earlier times, we realize just how much things have gone up! AND, can see the real cost differences between levels in parts supplied (as in the Fram air filters) to make a better price/quality/benefit purchasing decision.

Some parts, allowing for inflation cost more now than formerly, others WERE getting cheap, relative to our purchasing power. Wages have NOT kept pace with inflation as a rule. I pity younger folk today. Buying a new automobile costs as much as a dwelling! Mind you, a dwelling of any SIZE now has an obscene price tag. I don't mind buying NOS parts from the right sort of vendors though, and have done very well thereby. I can keep Gertrude rolling for the rest of my life, so long as she doesn't get whacked by these atrocious drivers down here. Of course, I could get whacked myself, and my get haven't enough years to even handle automotive tools.... If All goes according to Family Plan, I hope to be entombed in the shell of a C-body Mopar, properly cured of course, hands on the wheel, beer can between my legs, w a Lucky twixt my lips and my Wayfarers on, and my Eastwood serape covering the evisceration incisions....

I have NO issues with doing business locally. It might be a bit more expensive, but if their head is in the right place, if you have any fitment issues and such, THEY can be more help, in person, than somebody on the other end of the phone line.

Lucky you, if you can find such a vendor. I know of only one down here. I use their machine shop ever so often. Nice to have one at an auto parts store!

In the 1990s, if I ordered a GM part and it was stocked in a Canadian warehouse compared to a Michigan warehouse, it took one extra week to get the product due to it having to cross the border. Which could mean two weeks to get the part.

THAT situation shows no sign of improving soon.....

The bad thing about the oil sands crude oil is that it is some of the most corrosive and "dirty" crude oils around. Hence, it takes a refinery that can deal with it to use it for fuel production. Something which was not really talked about when they were "the next big thing" in cruse oil, back then. Although the cost of the end product is increased as it taking more effort to refine.

Retail gas pricing is a complex mix of factors. ONE of which is the desire to end up with corporate profitability remaining high. Another is how much production comes from well production. In the USA and Canada, NO government official can tell the private-entity companies how to run their business! Certain things can be advocated for, but it is the Board of Directors that make the ultimate decision, not the government official. Stockholders, on the other hand, CAN better influence the BOD, but any dip in profits affects what the stock trades for and ultimate quarterly dividends.

Here, corporations dictate to government, thus capitalism. "Ve haff cooperation, mit ins unser Corporate State, Ve all ...(omitted for sensitive readers) und alles ist GREAT!""

"Foreign Aid" can be a fickle issue. For ages, the USA has given foreign aid to people on the other side of the planet, as a show of friendship to help eradicate diseases there (before they might travel to the USA). Just as we have provided humanitarian aid in the way of food for babies, so they can grow and become adults to help their countries become more prosperous in the future. Consider these things "humanitarian aid". I've recently become aware that Canada has done similar to Gaza. As the USA sends $B to some foreign countries which provide universal health care for their citizens and also free universities . . . as those costs in the USA skyrocket.

Oh Big Empires ALWAYS spread "foreign aid" around, to insure that foreign regimes kowtow to them. When the kowtowing ceases, troops get sent instead. Then, with victory, more foreign aid to the newly installed betrayers of their own nations.... Only a costly defeat really stops such behavior. Then the troops busy themselves killing each other, or exterminating a revolting populace, and treating IT as a conquered foreign people. Thus the "Reconstruction" here, as one modest example.

The best thing WE can do is to make the best purchase decisions we can with what we have to purchase with. Just like in prior times. Planning for future needs and watch the sales BEFORE the needs happen. Planning ahead, but not too far ahead. Seems like there is some reason to have a sale very 30 days, these days! Which can be a sign that prices are artificially too high or sales volume is weak.

Amen amEN! Thus my own private parts horde. The dollar value of a lot of the bigger stuff has trebled in the past 5 yrs.... NOT that I will ever sell. BUT, I'm glad I won't have to buy it NOW!

Have the best time on this earth you can!
CBODY67

Great Idea!

 

[CBODY67]

There are "electric fuel pumps:" and then there are ELECTRIC fuel pumps. The former would be the ones which many have used as "booster pumps" (to combat hot fuel issues in HOT weather in traffic and to prime the carb before starting, if it's been several days since the car was last run) and the latter would be the serious drag race pumps that Holley and others make. Different breeds of cat although they both pump fuel via the battery voltage. BIG price variations, too!\

FWIW,
CBODY67

 

[Just Carbs]

A dirty tank is a dirty tank. It happens a lot. And ain't no bug juice known to man going it eat it out of that tank that don't eat the tank right along with the dirty stuff. All you can do is filter, filter, filter...till the filtering is done. Unless its diesel fungus. There are bottle cures for that

I have to many old dirty tank cars to replace all the old dirty tanks.

So, I blow the sock off the pickup or blow the sock to pieces. Yes, they can and sometimes do clog up. Then I relocate the fuel filter that Mopar put just before the pump to a higher easy to access location and keep changing the filter. Maybe ten miles the first time, 40 the second time, 200 the third time... and so on. Whatever it takes to get clean gas to the carb. I always get to a point where they don't clog.

And yes, I defiantly use (you would too) the "clear plastic" filters so I can see when it is about to jamb up. I use two of them in line. First one dirties up in short order, second one maybe never, it depends on the offending tank contaminator.
On some cars a few filter changes does the job, on some I go through a dozen filters, or more. I buy them 20 or more at a time at $1 apiece from Temu.

 

[Big_John]

I've been reading this thread and IMHO, it's getting way beyond what the PO asked. His car is running fine. He says that in the second sentence.

All he is doing is some simple and wise preventive maintenance by changing the fuel filter. That's something I do anytime I buy an old car (along with hoses, fan belts etc.)

He doesn't need a new tank or fuel pump. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

[Just Carbs]

He speculated about the in-tank filter vanishing up over time and tank cleaning options.

 

[Big_John]

He speculated about the in-tank filter vanishing up over time and tank cleaning options.

Yes, that he did. That isn't replacing a fuel pump or tank. He asked "should I dump a can of .... in my tank", not a "should I replace everything in sight" question.

 

[Gerald Morris]

A dirty tank is a dirty tank. It happens a lot. And ain't no bug juice known to man going it eat it out of that tank that don't eat the tank right along with the dirty stuff. All you can do is filter, filter, filter...till the filtering is done. ....

When we first acquired Gertrude, the original tank had been half-*** patched up top, where weather had rusted it through. Then, barn rats chewed their way into that tank, and denned there for some decades. Suffice to say, that tank proved irremediable, and I shitcanned it to the street after the first week, and the 6th filter. Yes, after trashing the first good Wix filter in a day, I got half a dozen cheap see-through sino-plastic ones, likely from the same plant those you get from Temu. Thanks be to St. Joe, we had the perfect, immaculate tank from Mathilda, which the previous owner had installed and which I scrupulously maintained, as I still do, so I swapped it right in after that first week of ratshit clogging filters, petrol slopping up into the trunk and other fun stuff. The old tank cracked open upon my removing it, and THAT was when I SAW the rat skeletons. Get this: that tank didn't even sit on the street for 24 hours, Some nitwit thought it could use it and took it. I doubt any competent scrap metal buyer would want it, but fools abound.

I have to many old dirty tank cars to replace all the old dirty tanks.

Hmmm, maybe I can relieve you of one sometime.

So, I blow the sock off the pickup or blow the sock to pieces. Yes, they can and sometimes do clog up.

Sho' 'nuff!

Then I relocate the fuel filter that Mopar put just before the pump to a higher easy to access location and keep changing the filter. Maybe ten miles the first time, 40 the second time, 200 the third time... and so on. Whatever it takes to get clean gas to the carb. I always get to a point where they don't clog.

I put my see-thru ones just before the carb, using rubber line all the way to the metal one coming out near the right fender. I got to the point where no filters clogged.... when I put the CLEAN TANK on. Any future buys will include rigorous fuel tank inspection, and such data will go into price negotiation. I learned my lesson from that barn find, bigtime.

 

[Just Carbs]

When we first acquired Gertrude, the original tank had been half-*** patched up top, where weather had rusted it through. Then, barn rats chewed their way into that tank, and denned there for some decades. Suffice to say, that tank proved irremediable, and I shitcanned it to the street after the first week, and the 6th filter. Yes, after trashing the first good Wix filter in a day, I got half a dozen cheap see-through sino-plastic ones, likely from the same plant those you get from Temu. Thanks be to St. Joe, we had the perfect, immaculate tank from Mathilda, which the previous owner had installed and which I scrupulously maintained, as I still do, so I swapped it right in after that first week of ratshit clogging filters, petrol slopping up into the trunk and other fun stuff. The old tank cracked open upon my removing it, and THAT was when I SAW the rat skeletons. Get this: that tank didn't even sit on the street for 24 hours, Some nitwit thought it could use it and took it. I doubt any competent scrap metal buyer would want it, but fools abound.



Hmmm, maybe I can relieve you of one sometime.



Sho' 'nuff!



I put my see-thru ones just before the carb, using rubber line all the way to the metal one coming out near the right fender. I got to the point where no filters clogged.... when I put the CLEAN TANK on. Any future buys will include rigorous fuel tank inspection, and such data will go into price negotiation. I learned my lesson from that barn find, bigtime.

I do replace leaker tanks, if I can get a replacement.

 

[Blusmbl]

I’ve had 2 separate cars (both happened to be C bodies, a 68 300 and a 67 Imperial) plug the sock in the tank. In my experience if it’s ever bad enough to plug that filter, it’s better to just pull the tank completely and either replace or refurbish it. I fought one of them for a month changing fuel filters before giving up and dropping the tank.