Thread: 53 Is back from the Body Shop

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Would the returning fuel be hot, or is it coming from a bypass?
Just thinking if it is coming from a hot engine // under hood, there will be warm // hot fuel making the pump overheat or at the least, inhibiting performance of engine // fuel pump ?

I don't remember hearing of anyone doing it quite as such. Dumping the fuel into the tank allows the entire tank to absorb the heat. Your set up will significantly warm the fuel in the lines.

That was something I was wondering about, I know on Diesels the return is warm but I wasn't sure on a gas. I'll move the return to the outside of the bowl and I may make a new bowl just a bit bigger to better fit the screen.

When I first looked at the setup my first reaction was that I would add a u shaped tube into the hose.
That way any air / bubbles would be released towards the fluid surface and away from the pump filter.
Any heat in my opinion would be a secondary concern as that pump is also transferring it's heat into the gas as well.
OEM's do it with a lot of success.

There was a discussion on this forum some time ago, which discussed fuel temperature relative to return lines, in - tank pump, etc. I stated earlier the fuel in the lines would be significantly warmer, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Not to be confused with dangerous. I don't see any danger, just a marginal efficiency issue which would go away at Wide Open Throttle.

I hope I haven't rambled on too bad.

Looking at the pan, I'm wondering if you could run out of fuel before the tank is empty.

Originally Posted by firebird77clone

Looking at the pan, I'm wondering if you could run out of fuel before the tank is empty.

I'd say the key is that Seth told us that his sending unit, which drives the gauge, bottoms out at the top of the cut down pan, so when his gauge is bottomed out "E" the tank is going to have an inch or two of fuel in the bottom, and with the bread pan he'll indeed tend to run out of fuel with a small amount still in the tank. On the plus side, the sediment and collected moisture should be outside the pan, and with the return oriented as it is the return flow will tend to keep the filter bag cleaner, at least in theory. I'd run it as it is, were it mine.

Roger is right, My tank is large enough where if I leave an 1 1/2 on the bottom, it's not a big deal. My sending unit says it's empty long before it is anyway and it doesn't seem to matter even though I know that, I still look for a gas station. I'm holding off a for a bit on putting it together because I'm somewhat thinking about cutting out a section in the bottom of the fuel tank and welding in a bowl type thing for the sump instead. Otherwise I may just run this setup for this year to see how it goes, I hate welding on gas tanks and my small list of things to do on Rita is taking me longer than I thought it would.

Back to original problem then.

The nut behind the wheel needs to stop for gas.

Lol, yea it goes awhile on a tank though. I'm also toying around with starting over and building a new tank , mine has been hacked and chopped quite a bit.

I noticed on the Tanks,Inc. setups similar to yours, that they have a small hole in the tray. I can only guess that this is to allow the fuel in the very bottom of the tank to get to the pump.

As to the return line, if you dump it into the main part of the tank and run low on fuel, the fuel would have to migrate from the return line to the pump. Returning it directly to the sump keeps it topped off, IMO. I can't ever recall seeing a factory return line that runs anywhere but into the area near the pump.

Yes, I seen that too on their sump kits. I thought about drilling a hole in mine like theirs but then I thought that hole has to be big enough that it will fill as fast as the pump will suck. I wasn't sure what I thought of the design, it seems like making a swimming pool and then drilling a 6 inch hole in the bottom of it.

Originally Posted by 53 Chevy5

Yes, I seen that too on their sump kits. I thought about drilling a hole in mine like theirs but then I thought that hole has to be big enough that it will fill as fast as the pump will suck. I wasn't sure what I thought of the design, it seems like making a swimming pool and then drilling a 6 inch hole in the bottom of it.

If you're concerned with sucking the pan dry when there's still a little fuel around it cut a pair of windows into the sides, then cut a pair of flat plates slightly larger than the windows and hinge them to swing "IN". Tank low, headed up a hill the downhill flap will close, but the uphill will swing open with flow, assuming there's enough in the tank for flow into the pan. Level ground the higher level outside the pan will push both windows open. Just a bit more fab work....

Slap a mooneye tank on the front with an electric solenoid controlled by a pressure switch.

We're gonna get you to the next gas station yet!

If return fuel temps were a concern, you could make an easy cooler that you can put any where. Just coil the line and put it before the tank. The smaller emission diesel engines are doing this now since Tier 2?