School me please on electric fuel pumps

I would like to switch from my machanical pump to an electric pump.
I was curious, what is a good pump?
Can I retain my stock sending unit?
Will I need to use a 6A line or can I use my stock 3/8 fuel line?
Also should I add a return line?

Thanks

This is for my street strip 508 stroker road runner
Mikey

No return line, I bet a Holley black would do well. AT LEAST -6 but I'd rather see -8.


Mike if need be I can get you all the line and fittings you would need. You got my number

I use my stock fuel tank with a stock 3/8 sending unit. I am using the Holley black pump with 3/8 line up to the carb and it more then supplies my 850 on my 493. Ron

I would go with a better pump like the Mallory 4150, had a new noisy holley blue go bad in under 1,000 miles.

I can say I have run Holley pumps since the 70's and never had one go bad on me. Ron

Thanks guys, so Holley black would be awesome sounds like with 6a to my regulator then to carb will be the way to go

Mikey

Like said, a minimum 3/8" OD(that's like a #8 AN line) inlet line with hardly any restrictions or 90° fittings. A #10 would be better and necessary in hot weather, no way around it.

The discharge don't matter. 5/16 would be plenty, plenty big enough.

And return line is really a good idea with today's blended fuel.

Why do you want electric? I have 2 cars mechanical and I just got back from beating the living hell out of my car, on the highway and on the back roads. It's like 80° here and the car did not miss a beat. I have also driven it to the top of Pikes peak(car must be tune to make that mountain) in 95° weather 2 times and in much hotter weather in Vegas and Reno. My mechanical fuel pump has never let me down. Your electric surely better be plumbed correctly if you want to run in those conditions.

If he is like me I will take an electric pump over a mechanicalal any day. I would rather have my fuel being pushed up under pressure then pulled under vacum since that alone helps fight vapor lock. We all know the fuel will vapor lock easier under vacum then under pressure. Ron

A black pump is much more forgiving when it comes to inlet line sizing, it can live with a 3/8" OD inlet line with no return. It's the perfect pump for the street/strip, IMO

A blue pump or bigger then definitely needs a larger inlet line, especially during hot weather and a return line becomes even more important.

Yup, vapor lock for not and just ease, no fuss set up, so a 3/8 with #8 or #10

383man, where do you have your mounted? Also, how do you have it plumbed from your tank to the pump?

Thanks guys you have been helpful

Mikey

I would check into the Firecore50 fuel pump
Gus

"Results may vary". As you can see from the previous posts. I'll tell you up front that my experience is with race cars only. I've used Holley, Mallory and Aeromotive pumps.
There are some considerations when using an electric fuel pump.
Most fuel pumps mentioned above were really designed for racing (short term use). It's best to look for a manufacturer that mentions "continuous duty". Run your Holley a few miles and then try to touch it. You'll see what I mean and heat kills parts. Don't know about others but my Holley's were LOUD. I went through two Mallory's in way too short of time.
A fuel return system is more efficient and easier on parts.
You can deadhead a fuel system (pump to regulator to Carb) but it's best to find a pump with an internal bypass.
Don't forget your filters and install a cutoff valve at the tank. You'll be glad you did when it's time to clean your filters or worst, replace your pump.

It sounds like it is time for you to do this once, not many times like I have done Buy the biggest set up you think now that you will ever need instead of buying it the next time You know you will want to make mopwer down the road, correct As already mentioned buy a pump that is rated for continous duty I like and use Magnafuel pumps now for all my cars, race and street They have a built in bypass mounted on the pump that you can plumb back into the tank instead of running another line from the front of the car back to the tank IHTHs I use to run the Holley blue pumps, I tried the Mallory 140 black pumps and regualtors and ended up with a Magnafuel 275 on my pump gas Duster due to the other pumps not carying the load well enough on the other cars

I`d get the Magnafuel 300 series pump and be done w/it unless you get a bad one which happens with EVERY business once in a while but mine`s awesome and I lived in the Cally high desert and now Vegas and no issues. Check it out.....................

I'm running the polished Aeromotive hot rod pump on my street car, it's pretty quiet with rubber mounts.

So Cab you like the QuickStar 275, by magnafuel? How did you set it up for your A body. I would like to only do this once

Mikey

The black pump I am using is rated at more output then the blue pump. Ron

I ran my black pump a lot, for a couple years even sprayed it too before going to a stand alone. Never had one problem, pump still works great, it'll probably end up on my Cummins.
Certainly lots of ways to skin this cat

I have it mounted in front of the tank on a bracket as I tried to get it atleast level with the tank. But honestly its just nowhere to mount it lower then the stock tank and be safe on street car imo. It works fine where I have it as its a very short 3/8 line from the 3/8 sending unit to the pump. It primed as soon as I put it on and has never lost a prime and pump enough fuel for my 850 on my 493. I know its best to mount the pump lower then the tank but as I said I dont see a safe place to put it lower then the tank with the stock tank. And I like the stock tank as I can still use the factory fuel gauge. Ron

I have a Magnafuel 275 also, it is designed for continuous use. My blue holley would get hot and cavitate.

You could do it the right way and figure .5 pounds
per hour per HP to figure out what size pump you need
and add a bit more if you plan on more power

I agree! the Hemi in my challenger (Shaker hood), had vapor lock issues due to the ethanol laced pump gas around Reno, so a factory vapor separator install cured the issue, but not for long. The repop pushrod was short & took out the cam lobe, so electric pump was the fix. I got the Holley 150 gph gerotor design pump since it was super quite & didn't want the noise of the vane design blue pump. Worked fantastic & was super quiet. Same thing happened on my 383 mag, so I went with the Mallory gerotor pump & its even quieter & smaller than the holley. If you don't want the noise, try one of these.
http://www.summitracing.com/nv/parts/hly-12-150/overview/
or
http://www.summitracing.com/nv/parts/maa-5110fi/overview/

I had a round sump welded into the bottom of the stock tank and ran a #10 AN teflon flex line to the filter which was screwed into the inlet side of the pump, #8 hard line to the reg. up front I had the stock fuel pickup and sender out and had a #8 AN nipple welded into it so I could use it for the # 8 AN return line from the bypass on the pump, it worked well after I got the proper size fuel filter element(80 micron or bigger ) in the pre pump filter. I mounted the pump in the right rear corner behind the stock tank on the inner rear sub frame I made sure the bottom of the pump was level or slightly lower than the pump outlet was also , if I'm remebering correctly now

Thanks guys,
As always very informative!

Mikey

You do not need - 8 feed line (1/2"). The 3/8" you have is fine.

I run E85 (30% more fuel then gas), boost (horrible BSFC), and still make 800hp on - 8 feed.