Re: marks 52 300... continuing where dad gave up.

Posted by Jim L. in OR On 2013/9/12 2:43:53

A word about those electric fuel pumps. My '51 had one of those that bypassed the mechanical one when I bought it. One of the first problems I noticed with that car was that it sounded like it was over choked or set too rich at idle. Out on the road between 20 - 45 MPH it ran fine. Over 55 and up it began to sound fuel starved or running too lean plus losing power.
It turned out to be the "One flow rate fits all" electric pump. At idle the pump was pushing too much fuel into the carb nearly flooding it out. Between 20 to 45 mph the flow rate more or less matched the engine's need. Above 55 and up it started to fall behind and the engine became fuel starved. Rebuilt the mechanical fuel pump and removed the electric and all the engine problems went away. I have thought of putting one back on for priming purposes only but that's all.
Maybe some electric pumps can vary flow but I'd recommend getting your mechanical pump rebuilt ASAP.