Summer fuel system prep

[Obwonkonobe]

Trying to start getting my 78 ready for summer. It gets to 115 regularly here and i need to drive this thing every day. So far i see air bubbles in my fuel filter. Il probably run new rubber everywhere soon. Ive got rubber going from the pumo to the filter to the carb, would running metal lines help with heat?

Ive also been thinking of an electric fan conversion, but I've heard horror stories so I'm not sure. Any tips to avoid vapor lock and over heating are appreciated, thanks

 

[Dutch Rutter]

For heat you could run both. Larger E-fans in front of the radiator wired up through a relay to a switch in the cab as well as your normal fan. This way if sitting in traffic and things start getting hot you can turn on the E-fans.

Do you have a 4 core radiator? They help cool a lot. also a high capacity water pump, with a HD clutch fan paired with an aggressive fan blade would keep things nice and cool even without the E-Fans.

For the fuel line for the carb-pump. I think the rubber line would insulate better. However, the rubber fuel lines are known to be problematic over time, due to the fuel eating away at the rubber which can eventually cause a fuel leak or engine fire. Running a steel line is better in this aspect, then you could get a larger rubber hose, slit one side of it and place it over the steel line, This would provide decent insulation while still not having a potential fuel leak.

 

[4WDKC]

Trying to start getting my 78 ready for summer. It gets to 115 regularly here and i need to drive this thing every day. So far i see air bubbles in my fuel filter. Il probably run new rubber everywhere soon. Ive got rubber going from the pumo to the filter to the carb, would running metal lines help with heat?

Ive also been thinking of an electric fan conversion, but I've heard horror stories so I'm not sure. Any tips to avoid vapor lock and over heating are appreciated, thanks

if you are running headers wrap the headers or fuel lines to prevent heat soaking and atomizing the fuel. Check your radiator for corrosion/poor flow/blockage depending on the engine a stock radiator may be fine or you may need a big alum radiator that can handle high performance engines. Fan shroud whether you have electric or clutch it has to have a fan shroud. Electric fans are better as pullers, you want to have a fan that can move 2500 ish cfm and wired to a thermomatic switch that kicks the relay at a temp that allows the fan to come on and shut off above the tstat temp or the fan will not shut off causing the horror stories you have read about. IF carbed and using stock steel intake get an alum. or carb spacer it will dispate heat faster and help prevent vapor lock. Sound slike it doesnt get to cold where you are located so maybe switching to an intake manifold without a heat cross could help you also if you dont have emissions. Cats if you have stock one replace it with high flow, they dont flow worth a darn and can cause heat buildup. If you havent already add a nib external transmission cooler it can help your auto tranny last longer and possible help engine cool better by reduce amount of heat added to the radiator.

 

[Dutch Rutter]

Was just looking through some stuff on Summit racing and ran across spark plug wire thermal sleeves. Got me thinking, instead of using a rubber line to insulate the steel fuel line (kinda ghetto looking) One could use this stuff to insulate a fuel line.

https://www.summitracing.com/search...plug wire &sw=Spark Plug Wire Thermal Sleeves

 

[Obwonkonobe]

Super helpfull advice, i have 2.5 inch dual with no cats coming off of stock manifolds, and an upgraded ish aluminum radiator. I have a factory cast manifold, could i take a dremel to some wood to make a carb spacer and use a gasket as a template? Ive been looking at edelbrock manifolds anyways so i may do that with the heat riser block off. I really like the pusher fan idea, for wiring would i use a relay and a temp switch in the head?