<VV> Electric Fuel Pumps vs Diaphragm

Chris & Bill Strickland lechevrier at earthlink.net
Tue Sep 4 14:19:10 EDT 2007


John wrote:

>I would appreciate anyone's opinion concerning switching to electric fuel pumps on my 3 Corvairs or keeping the "old style" diaphragm pumps.  
>

Yes, you need a fuel pump. 

All fuel pumps eventually fail, meaning they ALL eventually FAIL.  Electrics can be noisy, should be installed at the tank, and pressurize your entire fuel line, helping prevent vapor lock but also increasing chances of leaks.  Mechanicals install at the engine, are part of routine engine noise, suck fuel from the tank, and can leak when failing.  

Since you can get electrics that perform at the oem levels, ie, pump fuel at the correct pressure, both styles will work for carbuerated (sp) Corvairs.  Both will fail. Neither has a clear superiority over the other. Everybody has an opinion though.

I have one of each on my 356 (the switched electric one is a suck through model), and there are certain advantages to having that flexibility to turn the electric on and off when I want, but either would run the car just fine.

Oh, and there are diaphragm style electric pumps available should you want the worst of both worlds.

Godspeed!

Bill S



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