[HWYSTR455]

Here's a generic install thread for installing 1/2" aluminum fuel line, return line, bypass regulator, and an electric pump. This is in a 68-72 A-body ('72 442 clone), but can be applied to just about any body. Keep in mind this is a street car which will be daily driven, and not a show or track car. Functionality is first and foremost, as well as a reasonable degree of safety.

Try to hold off on comments until I get the whole thread posted, please.

First, I laid out the fuel system roughly on a cocktail napkin, just to get an idea of what to initially order parts-wise. My list consisted of a Holley HP150 pump, a Holley billet bypass regulator, RobbMC 1/2" pickup, a 25' coil of 1/2" aluminum fuel line, and assorted AN -8 fittings, push-loc and braided hose.

The tank I'm going to use is an OE one, Spectre, one I replaced not long ago. Suggestion: If your tank is of questionable origin or original, replace it. I think I paid $175 for the one I have, which was with straps and filler neck installed.

Here you see a pic of what I purchased, some odds & ends stuff not shown. I also didn''t use all of what I have shown, since I bought extra stuff, like fittings, so I didn't have to go back and forth ordering and waiting to complete the install. (will explain some later in the thread)

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[HWYSTR455]

First, I gutted all the OE lines. In some of the pics you can see red lines, which shows roughly where I cut the OE lines to remove them. I also removed all the OE retaining clips, and areas where I couldn't get clear pics of the clips, I circled the bolts/screws.

The OE line is mostly likely brittle if it's original, and is cake to cut even with a cheezy mini-hack. You can go 2/3 of the way through and bend it a little, comes right apart. (kinda scary actually)

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[HWYSTR455]

Next, I picked a location on the firewall for the bypass regulator. One thing to keep in mind is that locating the regulator on the firewall may NOT be legal for some types of racing, and honestly, I have no clue which those would be, so you may need to check if you plan to race.

Choose a location to the left of the firewall, keeping in mind the output should roughly be high/low enough, and somewhat lined up, with the carb feed line area(s). In my case, I'm running a Holley 4150 type carb, so you can see in the parts pic above I ordered a dual feed. Also, in my case, I had to eyeball it, since currently, the engine isn't in the car!

While I was choosing a location, I also was thinking about retaining clips for the hard lines, and found that one of the A/C box retaining studs was perfect for a clip. (red circle in pic)

I had to relocate the coil to mount the regulator in a spot I was happy with, and wow, I REALLY hate drilling holes in OE metal. Anyway, to fill the original holes, I found some black plastic plugs that do this perfectly from a place called Widgetco.com.

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[HWYSTR455]

Some may choose to install a small fuel PSI gauge in the regulator. If you want, ok, but, don't even reply on it to provide any kind of accurate measurement. (They look cool though).

Right way to do it is use a real, full size gauge, and make a 'tool' that can plug into a tap on the fuel rail, like the pic attached. The dual feed line setup I have has 2 'T' fittings on it, the one, unused end has a AN cap which can be removed and used for setting fuel pressure.

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[HWYSTR455]

Ok, with that speech over, we can move on to running the front hard line sections. I measured roughly with a tape measure from the regulator, down the firewall towards the passenger side, and then like 2/3rds of the way down the frame rail. As an example, I measured out 6', which left some room to play with.

So, I rolled out the aluminum line measuring out one 6' section, and one 5.5' section, to leave room for the connectors, so their' not stacked up.

Tip: Rolling out aluminum line is as easy as putting it on a hard, flat surface, hold the open end down, and grabbing around the 10 o'clock position, push down and forward and unroll it. This is a pretty good way of making it pretty straight. Doing it by hand will make it all wavy, but if you want, you can do it that way, it kinda doesn't matter.

With the 2 sections of hardline cut and straightened out, lay them roughly into place along the path chosen. I used the forward OE mount point for the retainer, and using a 3/4" adel clamp (that I slightly crushed with pliers) bolted the lines roughly in place. (you can see the staggered ends in the one pic)

Next, I pushed and persuaded the lines more into the final place, separated the feed and return, lining them up with the regulator ports, and marked the lengths.

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[HWYSTR455]

Since I was happy with the front sections, length, location, etc, I can install the ends. On the front sections, I decided to do tube nuts and flare it. Hope I don't need to mention that AN flares are 37 degrees, and not the same degree as brake fittings, so you need an AN flare tool. You can choose to use compression fittings, but they are a touch more expensive.

So I flared one end of both lengths, slipped some heat barrier sleeving over it, then flared the other ends.

After, I installed the front lines starting at the regulator, adjusted the location of the sleeving, and put the retaining adel clamp on.

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[HWYSTR455]

Next I mocked up the pump to see where possible mounting locations are. Some may scrutinize my choice, and some of the pics make it look close, but after it was said and done, it works. (And I didn't have to drill holes in OE sheet metal) Keep in mind also that when using a RobbMC pickup, you will always have to suck fuel up to some degree.

I choose to mount the pump to a plate that saddles a tank strap. Although there's not a pic showing it, I did mock it up with the pre-filter installed. I also put a swatch of dynamat on the tank and on the plate, to help any transfer of sound.

So with that figured out, I dropped the tank so I could install the pickup.

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[HWYSTR455]

So I've heard some talk about how they have issues with RobbMC pickups sucking air once below a half a tank. To check this, I measured the tank depth, then the RobbMC pickup, and compared to the OE pickup.

When I installed the OE pickup originally, I cut the sock away from the plastic mounting nipple, and didn't just jerk the whole nipple off. That is shaped like a 'fork', and in the picks, you can't see that fork. But, as a comparison, the OE pickup is a 1/4" longer than the RobbMC pickup. Without the nipple, both pickups would be the same, fyi.

I originally purchased fuel cell pickup line, with the intention of extending the pickup, but decided I would just live with it, since I don't feel a 1/4" is going to make that big of a difference.

FYI - The fuel gauge in the car is aftermarket, and required swapping the sending unit, which was no problem, the RobbMC sender is mounted with screw brackets.

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[HWYSTR455]

On to running the rear hard lines. I followed the OE path, until I got to the rear frame cross brace. There I cut in front of the top body bushing and went towards the driver side, then over the brace in the middle of the car.

I fed the first line through from the front, worked it in a curve up, then a curve over, then a curve back. Be careful when working the tubing, have patience, you don't want to make any drastic bends because it will kink. It's aluminum, so it bends easy, just work in as long a section as you can.

After I got the first line routed, did the same for the second line, and worked them into position.

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[HWYSTR455]

more pics....


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[HWYSTR455]

With the rear lines in place, I worked them more into the final locations, cut them to length, and used the compression fittings to terminate them. Since these were in a more difficult area, like already in place, it was way easier than trying to flare them. I used male ends above the rear so not to have to worry about adapters and tightening.

Once the one ends towards the front were terminated, I connected them to the front lines.

NOTE: I had the car jacked up with jack stands on the rear so the suspension was compressed, and was able to determine that it would contact the bump stops before it would strike the lines.

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[HWYSTR455]

With the hard lines in place, I tossed the tank in there, mounted the pump, and used red Loctite on the bolts.

Then I started measuring for the lines in the rear. I used push-loc stuff back here, way easier to work with. I put the fittings on all the ends, eye balled the routing, then put one end on the hose, and measured the lengths, cut, and assembled. On the one length, it was 4" from an exhaust pipe, so I used some more heat sleeving.

Oh, one thing you may want to do is mark the pickup with feed and return so you don't get them mixed up. Same with the runs front to back.

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[HWYSTR455]

Finally, wiring the pump. I made a small harness with a fuse holder and a relay, put the ends on it, and plan to mount it to the amp board I have in the trunk. I did drill one hole in the trunk floor, close to the rear seat, where I plan to run the power wire to the pump, using a grommet. If you really wanted to, you could snake it through the tank vent/separator behind the back seat, up to you.

My relay and fuse setup will be in the trunk, but for most, you could put that under the dash and just run the power wire back to the trunk and to the pump. If you do, use quality 12ga wire to power the pump, and obviously, make sure the ground is good.

I'm sure I missed stuff, and I have a ton of pics, so if there's any questions, fire away.

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[grandville455]

Great write up and nice pics of install etc!!

[mchell]

nice.....how loud is the holley

[goatman65]

Exactly the type of info and pics I can use right now.

[HWYSTR455]

Originally Posted by mchell

nice.....how loud is the holley

I will take a pic tomorrow from the bumper, but basically, it's about 1.25-1.5" lower that the tank. It's not lower than the passenger axle tube, if that explains it. Or at least I don't think it is. The pic tomorrow will help. (We have 2" of snow right now, might take another day!)

The pump mount is tight too, and with the dynamat, it's not going to vibrate. I was initially worried about vibration and it chafing the tank, but no way. And all the lines are like 4-6" away from heat sources. The lines are safe from differential movement too.

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[HWYSTR455]

Originally Posted by mchell

nice.....how loud is the holley

Dead silent. Search here, you will see, others say the same.

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[HWYSTR455]

Just as an FYI, if you sump your tank, you can run the lines in the OE location, and continue along the passenger side frame rail and exit behind the tank. That would allow you to run the pump in the back behind the bumper. You could run a power wire through the trunk gas gauge grommet.

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[HWYSTR455]

Realized I didn't post a final pic of the regulator installed, so here it is. You can see how tight/close the lines are to the firewall in this shot...

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