[73LeMans]

I ran the old fuel system in my car for 18 years. It consisted of a Mallory 140 pump/filter/regulator, -8 lines, Jaz fuel cell, all deadheaded at the carb. This was fine for running 11.55 with my old iron #16s, and surprisingly, it was also fine pushing my 3700#+ barge to 10.67s when I switched to aluminum heads/solid roller in 2010. I knew I was close to maxing out this system though, so when the inevitable "next time" came when I wanted more power, the fuel system would make the top of the list.



The only constant "issue" I ever dealt with was the line routing to the carb. Initially the regulator draped over the open passenger wheel (no well) and ran legs up to the carb. Never a problem with that configuration, it was just ugly and potentially dangerous if a tire were to let go. I moved it to the back corner of the firewall, and while a tad bit safer, still ugly.



The problems came when I wanted a cleaner and safer solution. To achieve it, I ran the fuel line up the front of the block, under the Victor, out the side and up to a carb mounted regulator. The tight spacing required some tight, but doable, turns to be made.



Clean setup, but this proved later to be taking on too much heat (and likely causing a dangerously lean condition) any time I drove the car for good periods of time (45 minutes?) which was rare. I discovered the issue on a trip to a not-so-local car show where the only viable option to get there was a stretch of 65mph highway for 25 minutes. When I got to the show, the car had no idle, it died as I pulled in and didn't re-fire. It took some doing, but I managed to get it home. Safely? Who knows...did I lean it out to the point where I shortened the lifespan of a critical part? Probably.

Tip #3 - don't take a woefully under-prepared, 4.10 geared, 3800 stalled 3 spd drag car out on the highway for 25 minutes straight.

As good as that old system was, I knew I needed to rectify the issues or else forfeit this engine. I needed to fix the heat problem, as well as keep the fuel moving. For now, the fix was to only take the car to local shows 30 minutes or closer, mandating back roads to get there. Not ideal, but for a car that saw only an average of 500 miles a year, it wasn't too big of a sacrifice.

Funny too - I never had a fuel line rot or ever had to replace the filter. Of course Id check the filter constantly, but it was spotless every time. I replaced it once just because, but kept the old element because it was a good backup. I know its unpopular, but there is something to be said for not running pump gas!

The whole point of this rambling was to make it absolutely clear that my next system would be overkill for any power I planned on making. This should suffice.

Behold the Aeromotive A1000 awesomnessnessness.






Now the old trunk was never worthy of taking any picture of, so I wasn't about to start now. It was rattle can flat black, dingy and last touched in 1997. You can use your imagination, but I'm sure it was worse. Booo trunk space.

The JAZ cell strapped direct to the floor and sat flat because the I cut out the original hump for the OEM tank fuel lines. This tank was bigger than the JAZ by 8 gallons, and I wanted to make sure the filler was accessible for quick refills at the track. This meant the cell needed to sit more toward the back of the car. This presented a problem as youll see in the upcoming photos. So, instead of cutting up the trunk floor again, I decided to fab up some mounts and raise the cell off the floor. I had to replace some trunk floor to get good weld penetration but this method solved two issues - leveling off the tank, and giving the tank a way to be fastened to the floor. The tabs on the cell were done by my welder. (no TIG here). Finished it all with some store bought rattle can splatter paint.





One of my near-future purchases will be the Aeromotive pump speed controller. If I waited a tad longer..about a year.. I could have gotten the brushless pump with the controller built in, but I had no way of knowing. The A1000 moves A LOT of fuel, but its pretty loud. Almost makes me miss my Mallory....almost.