[Formulajones]

Originally Posted by 68bird400HO

The stock fuel pump in my 68 bird 400 finally failed after 20+ years earlier this Spring. In shopping for a new one, the main brands available were AC Delco, Airtex, Delphi, and Carter. I chose the Delphi as the reviews seemed a little better. When it arrived, I had some reservations as it was made in China and they didn't even include a gasket. Put it on and ran great until last week when it died and left me stranded. Didn't even last 200 miles. So, this time I ordered the Carter since it was supposedly made in USA. Just received it looks exactly like the same tooling as the Delphi and also says Made in China. I think Airtex is probably the same and I don't see the AC Delco one out there anymore. I am thinking of just sending the Carter back because I can't enjoy my car wondering if/when the pump is going to leave me stranded every time I drive it.

I have this (pics) aftermarket pump I am thinking of seeing if I can find a rebuild kit for but not sure exactly what it is. Can anyone identify this?

Also thinking of just going Robb Mc. In either of these cases, I think I would need to make a custom pump to carb line.

Any suggestions? Is there a stock replacement out there that isn't a pile of junk? Car is stock so hoping to keep it as close as possible. Thanks.

I made a pretty lengthy post about this a long while back with pics showing all those pumps sitting together outside their boxes and there was no discernable difference between any of them, which led me to believe they were all the same reboxed garbage. Even the AC Delco I had was the same and no longer carried the AC Delco logo cast into the aluminum housing, so I didn't accept it as a "real" AC Delco.

I've later posted how the most recent renditions of these pumps are hit and miss on reliability. The last round of these I went through on one vehicle, the first one didn't get me a mile from my driveway and died. Napa swapped that one for another, and that one got me about 10 miles from the house and I had to retrieve my trailer and tow it back. Napa at that point just said "here's your money back" LOL They didn't have another in stock for a warranty swap.

In a nut shell your best bet these days are really only 2 options that I consider.
One, go with a RobbMC pump and get yourself one of his extra rebuild kits to have on hand for $25 just for good measure, and just get used to the fact you have to custom bend and flare a new fuel pump line.
Two, more money and more work, go electric in the tank as all the modern cars do these days. Usually my go to option for any engine making 450-500hp or more, and then go the extra mile to make things appear stock. Not a cheap option, usually $1000 when done.

I don't even consider store bought $30 pumps anymore.

[Dave R]

Originally Posted by Formulajones

Two, more money and more work, go electric in the tank as all the modern cars do these days. Usually my go to option for any engine making 450-500hp or more, and then go the extra mile to make things appear stock. Not a cheap option, usually $1000 when done.

I don't even consider store bought $30 pumps anymore.

Then comes the problem of finding a good in tank pump. Last one I bought was an A/C Delco replacement from GM that lasted all of maybe 10 uses spread out over a year and seven days, just past the one year warranty period.

[78w72]

Originally Posted by Dave R

Then comes the problem of finding a good in tank pump. Last one I bought was an A/C Delco replacement from GM that lasted all of maybe 10 uses spread out over a year and seven days, just past the one year warranty period.

The intank set up most people use are from tanks inc or other retro fit modules from brands like holley, aeromotive etc, most use top quality pumps like walbro that are very reliable and can support very high HP.

[Formulajones]

Originally Posted by Dave R

Then comes the problem of finding a good in tank pump. Last one I bought was an A/C Delco replacement from GM that lasted all of maybe 10 uses spread out over a year and seven days, just past the one year warranty period.

That's never really been a problem that I've seen as long as you go with a genuine Walbro and I've been dealing with them for 25 years. That's about as good as it gets, and what the OEM's have been using for years. There are a lot of counterfeit Walbro pumps on the market for cheap, avoid those.

Always a chance something doesn't work but in the grand scheme of things good Walbro electric pumps failing prematurely on a regular basis is certainly not the norm. Millions of them on the roads today.