All I have to do is replace the pump. Right?

It's all about this damn car isn't it?
The Chicago region of the PCA was going to host a two day DE at GingerMan raceway on August 6th and 7th. I was absolutely, positively going to make this - come hell or high water.

The last time I wrote, I was happily driving a car with fuel flow issues. This NEEDED to be addressed before the GingerMan event - not only am I hoping to eliminate the hesitation issue, but I saw a bunch of questionable connections that I wanted to replace in the interest of safety and reliability.

So I placed an order from Summit Racing for all this cool-boy race car stuff to 'upgrade' my fuel system. New pump, regulator, filter - and a bunch of hose. Bear in mind that my experience in fuel pumps and whatnot - at this point in my life - is basically nil. But, whatever, it's common sense right? Gasoline is a liquid - it flows downhill, takes corners easily and happens to explode violently when it comes into contact with a flame or spark. Fun.

So all this stuff comes via the UPS man, and it spends a few days (ok, about 10) in my living room wherein I would occasionally open a box and covet the contents like some drug addict admiring his new crack gear.

Finally the day (well, night really) arrived for me to begin the transplant. The plan was to remove the failing under powered and overworked (currently installed) fuel pump, and sandwich this new one in there. This would be the quickest route to fuel flow nirvana, and save me lots of re-plumbing and nasty stuff under the car. I would then install the regulator in the engine compartment (that's in the back - remember, Porsche 911 here) along with the filter (which would replace an old Bosch unit also in the back) and voila'! Bye bye fuel flow issues.

Of course, that was the PLAN - in reality, it wasn't so simple. Not even close.

The pump I pulled out was tiny - itty bitty tiny in fact. About as big around as a can of Red Bull, and maybe 2/3 the height (well, length really - this thing lies on it's back). The inlet and outlet ports of the old pump are on the "top" and "bottom" of the cylinder (which works out to the right and left sides because it's sits horizontal) - as installed, it is cradled near the steering rack right above the cross member which holds the front wheels. A short length of 1/2" rubber fuel line (hose) attaches from the outlet of the fuel tank to the inlet of the pump. The pump output is routed via another hose which in turn is connected to a long length of plastic tubing which runs the length of the tunnel and out through the firewall.

For those who don't know, the tunnel seems to be a general term used to describe any area in a car which is used to ferry cables, hoses and other "connecting" type things from the front to the back of the car. In my 911, the tunnel is centered between the seats - about 10 inches wide and 4 deep, it protrudes slightly above the floor pan and contains two fuel lines (plastic tubing in my case), the throttle and clutch cables and the transmission linkage. It's awkward as hell to work in the tunnel, since access is limited to three or four small penetrations.

So, after removing the old pump I gleefully pull out my new purchase and marvel at it's beauty. How shiny! Look at the chrome and brass! Look at the cool stickers! Wow, it's even got a mounting bracket. Holy shit, look at how friggin HUGE this thing is!

Yup - while the old pump could be compared to a small can of Red Bull, this new baby is about the size of a pub can of Guinness. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm all for a nice pint of Guiness - but not when I have to squeeze it into a tiny little space underneath my car! Oh, and the final nail in the coffin - this pump wants to sit upright, not lying on it's back. Now what?

Well, one of the GruppeB boys had mentioned in the past relocating his fuel pump to the smuggler's box (in his 911 race car) - this might be my answer too. The smuggler's box is a smallish compartment underneath the 'floor' of the front compartment which may or may not house a variety of components depending on the flavor of 911 that you own. In my case, the off-the-showroom version of my car came with an air-conditioning system which used a large portion of this compartment to hold some type of A/C piece of hardware - heat exchanger, evaporator, or something like that. Seeing that the A/C system had been removed years ago, I have basically a nice covered compartment which is accessible from under the hood with easy access to the fuel tank. Sounds like there's the place to go!

After a bit of dry fitting and moving stuff around it becomes apparent that not only will I be able to fit the pump in the 'box, but I can include the regulator, filter and new gauge in there as well. This will clean up the plumbing in the engine compartment considerably. Sweet!

After many trips to the local Ace Hardware for various bass fittings and whatnot, I coble together this:

Wherein you can probably make out the fuel line from the tank (black hose in the back of the picture) feeding the inlet to the pump (the big can in the middle). Out of the pump, the fuel goes directly into a regulator and out the top into another piece of hose. This hose takes a ninety degree bend around to the other side of the smuggler's box and ends up...









Connected to the fuel pump, the fuel gauge, and then heads back down under the car to enter the tunnel and back to the engine compartment.

The entire setup impressed me immensely. To the point I got cocky. So cocky in fact, that I forgot some of my fluid flow basics...

The first time I turned the system on, it pumped gas all the way from the tank to engine compartment with nary a leak anywhere. I had the carbs disconnected, so the system was basically open-ended - I wanted to make sure any gunk in the lines would be cleared before I reconnected the fuel line to the carburetors. Unfortunately, what I completely forgot (or ignored) was that an open-ended system basically is under NO pressure.

Leaks don't usually show up without any pressure in the lines. Dumbshit.

At the end of the second night of "the solution", I had re-plumbed most of the fuel delivery system, and verified (so I thought) that it was leak free. Being another late night, I decided that prudence was the better part of reason, so packed up until tomorrow wherein I would try to start up the car.

The next evening, Porsche bud and 911 race car driver / mechanic Chris Streit stopped by to witness the inaugural restart. His first question (after commenting on how damned cool the setup looked) was regarding leaking UNDER PRESSURE.

** Gulp ** - "I guess we'll see" was my reply.

Connect the carbs back up and fire up the pump.

Pissssssssssssssssssss. Well, that's one way to clean out a smuggler's box!

To make a LONG story a bit shorter and spare you the cursing and whatnot, about an hour (and much heavy-handed wrenching) later we had the engine running with no leaking. Shazam! That's the ticket!

Over one week until GingerMan, and the car is READY. Oh YES!