Well I've resigned myself to another summer without driving my TBucket, that's both good and bad. Since I have another five months before it will be warm enough to drive an open car, I want to go thru the component selection and design for a fuel system that will feed the engine that I've built.
Go here for the engine build thread: viewtopic.php?f=69&t=3814
I say design because I see this a Systems Design project, I have to select the pieces that will work together as a complete functional fuel system as well as decide:
1.) What size lines to use including the supply line and return line.
2.) What materials to use for the metal lines.
3.) Should I route the metal fuel lines, inside the frame, along side the frame or inside a tube along the frame.
4.) Do I use barb fittings, NPT (National Pipe Thread), Army/Navy (AN) fittings, SAE O-Ring Boss (ORB)
5.) Make it ALL CONNECT into one complete system.
Every project should have goals and these are mine: (Please add your suggestions, so that I might add them to the list)
1.) Solicit all the help I can!
2.) Design a fuel system to supply the needs of a 500 HP engine from 50F to 110F.
3.) System must be compatible with 10% to maybe 15% Ethanol if the new regulations go into effect, as I can't count on always having access to 100% pure gasoline.
4.) This fuel system will extend from the aluminum fuel tank (Coors Beer Keg) to the carburetor float bowls.
5.) Budget is $500. This system does not have to be of the caliber of a Pro Stock team that has thousands of dollars on the line if something fails, but I don't want to be stranded on the highway either.
Every component (Pump, Regulator and filter) can be bought with any of the above types of connections. The preferred connection for me at this time is the ORB, since it does NOT need any sealer like NPT does, but it could always change with budget concerns. If you need to work on the fuel system, just get to work, there will nothing needed to put it back together again. No running to the hardware store for Teflon tape.
So to kick this off, I'm going to post some information about the SAE O-Ring Boss (ORB) connection from the Aeromotive website.