Found in the engine compartment of my XK120DHC.
I figure its a fuel pump, not sure make or year/range
It’s a facet pump, very common swap out / good pumps and take to hammers nicely to wake up.
Yes, I’ve used Facets in a lot of classics - Healeys mostly, but my Mini has one currently. I’ve found them very reliable, with the red tops able to power triple 45DCOEs easily without over pressurising.
And before it became a Facet Pump it was originally a Bendix. Identical design and just as reliable as the new ones.
I really like those. The same design has gone under the names of Bendix, Eclipse and Facet over the decades but all made at the same American east coast (New York?) factory from what I once read. Asian knock-offs have been made for some years now at a significant discount, but I can’t vouch for their quality. I keep two or three as spares in case my original SU with electronic points upgrade were to ever fail in between maintenance. I know that Aircraft Spruce and Specialty offers them for those with homebuilt aircraft so that should speak a little to their reliability.
These are very simple in construction. It’s essentially a solenoid that cycles up and down all the time with a ball check valve and internal filter. Unscrewing the bottom will enable you to clean out any crud pulled from the fuel tank that was held back from being passed on through the pump by the cylindrical filter element.
Look close near one of the mounting legs. There should be some numbers which will correspond as to whether it’s positive/ negative ground and pressure rating. The one that came with my '120 was 6 volts even though our cars are energized for a total of 12 volts. Still worked fine regardless until I fitted the correct SU type again. I don’t want to bash SU products, but I do feel you get more reliability and value for your money by using these replacement pumps – at the cost of originality and having them run all the time.
My XK120SE OTS had been fitted with the Bendix version when I bought it in 1964, presumably for reliability - and it was.
I despise of them because they are not SU, but they are a very solid and thoughtful design with serviceable filter. The plunger is unserviceable and mine seems to be broken/frozen/stuck and can’t be salvaged unless someone can tell me otherwise. Good pump.
They still make 24 volt versions too, which I use in my MOD 109… Great pumps.