Hi folks,
I am installing air conditioning, and electric power assisted rack and pinion steering in my car among other silly modifications. These items take space and one thing the MK2 does not have is extra space under the bonnet for anything. I am thinking about cutting the hard fuel line from the boot near where the oil filter is mounted and then running a direct line from the shortened fuel line to the fuel feed pipe for the carbs. This would allow me to completely eliminate the AC glass bowl fuel filter mounted on the right engine bay valance.
I would then move a fuel filter to the boot in the compartment where the fuel pump is. The first photo link shows where the fuel filter is now. The second shows a fuel filter close to where I am talking about locating the filter - although I am not planning a redundant fuel pump.
My question is this: Moving the filter obviously violates originality but that was sacrificed some time ago. So, other than originality is there any reason to not do what I am thinking about? As a by product, it seems to me that it might also be helpful to not have a glass bowl full of fuel exposed to the heat of the engine bay. Thanks for your opinions.
Lin
I think that is such a great idea that I did it myself many years ago. I
was tired of having the engine buck and die in hot traffic only to find the
fuel in the bowl boiling.
As a by product, it seems to me that it might also be helpful to not have a
glass bowl full of fuel exposed to the heat of the engine bay. Thanks for
your opinions.
Lin
Just makes it a little harder to gain access to to check and clean. I insulated my engine compartment mounted one with foam home pipe insulation and insulated the metal line leading to it with insulation as well. I must say your dual pump and piping is unique and clever. My S Type also has two pumps plus two tanks.
I completely eliminated the glass bowl and run a filter before the electric pump in the trunk. I found the glass was challenging to seal 100% and fuel odors may become evident in your trunk space. Regrettably I still get fuel boiling out of the AED on hot days and I am considering a marine bilge mini pump to blow air onto the carbs in slow traffic.
on a different application altogether, I mounted a 240cfm fan that is made to cool computer servers, rated to 75C to cool an under bonnet item, cost $25 used from ebay, 5" square, blows a ferocious gale.
cant remember the type, but its an industry standard
I would suggest that if you’re going to relocate the bowl filter to the trunk and you aren’t replacing the line to the engine bay with a non rusting material, then it would make sense to put an inline filter up at the carbs.
The steel lines do rust, so filtering at the rear end won’t eliminate that, and having a sight gauge up near the carbs helps to see if you’re getting fuel when the car isn’t starting (which rarely, if ever, happens… but still.)
Are you mounting them with an air hose feed or suspended between the wheel well and the carbs?
These look like a good idea, although the one I mentioned above does have somewhat more direct porting of the airflow to a direct point and you can feed cool air from outside of the engine compartment. Just looking at all alternatives :))
I[quote=“The_Jag_Man, post:11, topic:352344, full:true”]
Are you mounting them with an air hose feed or suspended between the wheel well and the carbs?
These look like a good idea, although the one I mentioned above does have somewhat more direct porting of the airflow to a direct point and you can feed cool air from outside of the engine compartment. Just looking at all alternatives :))
Gerard
[/quote]
Hopefully not drifting off topic, I used them for a couple of different purposes, and did not duct air, for the reason they move so much air, these things would slice your finger off, be overkill for a fuel bowl maybe, and look a bit stupid, I also used a similar style to your suggestion, (in a smaller space) to direct air straight on to a motor body (also a computer fan) .
drifting even further, If you check facts on lead-acid batteries, every +10C of temp decreases their life by a given factor
I frequently smell fuel sloshing out of the AED on hot days and I worry an electrical fan right nearby might be a rude awakening? Ducting the air somehow from afar seems safer even though I enjoy living on the edge.
Falling all the way off course and perhaps overboard from the bow; something we experience here in Colorado with the cold weather is a significant drop in the amount of cold cranking amps when the temperature drops to the extremes. I do enjoy driving the MK2 in the cold, as the air being much denser makes for a marked improvement in performance. One problem is the use of Magnesium chloride on the roads which, similar to salt, is death to metal.
Vectoring off on the fan topic, here’s a completely random thought on how to solve the heat soak issue. I have a '62 Mk2 with a 3.8 engine and have cut out the triangular cutouts in the rear of the engine bay/wheel well to improve airflow. I also have a pusher electric fan sitting in front of the radiator. What if you were to reverse the direction of the pusher fan…turning it into a puller, to draw cool air through the triangle cutouts, across the engine and out the front of the car through the grill? I would imagine there’s a way to rig this up to run for a set number of minutes upon engine shutdown. Could even rig it so that it ran only if a certain temperature point were exceeded. This would pull cooler air through the cutouts, over the engine, and through the radiator. Granted, you’d also be pulling engine heat through the radiator, but this would be temporary and coolant temperature is not really the issue. If this were effective you’d solve two issues with one electric fan in front of the radiator. When the car is running the fan would be configured to rotate properly as a pusher. Thoughts?
I imagine someone will challenge me to figure out how to do this and I’m more than happy to experiment…but my car is probably a year away from being on the road…so won’t be anytime soon.
Hi Linn; I endorse fuel line in trunk, secondary in-line filter up near carbs where you can see it. RE: needing extra space under hood: I saw a youtube post on Mk2 brake mods; the guy had relocated the battery to the trunk and used the battery perch for a non-stock brake booster. Might be a good location for for your AC condenser. I put an agm battery in the trunk on a bimmer, found the cable readymade at a wrecker - out of a mid-80’s BMW, if I remember right. Good luck, David
