{"id":13396,"date":"2015-03-19T12:28:22","date_gmt":"2015-03-19T19:28:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=13396"},"modified":"2016-11-30T15:09:59","modified_gmt":"2016-11-30T23:09:59","slug":"fuel-pumps-fueling-the-flame-part-iv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/fuel-pumps-fueling-the-flame-part-iv\/","title":{"rendered":"Fuel Pumps: Fueling The Flame Part IV"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\"Fuel<\/a><\/p>\n

With this issue, we\u2019ll wrap up our look at how to \u201cfuel the flame\u201d in your street-strip car or even an all-out racecar. This time around, our focus is on fuel filters along with fuel filter elements. We\u2019ll also look at several different mount and plumbing solutions. Check it out:<\/p>\n

Fuel is filthy. That\u2019s no secret, and pump gas is regularly worse than race gas. That\u2019s why fuel filters for street-strip and dedicated drag cars are especially important. It\u2019s a good idea to use a high capacity in-line filter, or even a pair of them \u2013 one before the pump (pre-filter) and one after. Of course, there are a lot of different fuel filters available today. \u00a0You can even track down jobs that are pure vintage in the looks department. Unfortunately from a flow perspective, some of those vintage fuel filters don\u2019t do so well. A good option is Holley\u2019s latest line of billet in line filters. They\u2019re huge capacity jobs machined for -8 AN and larger fittings. Holley\u2019s filter easily disassembles allowing you to access the internal wire mesh filter. Typically, these filters have a GPH flow rating of 260 or so gallons per hour. Obviously for the vast majority of situations, these filters will not act as a restriction in the system.<\/p>\n

But where do you locate the filter? The arguments regarding filter location will probably never end (before the fuel pump or after the fuel pump), but in the interests of saving any electric pump from carnage, the best location is before the fuel enters the pump. Unfortunately, this sometimes places the filter in an awkward location and in some cases, the large aftermarket filters are difficult to mount and even more difficult to service in a street vehicle application.<\/p>\n

So what can you do about the problem? That\u2019s where the Holley filters come into the equation. They\u2019re big in capacity, but in terms of size, they\u2019re actually quite compact. The body diameter is 2-inches while the length is 5.5-inches overall. There are some other readily available aluminum body assembles which do a decent job of filtration on stock combinations, but many are just too small and cannot handle the volume of fuel required for healthy engine. As a result, they can constitute a restriction in the fuel delivery system — even if they aren’t plugged.<\/p>\n

What about the disposable plastic filters? When you look at them from a performance perspective, they’re a complete waste of time and dollars. And to make matters worse, they can prove dangerous. Cheap plastic filters constitute a rather large fuel system restriction, can easily be plugged and almost all examples we’ve seen have far too small an inlet\/outlet port for high performance use. In the end, dirt is the real enemy of any fuel delivery system. It can spell immediate grief and possible engine damage. No matter what type of high tech fuel filter system you incorporate under your car, use at least one filter, inspect it often and service it frequently. Your carburetor or injectors (along with other internal engine bits) will be much happier.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Check out the accompanying photos (and captions) for a look at several different filter options along with a couple of different fuel system component mounting solutions:<\/p>\n