1982 mini fuel pump

1601 Views 5 Replies 4 Participants Last post by lbeames, Sep 20, 2010

lbeames

Discussion Starter · Sep 17, 2010

Hi guys, I'm currently doing up a mini which currently has a mechanical fuel pump, I'd like to upgrade to an electrical one and wanted to ask a few techie questions to anyone who has done this or anyone who would know,
1. Where would I take the 12v supply from, cuz not sure if it needs to run from first turn of the key or when engine is running?
2. Would you recommend a fuel pressure regulator or will the pump handle it?

Cheers for any help you can give me

Lee,

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v8_trike

· #2 · Sep 17, 2010

lbeames said:
Hi guys, I'm currently doing up a mini which currently has a mechanical fuel pump, I'd like to upgrade to an electrical one and wanted to ask a few techie questions to anyone who has done this or anyone who would know,
1. Where would I take the 12v supply from, cuz not sure if it needs to run from first turn of the key or when engine is running?
2. Would you recommend a fuel pressure regulator or will the pump handle it?

Cheers for any help you can give me

Lee,

Hi, if you are on a budget get an SU electric pump from another Mini (or a Morris Minor) if money is no object a Facet pump & a filter king regulator will do a superb job.

You should always wire through an 'inertia' switch (Ford Sierras had these fitted as standard in the spare wheel well) then in the event of an accident, power to the pump will be cut preventing possibilities of a fuel spill.

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COLVERT

· #3 · Sep 18, 2010

lbeames said:
Hi guys, I'm currently doing up a mini which currently has a mechanical fuel pump, I'd like to upgrade to an electrical one and wanted to ask a few techie questions to anyone who has done this or anyone who would know,
1. Where would I take the 12v supply from, cuz not sure if it needs to run from first turn of the key or when engine is running?
2. Would you recommend a fuel pressure regulator or will the pump handle it?

Cheers for any help you can give me

Lee,

Not quite sure why you think an electrical pump is an "upgrade". The SU pumps were always causing problems and most people were happy to see them go. If you look at my personal profile you will see that I come from a time when the electrical pumps were fitted to lots of things. I owned two Austin A 110s which had TWO pumps each to get round the non funtioning of one or other of the pumps from time to time. Still caused trouble !!!!
If you HAVE to go electrical then the pump should become 'LIVE' when the ignition light comes on and before you crank the engine. This, if you pause a second, will give the pump time to fill the carb.
With the mechanical pump the pressure is only generated when the engine is running and thus cannot flood the carb. With the electrical pump if you accidently leave the ignition on can , if the float needle does not seal perfectly, flood the carb. and drip petrol on to the ground which can be a considerable fire hazard !!

Colvert. :hgf::hgf::hgf:

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COLVERT

· #4 · Sep 20, 2010

lbeames said:
Hi guys, I'm currently doing up a mini which currently has a mechanical fuel pump, I'd like to upgrade to an electrical one and wanted to ask a few techie questions to anyone who has done this or anyone who would know,
1. Where would I take the 12v supply from, cuz not sure if it needs to run from first turn of the key or when engine is running?
2. Would you recommend a fuel pressure regulator or will the pump handle it?

Cheers for any help you can give me

Lee,

Clear your inbox cos it's FULL. Can't PM you.

:drunk2:

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SnapdragonGT

· #5 · Sep 20, 2010 (Edited)

I'd agree with COLVERT, unless you're chasing serious power on a crazy high revving A series or a turbo monster I'd stick with the mechanical fuel pump as they're pretty reliable and more than upto the job for even tuned 1293 engines. Only ever known of two failures personally.

If you really do want to go with an electric pump you'd need to know what pressure an aftermarket pump supplies versus the original pump, if you fitted a high performance high flow high pressure pump without a regulator then the car will likely overfuel and even suffer flooding as mentioned by COLVERT.

What model is it? I do like my Minis. What are your plans for the brakes too?

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lbeames

Discussion Starter · #6 · Sep 20, 2010

Hi, mailbox cleared

To be honest it's only a standard 1L one and I wasn't really doing it for performance reasons, my uncle had a mini years ago and the heat from the exhaust manifold caused problems for the fuel pump and it ended up catching fire, I'd heard it was a common problem, but from the sound of it, I maybe better just using the existing mehanical one, alot less hassle, also in terms o the brakes, I've renewed everything but are keeping just standard drums, I'm doing this as well as my mgf so keeping costs down at the minute, will definately be upgrading to full servo and disks asap!

Cheers guys

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