I'm hoping for some advice from those of you that may have done the EFI swap. I read here that the '85-'87 F-150's used a frame mounted fuel pump. I have confirmed this. I've even purchased one. It's a great little two wire unit complete with insulation and rubber mounted bracket. (I can provide a picture and FoMoCo # should anyone need it.) Where did you guys mount your pumps? What materials did you use for your fuel lines? Did you go the distance with nylon or did you use steel? I'm hoping anyone that has done this can provide me with helpful ideas, solutions, comments, etc... I'm continually impressed and grateful for the information that everyone shares here. This place rocks.
I used an aftermarket external pump. Some of the ford cars and trucks actually used two pumps, one in the tank and one inline. Don't know if the truck pump you have is intended for use as a stand-alone unit or a "helper" pump. I used steel line but will soon be rerouting the fuel lines using the more pliable aluminum. I actually used two stock maverick steel lines as both the feed and return. If you do this the lines have to be connected using EFI rated hose and clamps. Do not use standard fuel hose! Mount the the pump as close to and below the tank as possible. I mounted mine behind the right rear tire between the fender and frame rail. I drilled holes in the trunk pan to secure it in place. The problem with this method is routing the exhaust pipe! The pipe is a little to close to the pump in my opinion. The last thing to remember is the return line connection to the tank. Some have said they used the line the enters at the top of the tank (this was originally hooked up to the carbon canister under the hood). Don't know if that is a good idea. My return line enters above the centerline of the tank using a transmission drain plug kit replacing the actual plug with a ribbed 90 degree (turn) threaded nipple. Hope this helps.
I use an external high pressure pump as well. I mounted it in the area just in front of the tank. I used high pressure rubber line to connect from the tank to the pump, and then from the pump to the stock steel line. I also replaced the rest of the rubber lines with high pressure line. For a return line I did use the vapor return line....but beware! On my '72 the line was just about the same size as the fuel line. (I have a '72) I have seen some cars where it is smaller diameter...probably would raise fuel pressure. Also, the fitting where the vapor line connects at the top of the tank has basically a pin sized hole for the vapor...also not good for fuel pressure. I found out the hard way. Once I had the car running I measured the fuel pressure at about 40 psi(where it should be)...and then when I was doing some road testing, one of the rubber fuel lines burst. Long story short, that pin hole got clogged and the fuel pressure was spiking to about 100 PSI(!). I took the fitting off of the tank and drilled it out, and now the return line works fine.
I appreciate both of your replies. You've basically confirmed that the best locale for the pump is right down there amoungst the tank, frame rail and exhaust pipe. This sure would be easier if we were running side pipes. I really appreciate the heads up regarding the vapor return line. I had intended to use it but will definately investigate further. Thanks!
I had the chance to get into this project last night. After pulling the tank I got to investigating the vapor return line fitting. Mark you were way right. Although that fitting accepts a 5/16" fuel line, there nothing more than a little itty-bitty pee hole were it dumps into the tank. Only took a minute or two to drill that thing out. I hate to think what coulda.... Thanks alot guys!
I'm glad my experience was able to save someone from what happened and what could've happened to me. To elaborate on my experience...it was about 10:00 in the evening, and I had just put enough stuff back on the car to be able to take it on it's first trek longer than just up and down my street. I drove up to the gas station at the end of my street and filled up and then decided to head up to my parent's house about 5 miles away to show the ol' man. About a mile into the trip a dude pulled up along side me and started waving his arms wildly...he was shouting that I had a major gas leak. I pulled onto a side street, got out of the car and saw a huge trail of gas behind me and a waterfall of gas coming out the back. The rubber line coming from the pump connecting to the steel gas line had a huge split in it. Good thing that exhaust pipe was not very hot! Even though it was a new high pressure line, I figured that it must have been "bad" in some way. I replaced it and it ran fine for awhile. Then one day I was out for another test drive and black smoke began pouring out the tailpipes and the engine was running like total crap. I started going over every part of the fuel injection...I even swapped the injectors for a spare set that I had. I didn't even think to test the fuel pressure again(I know..DUMB!). I had checked it several times over the weeks that I had been fooling with it and it was fine. I finally did recheck it(after my dad reminded me I should look at the simple sh!t first )...and sure enough it was almost 100 psi! Once we drilled out that return fitting, all has been well in fuel pressureville.
So that's what coulda... Man, I said I didn't want to think about it. Seriously, I've had similar experiences. I almost burnt down an old Buick because of a stupid fuel filter gasket I forgot to check (DUMB!) I had gone to a car show about a year prior were they would not judge your car unless you had a fire extinguisher. Had it not been for that requirement (that I of course thought was stupid at the time) that old buick woulda been toast. Hey, you got an extinguisher in your car, right?
Hey MavMark or EFIMAV do either of you two have a pic of the fuel pump mounted? That would help me greatly!
fuel pump pics I fit the fuel pump between the frame rail and the innter quarter wheel house. I have attached pics of the view from below, in the trunk and through the wheel well opening. From the trunk view you can see the three bolts holding the assembly in place. The view from below you can see two of the three bolts. The view from the wheel well you can see the prefilter and line going into the pump and then the line coming out of the fuel filter. The bracket is from a 1984 lincoln mark VII and the pump and filter are housed in the bracket. sorry about the wait.
This is not the best picture...I can't find the better ones I took of the fuel pump install...I will have to take some more when I get a chance. This pic is taken from under the passenger side looking towards the driver's rear wheel. I used an aftermarket pump that I bought from Mustangs Plus (they carry a lot of EFI conversion parts). The pump isn't quite as close to the exhaust pipe as it looks, but I ended up wrapping the pump and the rubber hose with heat shield foil anyway. Years ago when I converted my '77 I mounted the pump in roughly the same place as EFIMav, but on this car the exhaust pipe is in the way(the other car had both pipes coming out the passenger side). I have the fuel filter up under the hood. I ran a 10 ga. wire from the fuel pump relay(also mounted under the hood) to the trunk where I mounted an inertia switch I got from a Ford vehicle equipped with EFI in the junkyard. The inertia switch will shut the pump off in a collision. I then drilled a hole in the trunk floor above the pump, put in a grommet and ran the wire from the inertia switch to the pump. The only major problem I had(besides the return line) was that I accidentally connected the hoses backwards on the pump and had no fuel pressure. DOH!
Those pics help a lot!More pics would be better! I've read some pinto guys doing the same about using the stock lines and tank. But they suggest mounting the pump lower than the tank to avoid starving the fuel pump. Do either of ya'll have any of these problems. Like running out of gas on a hard left turn?
I have not had any problems running out of gas on turns. Only when my sending unit screwed up and I thought I had 1/4 tank and I was really running on fumes. Here is another picture of the pump:
