Saturday morning at 5:45AM found me back in the garage uninstalling the new sway bar I was up until 11PM installing the night before. It turns out it is 2 too narrow and left me with only 2 of suspension travel before it smacked into my frame. Undrivable.:af: I arrived at Englishtown around 9:45 an sailed through tech inspection. My first run netted a 14.31. WHAT?!!? When I had stock 430 heads, unported B4B, generic Holley 750, similar Lunati cam and stock manifolds I ran 14.39.uzzled: Something was up. While waiting in the staging lanes I met Larry. We BSd until my second run. A 14.43. But on the return trip it really began to run rough. Im talking only on 6 cylinders ratty. I was unable to find anything wrong. My brother showed up, we watched a few races then I left disgusted. He followed me home. Good thing. On the way the Riv died. Dead. Seems the new Ford Ranger fuel pump wasnt pumping. Remember, this has a pump in the tank, and the Ranger pump fits and pumps higher pressure and more volume. The first parts store we went to didnt have it (How many Rangers did Ford make? A zillion?). The next parts store handed me a mechanical pump. I told him it is an electric in-tank pump, but he disagreed. (What is WITH these morons?) So I gave him the AC Delco part number (EP297) and asked him to cross reference it. He finally gave me an electric pump. We get back to the Riv and it turns out I was given the wrong pump. Theres a surprise, huh? The next parts store didnt have it. o No: Finally at Pep Boys I got the right one. Swapped the pump (Thank you Buick engineers for the access panel in the trunk. Fuel pump swap is a 10 minute no-brainer.). Hit the road and only got 1000 before it died again. Pump was running, I could hear it. Called GSThunder (Al Fiandaca) and asked him to bring gas, as maybe my gauge was dead, even though I saw plenty of gas in the tank when changing the pump. Al only lives 10 minutes from where I broke down and was there in no time. Adding 5 gallons of gas did nothing, as fuel was barely trickling out of the fuel line at the tank. It turns out the little 90* rubber elbow that connects the pump to the metal fuel line on the sending unit had torn when I replaced the pump on the side of the road and I was not putting any gas up to the top of the sending unit. We fanagled the connection and it fired right up. Finally it felt like it was running good. Heading for home I pulled the headlight switch and it broke off in my hand. Sigh. Oy. I have another switch, and the Riv is running as well as it ever did. Im wondering if the fuel pump was dying all along which is why I felt like it wasnr running right for the last month and why my times showed no increase with the Stage1 setup, ported B4B, new cam and headers. I HOPE! Id hate to think I can bolt Stage1 stuff on a stock 430 and not gain ANY performance. I've had better days at the track.
1969 and 1970 Rivs came from the factory with an in-tank electric fuel pump. No return lines. It is wired through the starter and oil pump sender. The fuel pump will only pump when the starter is turning or when there is 3 lbs of oil pressure or more. It is to prevent the pump from continiously pumping in the case of an accident. Mine never worked from day one. I have it wired from a keyed fuse in the fuse block with an in-line fuse. I was just told that I should wire it to the hot wire on the back of the alternator and use a 30 amp relay to turn it off and on. The theory is that higher voltage will make the pump run better, pushing more fuel and at a higher pressure. And the aged factory wiring is providing less than the desired 12 volts right now. I'll do that as soon as possible. The Ranger pump fits and has a higher pressure and flow rate, to accommodate the additional needs of a larger carb and higher horsepower. There is an access panel in the trunk, making fuel pump changes a breeze. Shame new cars don't do that.
wow,they came with intank fuel pumps?man i learn new things everyday,wow i thought you hooked it up like that and was interested in doing the same to my `67 GS,wow that really amazed me:shock: . Thanks
