Y block fuel pumps

Gary Bryant

Gary Bryant

New member
I have gone thru 5 double action fuel pumps on my 1957 Tbird. They work for about 15 minutes and then quit. I have installed an electric pump in-line so I can get back to the shop. I have checked everything to determine if it might be something besides the pump from removing the tank, checking the fuel line and the eccentric on the cam gear. I can’t get a pump to last long enough to drive down the road. Anybody got any ideas? I have read reviews on pumps purchased from various parts vendors and apparently I’m no the only one with this problem.
 
Are these new pumps? The new pumps are made in china and they fail right out of the box or shortly thereafter. The only solution I have seen is to get one that is made in the USA, Canada or Mexico and have it rebuilt


If you do not need a double action, you can use one for an FE engine. You may need a fuel pressure regulator for it because of the pressure.
 
Paul is correct, ALL the 'new replacement' dual action mechanical fuel pumps come from china and are Defective in the box.
It doesn't matter which vendor is selling them. There has apparently been only one off-shore manufacturer / supplier for the last 5 or 6 years. For some strange reason parts retailers are still offering the defective pumps for sale.

With the relatively low volume demand for a 70-ish year old part all the quality manufacturing sources for them no longer exist.
Same with the rebuild kits, not available except for this possible source.
https://www.then-now-auto.com/product-category/fuel-pump-kits/


These two rebuilders could be creating their own 'kits', not sure.

https://agrebuilders.com/

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064792812788
Terrill Machine Inc.
1000 CR 454, De Leon, Texas
(254) 893-2610
Email: terrillmachine@yahoo.com

These three T-Bird restorers / parts suppliers offer a rebuilding service: Prestige, Hills, or Casco. There may be more but I'm not currently aware of them.

The chinese fuel pumps can be easily spotted by their Phillips head screws, example photo below.
Their very poor build quality means rebuilders won't accept them as a core.
 

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Something to consider is to replace the vacuum windshield wiper motor with an electric motor kit which eliminates the need for the dual action pump. I have done that on the 312 in my current car and it works great. Only downside is losing the originality of the vacuum wiper motr.

Good Luck,
Dave
 
These offshore a.k.a. Chinese garbage, pumps have been plaguing us for years, but nobody seems to have done anything about them. (guessing they might be "tariffed" out of existence...but can only hope.) I rebuilt my "original" with a kit from Prestige that seemed to do the trick, but by then I was so discussed I went 100% electric pump mounted by the tank with a pressure regulator up by the carb. Pump is controlled by a toggle switch under the dash and this has worked perfectly for me. I also installed an inertial switch in the power to the switch and mounted it on the firewall...just in case!! And yes I converted to electric wipers with a kit from CASCO. (If I had been aware that CASCO could have done my rebuild, I would have sent the pump off to them, but at the time I was very new to the car and hadn't discovered them yet.)
 
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