I'm going to run an electric pump on my 59AB flathead. Do I need to remove the fuel pump rod or leave it in?
I took out the rod on mine and made it so the mechanical fuel pump was still there but was not functional (just for traditional looks) the fuel line just runs thru it.
You may loose some oil pressure if you remove it. Best to plug the pushrod hole above the cam with a 3/8" Welch plug after removing the rod. Jim
Nope, not what he said. You won't loose pressure. You would on an 8BA because it has an oiler hole in the bushng that bleeds oil from the galley to lubricate the pushrod. The pushrod acts as a restrictor when in place. The 59A does not have the bleed hole. Its bushing simply passes through the galley. I've heard of oil being splashed up through the bushing and into the valley, so some plug the hole, but there will be no pressure loss from removing the rod. Bob
cut off an inch-long piece of rod, slide a split collar over it so it doesn't fall through, and seal it with a bit of high temp silicone. That way when you decided you want to use the mechanical pump again you can just pull it out and drop a pump rod back in. I used an electric pump on my A, and went back to the mechanical when I put that engine in my F1. Glad I didn't drive some sort of plug into the bore.
We started the truck up and look down the hole, it was overflowing, not spraying. Dropped the rod in place, it stopped running out. Shut it off, rod dropped to the cam. Start back up, the rod lifted off cam, stayed in hole, no oil leaking by. Made a block-off plate and cut rod off with clearance, been like that for years, can always go back mechanical.
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