I chuckle to read the title I just wrote...but it's really not funny. Thought I was having a heat soak issue with my Studebaker and took steps to address it. Installed a phenolic spacer under the newer Daytona Parts 1bb carb and also installed a water/fuel separator on the inner fender, being sure to keep heat away from the plumbing. The ol' girl was and is having a hard time re-starting hot after sitting for 30 mins or so. The weird thing is, once stopped and in the garage after a good warm-up, I can hear a gurgling noise coming from the carb, as if it's percolating the fuel. ??? My fuel lines are cool to the touch; I have a new Champion radiator and a cool running flat-head 6 with good ventilation into the engine compartment. I'm tired of holding my breath every time I go somewhere and I'm almost ready to stick a small FI system on the old beast. (Overkill, I know) Any ideas would be helpful, so thanks in advance!
Could it be your fuel pump heating up? I had that happening with my 53 dodge truck till I put a heat shield over it.
If it is percolating you will also see vapors coming out of the bowl vent with the air cleaner off. To remedy the percolating can run this 3 port fuel filter, the 3rd port sends a small amount of fuel back to the tank to keep fuel from sitting and heating up.Ez way is to run the return line from the 3rd port to your filler tube on the gas tank, rather than modifying the tank itself. Is the fuel line after the pump warm to the touch? I only have had this problem at exactly this time of year when the gas pumps still have the winter blend fuel and the weather warms up, I've had this happen with fuel lines just barely warm to the touch, it's the butane in the winter blend lowering the boiling point dramatically.
Thank you, Guys! I will check all these things and report back. 57Chevymadman, if I use a three port filter, will I need to weld a return bung onto my tank? Being a '58 there's no provision for a return line.
Try rerouting the hose that bows up from the filter to not trap air. Fuel may be siphoning back towards the tank after shut down, what you hear my be like the sound of a straw at the bottom of a drink.
The reason FI doesn't have issues with today's gas is fuel pressure. [vapor pressure] If any part of your fuel system is under vacuum it will lower the boiling point. So check to see if the "sock" in the tank sender is clean. Having the mechanical pump at the front/engine causes a lot of problems. 1: is lowers vapor pressure between the tank and pump 2: the heat of the engine dissipates into the fuel pump [which can be higher than the boiling point/vapor pressure of the fuel] The only thing stopping the engine boiling fuel is the pressure between the pump and float bowl while the engine is running. If you don't care for originality an electric pump generally cures most vapor related problems. The most reliable electric pump is the USA made Walbro FRP series Pull the sender unit from the tank and solder/braze a hose tail nipple to that.
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