Since it's been raining a lot lately on the weekends, I've been working on some little stuff. I machined a fuel log out of a scrap of 6061 aluminum. It's basically a long block with drilled and tapped holes and I left a tab along the bottom to use to attach a bracket to, which meant hogging away a lot of aluminum on the mill. I used a roundover bit in the mill to smooth over the corners. I drilled 7/16" holes and tapped them for 1/4 NPT and an "R" drill lengthwise to connect everything together and tapped the front end for 1/8" NPT for the 45 degree fuel pressure gauge fitting to screw into. I spent a lot of time sanding and polishing. I tried to make it look as rounded as possible so that it would look more like an old cast aluminum piece than a machined billet piece. I polished up a bunch of brass compression fittings. I used a deburring wheel to smooth them off first, then polished them on a buffing wheel. Brass sure looks cool once you polish it. I used a tubing bender to bend the first piece of stainless tubing from the first carb down to about where I wanted the fuel log to be. I wanted the fuel log away from the valve cover and out in the air (instead of too close to the engine) to keep the fuel cool. I have a mechanical fuel pump. I polished the stainless tube when I was sure everything was where I wanted it, and tightened up the compression fittings to hold it in place. Then I made the second line and polished it and tightened that one up too. Then the third one. Even though the stainless lines were pretty stiff, I didn't want the fuel log just dangling in the air like that, so I started cutting up stiff paper to make different templates for a bracket until I got something that looked good. Those glossy political advertisement cards they send you in the mail work good for making templates. I traced the pattern out onto some 16 gauge stainless steel and cut it out a little oversize. Then I bent it to shape in a vice squeezing it between some scraps of metal that had a radius on the edge so it would make a smooth bend and not gouge up the stainless. I had to go back and forth and trim it a little until it fit just right. I drilled the holes using a 1/8" pilot hole and then a step bit with lots of cutting oil at a slow speed. Step bits work well on stainless because they don't grab and gouge in as much as normal bits seem to like to do with stainless. I smoothed the stainless up on a deburring wheel and then spent a while buffing it. It's a little scary buffing a piece like that because you need to make sure you don't snag a corner on the buffing wheel and launch it across the room. I also polished up some buttonhead stainless bolts and bolted it on. Buttonheads maybe aren't traditional, but I like 'em because they look cool and add some sparkle. I finished it off with another stainless tube I bent to go down to the fuel pump. I don't really like the looks of that tube though -- how it zig zags to get down there. I have sintered bronze fuel filters in each carb's inlet fitting. I probably should have another filter in the line? I could cut that zig zag line and put a fuel filter in there I guess if I want. I also don't have a fuel pressure regulator, but I think this pump is only supposed to put out about 6 psi. It's not a high pressure pump. This little stuff takes awhile, but it's kind of fun. Good little jobs to do on rainy weekends when there isn't much else you can do anyway.
You need to change your board name to "IMakeMyOwnBolts" As always, another sweet piece. A LOT of nice touches to that engine.
VERY nice job! Now when some newbie asks about fuel logs I will tell them to SEARCH for this thread! I like how you mounted the log out fron, looks different from what most of us normally do. REALLY DIG IT! Any pics of the whole car?
I would lose those sintered bronze filters...they clog waaaay too easily. Find a system1 and stash it between the tank and the fuel filter. I clean mine about once every year or so. spendy, but worth it. and chisel that damn Edelbrock logo off yer fuel pump...it's an Eyeball magnet. You fuel block is just plain bitchin. Nice Mill, too.
You really have a good eye for this stuff. Along with the perseverance to make it look right. Kudos....
Thanks a lot guys! Yeah, I think that big Edelbrock sticker on the fuel pump does gotta go. I should add a big fuel filter somewhere -- maybe back near the outlet of the fuel tank. The tank sits high in the front of the bed, so there's a good gravity feed from the tank down to the mechanical fuel pump, so a fuel filter in between there probably won't hurt with the flow much at all, especially if I get a big one with lots of surface area in the filter element. Thanks for the ideas.
Go to the parts store and ask for an AC/Delco cannister fuel filter PN GF62C It is the same one Socal has shown in their catalog. They look good, work excellent and the element can be changed by spinning the canister off from below.
Be sure you install a ball valve between tank and filter. Makes life easy when it's time to change filters.
Thanks again guys. I luckily did put a ball valve on the outlet of my fuel tank, so that should make it easy to add a filter back there under the tank. Thanks for that part number on the filter. You definitely need part numbers now dealing with the local car parts places. They can't find anything now unless you can give them year, make, and model.
The Jalopy Journal
