53 coupe 232 motor

[blalock51]

customer has a 53 coupe with a 232 motor seems to vapor lock after being driven for awhile , any help to fix this problem
thanks gary

[41 Frank]

Click on advanced search at the top and type in vapor lock, you will have enough reading to stay busy for a long time. The best cure is to intall an electric fuel pump back by the tank with a switch under the dash and don't use ethanol when possible. 232's seem to be prone to vapor lock, mine is anyway. Could be because of the fuel pump's location on top of the engine, where lots of heat is present. Electric pump cured mine after two new mechanical pumps did not.

[blalock51]

thanks gary here in alvin tx.

[Kurt]

Does it still have the top mount fuel pump? I too have fought this on my 51. a new fresh fuel pump did NOT solve the problem. After much frustration I finally checked the pressure and volume of the "new" pump. It was not at shop manual specs.... SO.... I tried another new one. Problem solved..... Never assume that something new or rebuilt is up to par. If I would have checked sooner, I would have saved myself much frustration.

[blalock51]

thanks gary

[TX Rebel]

I understand he has the car for sale. Has he mentioned a price?

[blalock51]

ebay barry barry

[Don Jeffers]

An easy thing to check

Probably not your problem, but something easy to check.

My '53 232 would quit running and after parked for a short while, would re-start and run okay. It took me a while to discover the cause.

The factory screen in the brass fitting on the carb where the fuel line connects to the carb; the screen was collecting a lint type debris from the fuel to the point fuel flow could not keep the engine running. The engine would quit, and after standing a short while, would then run again.

Once I found the problem and thoroughly cleaned out the screen, the engine ran for months. It took a very long time for the screen to collect enough lint to quit again, and the problem soon went away.

After 50+ years, not all those carb fittings still have the screen.

Just an easy thing to check and cure and a difficult thing for me to find.

[blalock51]

thanks alot

[Tom Bredehoft]

I found the only way to solve the 'vapor lock' problem in my 232 was to install a return line downstream from the pump (between the pump and the carb) to the tank. I put a .040 restriction in the return so that the carb got fuel when it needed it, but the excess would return to the pump, the fuel was always flowing through the pump, never had a chance to get hot enough to vaporize. I only use my electric pump to prime the carb before starting now.