1955 Fuel Pump/Fuel Delivery Issues

[JoeHall]

I have no first hand experience with the 318 pump. From all I have read here, it is an excellent replacement for Studes, with maybe a little extra volume, which is a good thing.
Many of the aftermarket Stude pumps, i.e. "Airtex" are junk, are lucky to last six months, and usually have a ticking sound from first start-up. That is one reason why I went to electrical pumps over 25 years ago.
But I understand why you'd want to keep that Speedster as stock appearing as possible, and believe a 318 pump would be close.

[55coupe]

I put the mopar pump in the 55 last year. Its a bit larger so I had to grind on the motor mount for enough clearence it seemed like alot at first but there is alot of mount on these cars. It does put more pressure on the wcfb so after awhile I put a regulator between pump and carb to maintain 4.5 lbs. All of this works very well starts easyer after sitting now and no oil leaks from the fuel pump.

[Dylan]

I put the mopar pump in the 55 last year. Its a bit larger so I had to grind on the motor mount for enough clearence it seemed like alot at first but there is alot of mount on these cars. It does put more pressure on the wcfb so after awhile I put a regulator between pump and carb to maintain 4.5 lbs. All of this works very well starts easyer after sitting now and no oil leaks from the fuel pump.

okay, do you have any pictures of your '55 with the Pump installed?





Dylan

[Dylan]

Update: I had the battery tested and checked out this morning and its fully charged. Before I removed it out of the car I was able to have some help and I was able to listen to the starter as my neighbor turned the key. I can definitely tell you that the issue is within the starter, sounds like the brushes are shot in the starter and their really isn't a good contact. I'd bet all my chips that the brushes are not contacting fully with the com and that is where the loss of power is. Hoping this makes since, Please correct me if I'm wrong!

Questions:
- Should I have the starter gone through? or can I do the work myself with it still installed on the car?

- How difficult is to remove the starter? How many bolts and what does it take to do it? (i heard she is a pig to remove, but I want to make sure its done right)








Dylan

[JoeHall]

Check the starter cable for looseness at the starter. I have had them come loose more than once, and it will sometimes make you think the starter is going out.

[PlainBrownR2]

Questions:
- Should I have the starter gone through? or can I do the work myself with it still installed on the car?

- How difficult is to remove the starter? How many bolts and what does it take to do it? (i heard she is a pig to remove, but I want to make sure its done right)

You can have it gone through, but like I said, pop the cover off and see if the brushes are still making contact first. Replace them if they're not, put it back in the car, and see if it makes a difference. You will most definately need to take the starter out, because there's four brushes in there, and the only way to really get to them, is to pry up the spring, remove the screw holding the brush on, and replacing the brush. They are located around the commutator.

Removing it isn't hard. Just like the Prestolite starters, there's two special shouldered bolts that run through the starter and the bellhousing. A couple of I think, 9/16 or 5/8 wrenches on the bolt and the nut, and they'll come right out. Once the bolts are out, it's just a matter of pulling it loose from the flywheel. Remember to also undo the starter cable on the top of the starter. Also like the Prestolite starters, don't lose those bolts!

[Dylan]

Hello everyone, sorry I have been MIA for a while I have been busy with school and everything else going on. I managed to get the starter out a few weeks ago and had it sitting on the bench for a while, this evening I got the starer over to my friend who knows a guy who rebuilds starters and alternators and does it for a living. There is a car show here in a few weeks and I would like to make it to the show. I'm going to go ahead and pull the radiator out of the car, so I can have enough room to get to the the pump. I want to be safe and replace it since its been sitting so many years and noticed I have a small leak coming from the pump.

I have never pulled a mechanical fuel pump before, what should I look out for? What are the do's and don't s of fuel pumps?

And I'm considering the Mopar 318, should I go ahead and do it or stick with the stock pump? I need a refresher on what you guys think!




Thanks,
Dylan

[StudeRich]

This one of dozens of Strings on this subject is even still current:

http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/showthread.php?74906-Three-fuel-pumps-PROGRESS-UPDATE&highlight=airtex+fuel+pump

[Dan Timberlake]

Undersized cables and poor connections can not hide from a voltage drop test while cranking.

http://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/Micharoe/2011-01-20_020314_voltage_drop_test_starter.gif

http://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/Micharoe/2011-01-20_020351_voltage_drop_test_2.gif

Throw in a voltage measurement at the bat terminals, and an undercharged or defective battery's black heart will be revealed as well.


The Price, with all the mustard you can eat, less than 10 cents.

[warrlaw1]

...and make sure your gas cap is vented both ways! Drive a spike through it.

[Son O Lark]

While you have the starter out AND you are replacing the solenoid cable, go ahead and put a ground cable on one of the starter bolts. It's worth the cost of another cable.

[SN-60]

While you have the starter out AND you are replacing the solenoid cable, go ahead and put a ground cable on one of the starter bolts. It's worth the cost of another cable.

It's called "The Six Volt Blues".......Sinatra did a song about it!

[Dylan]

While you have the starter out AND you are replacing the solenoid cable, go ahead and put a ground cable on one of the starter bolts. It's worth the cost of another cable.

My car is a 6-Volt POS ground, Where do I attach that 2nd ground cable to? Just curious.

Since the starter sits pretty close to the oil pan I'm going to go ahead and instal a small heat shield to protect the starter from the heat of the hot oil pan, What's you thoughts on doing that? I had really bad slow re-starts once I the car got up to temp, I don't know if that was a early sign of the starter going out or it was the compression from the motor? I'm really curious to see what it will be like once its been rebuilt.


Thanks again for everyone's input so far!



Dylan

[Son O Lark]

My car is a 6-Volt POS ground, Where do I attach that 2nd ground cable to? Just curious.
Dylan

Ideally, run your ground from your battery. I have, in the past, just jumpered a cable from where the positive (or ground in this case) connects to the engine. On V8's, it seems most people ground the engine at the front, on the water pump manifold. I think this is probably why we have a lot of ground issues.

[StudeRich]

My car is a 6-Volt POS ground, Where do I attach that 2nd ground cable to? Just curious.

Since the starter sits pretty close to the oil pan I'm going to go ahead and instal a small heat shield to protect the starter from the heat of the hot oil pan, What's you thoughts on doing that?/Cut/

The Factory always grounded the Batt. to the Water Manifold which should be plenty good for the Distributor and Temp. Gauge Sender if there is some bare Iron under it.
The 6 Volt Starter does seem to like getting a direct Ground however, the easiest would be from the Batt. ground Stud on the water manifold to the Starter Mounting Bolt.

Your idea of a heat shield for the Oil pan is not going to help, as the pan is not that hot and does not give off that much heat.
These are used on other makes where the Exhaust Manifold extreme heat is very close to the GM type Starters with the ancient plunger type Solenoid on top which gets cooked and seized.