Centurion Fuel Filter

[Malcolm Towrie]

Originally Posted by Robin Craig

Malcolm can you please post a picture of as much of the fuel filter head as you can please.

I really deeply suspect there is some commonality from elsewhere.

Robin,
Photo attached. Let me know if you need more.

Malcolm

20190921_194348_resized.jpg

[Robin Craig]

Malcolm that is a new beast to me. Let me digest that for a day or so.

[eddy8men]

john i also ran it dry and it was a real to get it primed again. trouble is i can't remember how we did but i'm fairly sure we cracked a pipe union before the pump and sucked it through

[jdmcm]

Thanks Gentlemen, I am going to spend some time on it this weekend. Malcolm it looks to me like someone has gone through the trouble of installing a hose barb in the fuel line then plugging it off, could this be what you were planning to do with a fitting for a vacuum pump? I will open up the tank and make sure we do not have any problems in the pickup as well.

I think I will make sure the line is clear, and I am contemplating adapting a spin on fuel filter between the tank and the pump and eliminating the old canister one entirely. As well I may bypass the aux engine for now until we get it running and running reliably.

John

[jdmcm]

Ok so had a good look at it today, removed the line from the LR tank to the hull, blew it back through with air, all clear, had a good look in tank with remote camera and flashlight and eyeballs, Rick you must have cleaned that tank because its clean! Pickup tube intact and the air flowed easy. So removed the feed line on the inlet side of the filter and blew that line back toward the tank (still unhooked so no debris blown into the tank), seems clear. I think the only problem is getting the fuel to and filling the filter. Someone has already plumbed in a union which had a hose barb attached on the line between the filter outlet and before the line splits to go to each pump. So my next move is to do as Malcolm suggested and use a might vac to draw the fuel from the tank, into the filters and then I can use the fuel pump levers to send the fuel up to the carbs...oh but first I am waiting on Canada post to deliver my filter...no domestic sources that I can find...I think replacing the filter with a spin on with locally available replacements is still on the horizon. The original filter was not in good shape and had about an inch of "mud" in the bottom of the canister.

[Malcolm Towrie]

John, I've been experimenting with the Mity-vac. We don't have the engine in yet and I redid all the tubing from the tank to the selector valve (rebuilt) to the filter (rebuilt) to the block on the bulkhead used to supply the Ki-gass hand pump. So I expected leaks. Sure enough the Mity-vac didn't pull any fuel so I hooked up one of those tools Princess's Auto sells for sucking oil out of engine sumps. It's a really neat tool. Basically it's a massive hand vacuum pump. That generated enough vacuum I could hear the leaks and fix them. Then back to the Mity-vac. Now it worked but it really doesn't like gasoline so when it sucks some in, it "delubricates" the internal rubber piston seals and gets tight to operate.

But usually with a Mity-vac, you get a little canister which acts like a catch can - you pull a vacuum on it and the fluid gets sucked into the canister and not into the Mity-vac. I'll check the canister out tomorrow and see if it works.

That hose barb you have between the filter and the fuel pumps sounds perfect for pulling a vacuum to at least fill the filter and get fuel to the pumps. It only takes around 2" Hg of vacuum to pull the fuel from the tank.

It's getting close. Should have the engine in and aligned, and the old girl driving by the end of October. I checked out the gear ratios in the transmission as the track pins are rusted up and it will take some oomph to get the tank to move initially. I definitely don't want to stress the clutch. The low reverse gear ratio is 22:1 - I've never heard of such a low gear ratio in a vehicle! (Car reverse gear ratios are usually about 4:1.) That should get her moving. There's only about 10' between the tank and the back wall but with that gear ratio, the wall shouldn't be a problem.
Malcolm

[jdmcm]

Hi Malcolm

that sounds like a good plan, I will hook up the Mighty vac and catch the fuel in the canister, I was wondering about the fuel effect on the pump internals. We didn't appear to have any leaks before so hopefully we are close to a solution. I think the hose barb fitting has been installed for this very reason and if Rick's experience and ours is any indication, it is a common problem in this system. I was looking at the picture of your filter canister assembly you posted for Robin and it appears that the can on this tank is about twice as long as the one you have...but it seems to take the same filter...odd. I am going to replace the filter head in future and use a CAT fuel filter head, this will provide much better filtration, give the tank a water separator and no restriction like an inline filter may. Even though guys around here are running inline Holley filters on their performance cars right up to 8-900hp. One suggestion was an inline electric lift pump that could be switched on after protracted static periods or after maintenance. But again, I don't want to do anything to help restrict fuel flow. Even though my wallet $$$ would thank me if I could figure out a way to make this thing more fuel efficient...We honestly keep running out of fuel because of the sheer disbelief we could have consumed 100 gallons so quickly...mileage must be in the range of 6-8 gallons to the mile!

It is the first tank I have had that actually has a low and high reverse gear...and trust me...low is low...barely a walking pace. But once she is going it steers like a toy, super responsive, neutral turns, fantastic.