Projects Austin Somerset Gasser Build (DragNasty)

So still plumbing on the car today. After several trial fittings we finally found the prefect combination of pieces to connect the carbs with the regulator.


I also finished up the fuel cell adding adding an 8 AN bulkhead fitting for the return line from the pump. The blue fitting was original to the cell and will serve as a vent line.




Then I made the 8 AN braided line for the return and hooked it to the pump.

 

I also ran the main fuel line today, check out the cool hose mount fixture on the firewall.




So I was at the hardware store today looking for something cool to mount the fuel hose to the firewall. I mean this is going to be right out in full view. I wanted something functional but also clean. After checking out the electric, hardware and plumbing departments, nothing on the shelf was going to fill the bill. So this is what I came up with:


That is a water hose splice/repair kit. It was for 5/8" to 3/4" hose and it cost $3 dollars.


After disassembling the kits, this what you have (four potential killer clamps for $1.50 each) LOL


To make sure it fit flush against the firewall, I put the screw in side in the vice and very carefully ground it flat. This does not leave much on the backside but as you will see, you don't need anything on that side anyway.


To get it ready to bolt on the car, I put some masking tap on the backside and marked the bolt holes.


Then I just stuck the tape on the firewall where I wanted to mount it and drilled the holes.


Then from inside the car, we simply ran the screws through the firewall and into the fitting. When we tightened the bolts it pulled the clamp together, holding the fuel line firm. However from the outside, there are no screws etc. Just a very clean mount.

 

Very neat.I like the way you think.

 

That is a great idea for the fuel line! Looks nice.

 

I would like some schoolin on the return line at the pump and the regulator at the carb.

 

Well a special thanks to "saltflats" this morning. After he asked for some "schoolin" on the return line and regulator at the carb I decided to get him a definitive answer. I mean all I really know for sure is what the installation instructions for the pump said to do (and who I am to argue with MagnaFuel). So here is what I found out:

1. A return or bypass line keeps the pump (at least in my application), pumping at full capacity all the time, therefore it is kept cooler than a pump that is dead headed. A cooler pump obviously means cooler fuel. At the same time it gives a much higher volume nearly instant fuel request. All MagnaFuel pumps are equipped with an external bypass system. They believe that any well-engineered racing fuel system should not use internal bypasses because all they do is heat up and add foam (bubbles) to the fuel. It obviously causes an extra step in the installation process to plumb an external bypass line, but it provides a better and more efficient system. My pump's bypass valve is set at 18 psi.

AND

2. In the process, I discovered I have the wrong regulator. After chatting a bit with the good folks at MagnaFuel, the topic of the regulator came up and I will be dog done if I didn't get the wrong unit. The regulator I have is for 750 hp and below. What I need is the up to 1600 hp which has a much larger diaphragm and 8 AN fitting instead of 6 AN. Not a big deal, I have the correct unit on the way and I will just have to change out the fittings and lines from the regulator to the carbs. So thanks again "saltflats" for the inadvertent assist!

 

Oh and I also scored another plus while talking with MagnaFuel. I found out I can get all of their products in black!
So I don't have to paint this one. However, I will have to figure out how to get the black paint off the one I am sending back! LOL

 

Pretty slow going this weekend. The new, correct, "Black" 8 AN fuel regulator showed up Friday as did the larger feed lines for the carbs. But here is the deal, I really want to put the regulator between the two feeder inlets like this:


I like it. It would be hard plumbed and in my opinion is in the perfect spot. However notice I said "would be"? The only problem is there is no amount or combination of AN fittings to make this happen:


All I need is a male flare union but there is no room for it. You might have noticed when the 6AN fittings were in place, I ended up using about 1.5" of push lock hose to finish it up. I didn't really like the look but it seemed the only choice. With the change to 8 AN I was faced with the same situation. No matter what we tried (and believe me, we tried every combination of fitting styles available) we were either .5" to long or short. So...


I took a standard flared male union, ground and filed down the hex nut area in the center and then carefully ground down both ends to create my own custom union. NOW... I know in doing so that I have lost the ball end flared portion of this fitting. However, the angle of that standard ball end is not the same as AN anyway. With that being said I carefully ground about one thread at a time down constantly test fitting. My goal was to get a union length that while it would not have the nose in the bevel would still hit the outer edge of the flare and pull both AN fitting nuts tight. After several very small adjustments I got it perfect, the nut fittings were tight and there was just a sliver between them. I put Teflon tape on the threads (for good measure) and then slid the O-ring on the union and tightened both fittings. The flare nuts are all tight and it squished the O-ring between them.


The fit was so perfect on the feed lines that you could not tighten either first. They both had to go on at the same time. I am very happy and I think we are good to go. I mean in this area we are only talking about around 7 pounds of pressure. We shall soon see!

 

I also finished up the fuel cell changes. Last week we changed out one of the 8 AN fuel outlets to a 12 AN. Then we drilled a new hole in the top and installed an 8 AN bulkhead fitting for the fuel return line. This week while talking to MagnaFuel on other issues they also recommended an 8 AN vent line. So today I took out the factory installed 6 AN vent line fitting, drilled it out and put the 8 AN supply fitting we took out put it place for the vent.




....and yes...I shot the new fitting with a little gloss black paint. Sorry my excessive compulsive nature simply couldn't have a black and blue fitting back there. LOL


Speaking of black and blue however, that is what my wrists look like tonight after reassembling the stupid filler apparatus etc. I am pretty sure these things are assembled in some Chinese sweat shop. Now I don't say that because there is some sort of quality issue etc. I am just saying a fairly intelligent guy with decent fabrication skills and average sized hands took nearly an hour to get this piece of crap back together...no way that could be cost effective. LOL

 

AND I got the final belt alignment issue (idler pulley mounting) in place. It is funny, while everything else in this belt drive system moved forward by 3/8" (from the OT MSD addition behind the drive pulley) when I moved the idler out 3/8" it was way too much. In the end, it only need to go 1/8" to align everything.

 

Your welcome I guess
I was just trying to figure out the return at the pump instead of coming from the regulator.

 

The return at the pump keeps all that pressure (even short lived) hitting the regulator instead of the needle and seats.

 

Interesting would have ever thought of that.

 

Scroll up to post [HASHTAG]#517[/HASHTAG] and read all about it.

Roo

 

On the subject of the somewhat ingenious coupler I can see a problem. If the custom adapter does not seal against the female flare in the AN fittings there is nothing to stop fuel leaking around the nuts and out each end. The intended sealing surface in the fittings is the male to female flare junction and the nut is not designed to provide any sort of seal where it registers on the flange that provides the means to push the flares together. With the outside of the cut down threaded area sitting in the female flare area there will be no seal there and although the O ring will stop fluid leaking out between the couplers I don't think that there is anything that will stop it leaking out the back of the fitting at that end of the nut. I hope for your sake that I am wrong.
An alternative solution would be to take the fitting that screws into the regulator and cut off the AN flare portion and weld it to a length of tubing that would then weld to the fitting. In my case I would use a plug and bore it for the tubing and then add a new AN weld fitting but that is because I have that stuff on hand and I hate getting rid of the anodizing so that it welds right.
One last thing--if the brass "ball end" fitting was a JIC piece it is indeed a 37 degree part that matches the AN flare. In the photo the "before" version does not look "ball end" to me, just a typical JIC deal.

Roo

 

I thought about that as well, I was not sure on an AN fitting, how tight that nut sealed (if any on the back side of the flare). Originally I bought the O-Rings a size that just barely fit in the nut and my thought was put one on either side of the union to try and seal it at the flare. However, after installing and then checking, one was right where it was supposed to be but the other had twisted when I tightened it and slid out of place, which put it in the fuel line. After I got all of the pieces installed in the current format, I shot 90 psi of air through it and then sealed off one end and it did not leak. So I am going to give it a try and put fuel pressure on it in place before we attempt to fire the car. But you may be right, I may just have to have a custom hose designed for it etc.

 

Well right on time, Bowman Standard Time for changing crap anyway... LOL! I was just over at the machine shop that made my blower pulley spacer and they also make all kinds of custom hoses and hard lines etc. Anyway I decided to ask one of them what he thought of my little fabrication job. He said I might actually get away with it but it just looked like crap with the three AN nuts in a row. He said bring him my fitting and he would make me a hard line using the black female ends off my 90 degree AN fitting. I asked how much and he said take him for a ride when it is running and we are square! Gotta love Gear Head Guys!

 

I was thinking exactly what Roo said, but if you tested it with air it might somehow work. Another option is to take a piece of aluminum line cut and bent to your spec and flare it and use tube nuts and sleeves. That's how I did my carb lines on the Camaro. Easy breezy!
http://www.speedflowshop.co.uk/tube-nuts-tube-sleeves-150-c.asp

 

Check it out. All steel line so no worries about E85. Those are Eaton AN Fitting on the ends and he even painted it black! Man he is really bucking for a ride!

 

Like a glove baby. Like a glove.

 

Are you going to run E85 pumpfuel?

 

Yes...right out of the tap...which around here is always the winter blend. I will tune it to what ever blend we get.

 

From what I was "told". Pump E85 is very inconsistent. The guy said I should be OK tho since I'm running Preditor's as long as I carry a hydrometer with me. Don't know how true it is, because I want to go E85 too. For the same reasons, higher compression and cooler running.

 

I know that's the wrong name for it. But I couldn't think of name. I need one for work anyway.

 

One of the best E85 car builders and tuners in the Midwest is here in town. I was concerned about the exact same inconsistency of the fuel especially since here in Southwest MO we only get the winter blend that is more like mid 70%. He said all the cars he builds are tuned on the winter blend and all run like a bat out of hell. If I was selling race fuel at 6 to 8 dollars per gallon I would want potential e85 users to be scared off by inconsistent ethanol blend reports.

 

So back to work on the Austin today. Kind of a late start as I am fighting the flu right now and it took a while to convince myself to get out of bed this morning. I set a couple of small goals today, one, tie up some loose ends to get the engine itself ready to fire and two, start the wiring harness install.


This is the glove compartment on the passenger side. It has a metal floor in it with metal "half" sides. This will be a perfect place to mount the fuse box and then simply allow all the wires to exit the area over the half sides. Just to make sure we don't have an issue with wires rubbing through on the top of the half sides, I installed some left over door guard trim on both sides.


I am sorry but did not take a photo of the "L" shaped bracket that I made to mount the fuse box on (use your imagination). But after playing around with how it would fit in the box and mount to the glove box floor I decided to kill two birds with one stone. I had planned to hide the MSD box to make the car appear more period correct. So I built the above bracket that mounts to the underside of the glove box and holds the MSD system.


To be honest it took a good bit of engineering to get the MSD Mount on the bottom and the fuse box bracket to share the same very limited space and not fall all over each other's mounting points etc. But after a couple of tries and two very well placed nuts welded to the bottom of the fuse box bracket, I was able to mount the MSD mount and the fuse box with the same two bolts from underneath, we were in like flynn!

We did have to make a few wiring harness decisions before installing the box. Basically which pile of wires needed to exit the glove compartment towards the gauges and switch panel and which need to drop over the other side. After making that call we simply fed the wiring harness in its respective direction until we were left with the fuse box and bracket standing in the glove compartment.


Talk about easy access. I am really excited about this placement. We will put a fuse schematic diagram on the inside of the door so when you open it, bam there are the fuses etc. And honestly, there is still room in there for pair of gloves, maybe.


After the fuse box was in place all we had to do was screw the MSD box to the rubber mounting points and we are ready to plug and play.


The only way you can even see the MSD Box is if you lay on the floor and look up. Which I can advise, after being in that position most of the afternoon, is not a very comfortable place to be. Suffice to say no one will ever know.


Now...If we can figure out where all the other ends of these wires go! LOL

 

I did get my other goal accomplished today as well. We removed the valve covers and spacers. Took black RTV and mounted the spacer (semi-permanently) to the heads and then reinstalled the valve covers with high performance gaskets etc.


AND...we pulled the carbs, removed all the tape keeping dust etc. out of the blower. Then reinstalled the baseplates and carbs with new gaskets etc. We also double checked all the plumbing connections and made the final adjustments on the throttle linkage kits. We are slowing checking off the "GO FLY" list!

 

This past weekend, I started working on the vacuum line pieces for the boost referenced power valves and that brought up another interesting question: Crank case evacuation. Sunday I read just about every article I could find on the internet and I have ultimately decided to go old school on it.


Allowing the headers to evac the the crank case has been around forever in the drag race world, it sort of lost some momentum when many of the drag cars starting running mufflers but it works really well and in most cases is good for few extra ponies. I got the above set from Mildoon, speaking of old school drag racing!

 

I continue to look forward to your work and the words that go with it. A writer with a wit.