Fuel Tank / Cell Inlets

[Randy V]

After reading a post on Howard B's Build Log, I responded. Later I thought that response may help others, hence I am posting it here;

Some fellows believe that putting a fuel strainer in the tank may leave you stranded if the strainer should clog. True. But if this is the case - Why do all of the OEMs use them?

It really is a dual purpose device;
1) Obviously to filter out large particles to keep them from compromising your fuel pump
2) Decreases the potential for cavitation on low fuel levels my increasing the surface area of the inlet.. (Ever wonder why oil pump pickups aren't just a tube stuck into the oil?)

I'll be using fuel strainers on my inlets, but they are much larger(Pics below)

I bought a few of these from a seller on eBay;
3/8 gas fuel tank sender side pickup line strainer,carb: eBay Motors (item 180537135344 end time Aug-02-10 18:56:47 PDT)

If you chose to not use strainers, you may want to create a couple of Duck Bills (some people call them Duck Feet). At any rate, I've made my own before and they're really quite simple to make. Picture below has all the info.
Just have enough of the Neoprene tubing so that the duck bill lays on the floor of the tank..

I hope this helps...

 

[Dimi Terleckyj]

Hi Randy

Just a quick note regarding your question 'why do OEM manufacturers use in tank strainers'.

During their mandated service schedules which are carried out at set intervals the filters are supposed to be changed as a matter of course.
And of course the fact that they are fitting in tank fuel pumps which require the use of strainers to protect the pumps.

This ensures that blockage situations don't arise.

In our cars I doubt that everyone would be changing these filters as a regular thing unless they become blocked.

I just try to engineer things for ease of maintenance and to cause the least amount of trouble for long term reliability.

Dimi