An edit: I lied The Earl's gauge does have a vent for air bleeding - it wasn't until I took it off that I noticed! Sorry for the mis-information. Oh, and RobbMc is waiting for Buick fuel pump arms... he's hoping to ship the end of next week. Hurry up and wait...
Received a present today from RobbMc by way of USPS... hope to get to it before the weekend and put the chase to bed.
I hope you are going to get a refund for that Edelbrock electric because that thing is bad if your mechanical Stage 1 pump gets you more pressure. Although, that is low for a S1 pump with the return blocked off. If you can't return the electric I'd look into its' internal regulator. I'd bet the valve is being held open slightly by some debris keeping the pressure and volume low.
EDIT! - No... please see Shurkey's reply below! Ran into something unexpected tonight... I went with the optional second outlet on the side, as I'd like to revisit my fuel line routing and it arrived with the second outlet opening 3/8" NPT. The normal inlet and outlets are 1/2" NPT. I ordered two steel 1/2" NPT fittings along with the pump, so that's a bit of a
Too late for a refund... I've had it about two years, although it has less than 500 miles on it. It has a 12 month warranty, but I'll reach out to Edelbrock anyway. At the very least I'll pull it apart once I take it out and see what there is to see.
NO! Based on the size of the fitting, that IS NOT a "bypass/fuel return". That is a VAPOR RETURN. BIG DIFFERENCE. A bypass fuel regulator needs the same diameter "return" plumbing as the fuel "supply" plumbing, at idle almost 100% of the fuel is bypassed, or returned to the tank. If you look in that pump body, I bet you find that the vapor return port is restricted to perhaps a 0.030 hole. Vapor passes easily, liquid fuel "not so much".
Make sure the WIX filter is not for fuel injection. I used one years ago that looked great (nice 3/8 inverted flare ends) but was designed for 60 psi and was very restrictive running at lower pressures. Was smaller micron element. Caused low pressure with my 110 Mallory.
Yes, it's all about the density of the filter in microns. It's not advisable to use any denser than 140 microns before the mechanical fuel pump. Between the pump and the carb it's OK to use a denser filter since the fuel pump is pushing rather than sucking, if that makes sense.
Looking back, it could have been... I took the filter out, bypassed the stock pump and got 3 psi with just the electric and no filters at all. Also got about 3/4 of a gallon of fuel in 30 seconds, but without much gusto. I have a Earl's 85-micron (screen) filter I plan on putting in the back once I get the new pump installed up front... and a 35-micron sintered bronze filter before the carb.
Some would argue that 85 microns is too dense before a mechanical pump but maybe the "super pumps" won't be affected. Let us know how your experience works out.
Interesting info on RobbMc site. For a pre-pump filter they recommend the 100m for mechanical and rotary electric but a much finer 40m for georotor electric. Probably the georotor can be damaged by smaller debris than the rotary or mechanical. Your setup should be easy over-kill so a slight loss of efficiency with the finer filters shouldn't make a difference. I'm running the suggested 40m before my Comp 110 georotor with no problem. I should pull it out and see what is in there after 7 years. http://www.robbmcperformance.com/products/filters.html
Size of a Buick V8 oil filter......it holds it and builds up restriction....you know it is loaded when motors won't rev all the way up. There are RACOR filters also available with a sump and drain so you can drain the water off.
