79 Mercury Zephyr

[massacre]

So i was having a problem with fluctuating fuel pressure. The fuel system was as follows:
New 1986 LTD wagon gas tank and fuel pump hanger
AN-6 ptfe supply and return lines
Aeromotive billet fuel filter
Aeromotive billet fuel rails, bypass regulator, 30lb injectors

The stock fuel pump hanger lines are 3/8 supply and 5/16 return. Except that they "neck down" at the ends, making them effectively 5/16 supply and 1/4 return.



1/4" return line was creating my issue, tested by removing the return line from the tank and running the car with the return line in a bucket. I was initially going to try 37 degree double flares and tube nuts on the stock lines. But the bends in the stock lines prevented me from getting the dies on the lines. Did not want to try un-bending the lines and risk kinking/weakening the tubing.
Then looked into trying to add bulkhead fittings to the stock hanger flange and crimping off the stock lines. But the stock hanger flange has a "stepped down" area making that nearly impossible. Trying to heat everything up to de-solder was also not an option, due to the plastic electrical connector built into the flange.
Basically every possible solution i could think of ended in a roadblock. So it came down to fabricating my own fuel pump hanger.

I started with making 2 round discs from 20 gauge steel. Very close to stock thickness. 1 disc was for the flange, the other one was to keep the fumes at bay in the garage.



Stock hanger is the usual setup- supply and return lines, gauge sender, float, etc, i removed the bottom part that supports the fuel pump.



It took me a couple tries to get the flange perfect, my electrical bulkhead needed a 10mm hole (from australia) and i don't have a 10mm bit so i overshot that lmao. Bulkhead holes are 3/4" for the nylon washers. Was ultimately able to use 25/64ths drill bit and sneak up on it with a file.



Used 1/4 x 1/4 square steel tubing, measured carefully and welded on the stock fuel pump mounting piece

[massacre]

The float- i tried to de-solder the sender mounting plate from the stock unit, but was unsuccessful.



So ended up just cutting it off and welding it onto the new unit after careful measuring.



To make things more difficult, the tank has a baffle that made things interesting lol. So i couldn't just "drop it in" wherever.



I initially was going to use some nice low-profile bulkhead fittings for the fuel lines, but they were a little too "low profile", as they did not clear the locking ring enough to allow AN fittings to be installed. Oops. This was a challenge because on this tank, the hanger mounts from the top of the tank, and the bottom of the trunk floor is very close. Not much leeway between the locking ring and the trunk floor. Low profile on the left.



I initially was going to use the 90 degree fittings shown at the right above ^^^ to mate up with my straight fittings on my fuel lines. I didn't feel like swapping out the hose ends on my fuel lines, but eventually realized that swapping to 90 degree hose ends really was the correct way to do it. Less fittings, less potential leak points. Plus the AN 90 degree hose ends have a gradual bend to them, unlike the hard 90 of the adaptor fittings.

My bulkhead fittings came with barb ends, which made for easy install of the supply/return hoses inside the tank. For the supply i used submersible fuel hose, and for the return i used some ptfe corrugated hose. Fuel injection style clamps all around.
Tested pump and sender, both worked.




So after swapping the return line straight to a 90, i ended up having to make a new supply line from the tank to the filter since it was now just slightly too short. Had to cut off the stock fuel pump electrical connector from the chassis, and splice in the new connector. Had to slightly bend the tabs for the locking ring, but everything seems to fit nice and work correctly.



No leaks thus far, the fuel pressure is rock solid. New lines are 3/8 supply and 3/8 return. This job was a huge pain in the ass but it needed to be done.

Thanks for reading!

[87gtVIC]

Damn. That is one way of doing it. When It does not exist you gotta make it yourself. Awesome.

[massacre]

Damn. That is one way of doing it. When It does not exist you gotta make it yourself. Awesome.

Thanks for the kind words.

[massacre]

This video was what inspired this fuel pump hanger project.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3osqtEtIEig&t=197s

Problem with the setup in the video is that their hanger is made for a Mustang fuel tank, and the hanger flange is too small to fit the LTD wagon tank. Since no one makes it, it had to be made.

[massacre]

So since i recently was able to get plates and registration for the car, i can legally drive it on the street. Car actually runs/drives pretty good, except i only have 1st and 2nd gear. I got it up to 70mph in 2nd waiting for 3rd but it never came. I suspect a bad shift solenoid, gotta drop the pan and figure that out. I have a book coming tomorrow that should help with that. Also the front brakes are grinding bad, this is a new develpoment. I suspect that the calipers are rubbing on the wheels. I'll have to figure that out as well.

[massacre]

Clearanced the back of the wheels and brake noise is gone. Swapped the VSS connector to the OSS in a last ditch effort to see if it will shift correctly. I'll take it forma rip and see if anything improves.

[massacre]

Clearanced the back of the wheels and brake noise is gone. Swapped the VSS connector to the OSS in a last ditch effort to see if it will shift correctly. I'll take it forma rip and see if anything improves.

[massacre]

So that seemed to fix it! The VSS and OSS sensors on my trans have the same connector, it was a huge pita to plug into the OSS because of how tight the fox trans tunnel is. But it is shifting now, i just drove around for like an hour. I'm pretty psyched, i did not expect it to work but it did. Went to gas station and filled the tank, slight fuel smell but no visible leaks. I'll check the datalog later after work.

[Brown_Muscle]

Awesome! Must feel great to finally drive it after all the work you've put into it

[GM_Guy]

Nice fabbing.

[massacre]

Nice fabbing.

Thank you! It was kind of quick and dirty but it works so that's what's important.

I need to soften up the shocks, way too stiff right now

[Giraffe]

Nice work on that fuel pump hanger! Built, not bought.

[massacre]

So after replacing my leaking rack and pinion, seems to be fixed for now. New rack from LMR.

[massacre]

Was having some weird overheating issues, nothing too bad just had to pull over and wait. Elec water pump was intermittent. Replaced relay and all seems better now. But my elec fan controller shit the bed. It was the flex a lite controller that came with my black magic 185. I was using that instead of the holley just because i had it, it was already wired, and it worked.
So i wired in another relay for the fan, and man i should have just let the holley control the fan from the beginning!
Works great now, funny how i always seem to have the time do do things right the second time! LMFAO