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"Fabricator Ed" wrote: " if you know what a working Autopulse sounds like, you’ll know that ain’t them."

Well, yeah, but you've already (wisely) bought that Carter-style rotary pump.  You could have bought a couple (1 in series for redundancy) Facet clicky-clack pumps that would have made the same clicking racket that the originals did!

Then you would need a really loud exhaust to be heard over the noise of the Facets...

You guys are hilarious but I have to admit this very humiliating fact: I actually did ponder buying some kind of 10-second timer thing and wiring that in series to the 12-volt Autopulse so when I turn the key/pull the "pump" switch the thing would make the clacky-clack noise. 

We rightly complain here all the time about shoddy Chinese knock-offs and such, but one thing this little endeavor has brought home (again) is the sheer betterness of new stuff. Each of those Autopulse 500s weighs about as much as a loaded Colt 45. And they leaked notoriously. And, at the time, these were aircraft parts

The Carter, by contrast, weighs as much as an empty water pistol, costs about the same and reportedly never leaks. You look at stuff like this and wonder how anyone managed to hotrod anything back in the day. 

Those guys were doing 180 mph down the Mulsanne driving absolute rubbish: 600-lb straight-sixes lit by Lucas electrics. Bloody drum brakes! The mind just boggles.

Auto-pulse??  WTF??  I am completely blown away by this. Unobtainium = cast aluminum -- what could be so hard? I gotta believe that you could start from scratch, and not have to spend 8,000 bucks to do it.  But what do I know??  If you have a real one, laser scan it, rapid prototype the pattern, sand casting, or whatever, pump 'em out  $20 each.  I mean, they did not spend that kind of money to make the real ones, albeit they did so for mass (1,000s?) market.  And they did not have computers.

Ed, the advice about the Disney shop is good.  I could see you running the shop in five years.

Kelly I think the $8k price is mostly in the working pumps, which are fiddly and very old. The copper(?!) bellows at the center of them are interesting. There are dozens of other parts in there too.

You're right about the manifolds though. If I were a better man I'd make wax copies of my bogus ones and then sand-cast them out of aluminum and tap them for functionality. Heck, maybe it'll even happen.

You're probably right about the pumps themselves too. There appears to be a lot of P-car pricing at work here.

Thanks, Danny. I've thought of that but finally figured the fuel pump's gotta be somewhere, and I think I've got a safe and practical design laid out. 

The plan is for steel lines down the driver's side, as original, through the rocker box and around to the firewall. The pump will be at about the lowest point in the system so it should like that—I'm told they like to "push" and not "pull." I plan to put a fuel cutoff right before the filter to facilitate changing that, and in-all it should be more accessible than the typical spot just under the tank up front, where it's easily forgotten. 

Could it leak? Sure. Would a leak there be worse than one above the beam? I don't think so. First of all, you'd notice it much sooner. 

There's to be no carpet in front of the bulkhead, and no vinyl either, so a leak there would be easy to clean.

Now, the rocker-boxed fuel line is indeed more vulnerable than a centered line in the event of a driver's side T-bone event. But in a Beck frame, such an accident would likely result in a closed-casket scenario anyway. And, even so, the fuel line would probably not rupture, given the looped rubber line over the pumps.

So that's how it's gonna be on this car.

And I'm also going to tempt fate by installing the correct glass bowl fuel/water separator in the correct spot on the firewall, since I have one and they look cool. Stan's already warned me about this folly, but I'm putting it in, and if it doesn't leak, it's staying put. 

(If it does leak, it might still stay put, albeit bypassed).

 

Does that hump, where the drain for the gas tank is, interfere with using the gas pedal? Mine does, that's why I have to drive shoeless on that foot.

I'd love to remove mine one day, but this is something that needs to be done at your stage of the build, not when the car's done like mine. I was thinking the removal will coincide with a custom gas tank. I can dream....

I did build a foot rest for the passenger. I made mine out of wood and covered it in some ribbed vinyl and black paint. I also made some floor mats of the vinyl. I do have plans on making one from aluminum. My original plan was to hide a small electric heater behind it, or install the heater behind the front beam and use the space behind the foot rest for hot air plumbing.

Foot rest

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Carlos, your pedals look great and that pic is helpful. Thanks.

Yes, I think I want to cut that scrotal intrusion out. It interferes with my feet and I'm a size 8. I don't know how any normal-sized American man could drive this type of car with that thing there.

My neighbor has had my gas tank now for going on six months. He welded a plate on top so I can put the filler neck in the right spot, but last time I asked him about it he said he wasn't done. I guess it's about time to get it back.

Hoping I can fit it in, check clearance and put a fuel outlet bung up near the front, then cut out any unneeded stalagmite.  

Then I can glass it back, and glass over my gauge holes at the same time.

Meantime it's on to the steering column. Apparently there'll be some trimming.

I might have to get out the instruction manual...

IMG_0065

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Last edited by edsnova

Made some seat track supports/floor reinforcements today.

IMG_0102

These will be drilled for lightness (of course!) and welded in. The seat adjuster studs bolt through them. I made holes in the floor for socket access and I have plugs so they'll end up about flush with the bottom of the car.IMG_0104

These and the adjuster tracks will raise the seat bottoms off the floor about 1 7/8 inches. There'll be 4-5 inches of adjustment front to back, and room to shim the front or back of the seats up about 3/4 of an inch. To go lower you'll have to cut out these bars and/or lose the seat tracks.

It was interesting to note that the seats that came with the car are different sizes. One (arbitrarily I'm using it as the driver's side) is about 12 1/2 inches wide across the bottom, the other is 11. That's some serious Jet Blue-sized seating right there!

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Gordon Nichols posted:

The Webasto is about the same size (323*120*121mm&nbsp and I keep seeing them on ebay for under $400 new, but at that price, it is undoubtedly a Chinese knock-off.

Yes, Gordon, much more likely $1000 for petrol, although the ones that run on diesel can be had for about $750 pretty regularly. I personally am not buying a Russian,Turkish, or Chinese knockoff. The real deal Webasto is a quality piece, and about $500 beans cheaper than a comparable Espar. I was honestly not expecting how nice the heater is. Every part was packaged and labeled clearly, and the wiring harness is clearly German. Instructions are VERY clear and concise. And I can get replacement parts here in the USA if need be. Doubtful spare parts on knockoffs.

 

Carlos $840 free shipping:

 https://www.ebay.com/itm/WEBAS...0677%26rk%3D1%26rkt% 3D30%26sd%3D122808557292&_trksid=p2385738.c100677.m4598

 

I bought T and ducting and outlets from Espar of Michigan, and ended up around $1000 all-in.

Last edited by DannyP
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