Technical FUEL SUPPLY CATASTROPHIC FAILURE While 150 miles from home in picturesque Sharon Vermont.

Glad I'm not into the vintage aircraft hobby.
You don't get a second chance to often.

 

That sucks !

 

Where was that shiny fuel pump made?

 

Looks like the housing is chrome plated, could it have been Hydrogen Embrittlement?

 

Edelbrock but I'm not sure if it's off shore produced or domestic.

 

I'm not entirely blaming the pump.
When I went to remove it I found the 2 bolts loose, I'm talking finger tight
Stuff happens no matter how many times you go back over your work.

 

I've had this ride for over 23 years, driven it, raced it, shown it, done it all.
A 454 engine that was built right and never suffered a major breakage.
Just one of those unexpected surprises.

 

You got that right! HRP

 

Scary stuff there.

 

Sucks!
But when you drive them stuff happens!

 

In the first picture, it looks like the flange is bent alongside the fitting. It didn't get hit by something or hit the frame?

 

Nah, thats not catastrophic, that is just darned unfortunate.

Catastrophic is when the fulcrum pin walks out of the pump housing, the cam lever gets spit into the engine, and the crankshaft launches it through the side of the oil pan, causing a nearly immediate loss of about 3 quarts of oil, which gets sprayed onto the right rear tire which makes stopping the vehicle to prevent further damage a pucker factor 9 event. Thanks Airtex Hecho in Mexico Fuel pumps.

 

Shiney crap from "ELSEWHERE"

 

Hey, your car didn't burn to the ground , and you didn't say anyone got hurt, so all in all not a bad ending to what could have been a major catastrophe.
Parts quality goes down and price goes up, you gotta love it. ( that pump did look like it had a couple of miles on it, but there's no excuse for failure like that). Be safe.

 

When fuel and oil are spraying on a hot engine at 65 MPH as happened to my wife and I it is nice to just laugh it off tonight rather than paying a visit to the burn ward.
Yup, we had angels ridding on our shoulders and looking out for us this time.
It's what I call a good breakdown. Easily fixable and we're fine thanks.
Now to upgrade to some better stuff.

 

NO, not anymore, that is the problem. Bob

 

Sounds like you rode that freight train before.

 

yea, really, just because the goddam bolts are loose and the pump is rattling around on its mounting boss, that's no reason for it to break, right??

 

And airtex denies it's a problem, though I know about a dozen folks who have suffered from loosing fulcrum pins either partially or fully, causing loss of fuel flow at the minimum, and more exciting failures as mentioned above.Check to see if the pinis staked in before installing any mechanical fuel pump, especially those made in Mexico.

 

Over the weekend I decided to check the fuel pump mounting bolts on my other BB and SBC powerd cars.
2 more Big Blocks and 3 Small Blocks.
Everyone of those Chevy engines had loose fuel pump bolts. About 1/3 - 1/2 turn tightened them up.
I see no washers on these bolts. Should I throw some star washers under these bolts?
How are your fuel pump bolts??

 

I'm sure you found out there's no parts houses in Sharon to get a replacement.

 

Wow !

 

Seem to remember that the factory bolts had lock washers.

 

sure is strange for multiple motors to have bolt problem. on some motors I have used lock washers, others just standard washer & Locktite. but, never had any loosen/back out that I was aware of.

 

Lock washers with flat washers against the pot metal is a must.

 

Shouldered bolts with a flat washer and lock washer (as above) also fuel pump shouldn't be chromed. It's a hydrogen thing...