okay, i cant decide what i want to do about fuel and i need some advice. options i am thinking about are:

1. ls1 tank. already have a tank, and a line on the ls1 lines out of the sender to adapt to the 3rd gen lines at the filter. would have to argue with the level sender, probably get the grand prix unit for that.

2. walbro pump in old tank. just sell the ls1 tank and replace the pump. easy enough, but then i still have an old tank and still have to drop it if the pump dies again.

3. external pump pulling through the old sender. seems easiest, splice the external pump in and not fight the tank at all. just use a vette filter regulator setup.

any thoughts? looking for the pros and cons so i can decide. thanks guys.

 

1) What benefits do you have using this tank? I see this debate again and again and the only reason Id use it would be with an emissions friendly swap for the built in EVAP stuff. With a LQ4 you wont pass any sort of ref since its a truck engine in a car so you obviously wont need this stuff. All I see is extra work for .... nothing?

2) My choice. How often to pumps die? Once a decade maybe. Dropping the tank is a pain, but nothing compared to the swap itself

3) If you go external, youll still have to drop the tank and get the old pump out, then splice in a piece of line so youll be sucking from the bottom of the tank or simply sump it (still have to drop the tank). Sucking through the old pump will put a serious restriction in the line and greatly reduce the lifetime of your new pump

 

so you think just do the in tank walbro and thats it. i shouldn't need to worry about the old metal tank at all then? if i just do that, whats the best thing to do with the old vent line that was up to the charcoal canister?

is the walbro the way to go then? if theres a better pump out there, i really want to do this only once.

 

Just a thought. I just bought a New ACDelco pump and strainer from the dealer. You can get one from Summit Racing online. Prices vary by VIN. I always try to stick with factory part if they are affordable. I have an aftermarket pump in thae tank now that makes as much noise when I hit a half tank as a loud gear drive. It's comming out and I am going OE parts. Contact ACDelco and give tham your VIN to obtain the correct part number. You only want to do that pump once.

 

i need the aftermarket pump for the lq4 though. the stocker doesn't have the pressure from what i've read.

 

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What extra "work"? It is a direct bolt in and you can even use the 4th gen filter with the stock hard tubes from the 4th gen tank, may need one adapter for the lines. Plus he has to take the old tank out if he uses the in tank 3rd gen pump and if using an external pump you should pull the old pump out anyway. The only thing he would need to do is swap out the resistor board, that took me all of 10 minutes.


Forget the "weight" issue for these tanks. I would go 4th gen all the way, you get a plastic tank that will NEVER rust and the added benefit of the 4th gen sending unit which controls fuel MUCH better than the 3rd gen tank.

 

Swap in the pump and go. Cap the EVAP line if not using it. You have a separate vent from the tank already so dont worry about pressure being uneven

Walbros are known to work great but chinese knockoffs still wearing a walbro logo are absolute crap and have tarnished the name. Buy one from a reputable seller willing to back up his product and you wont have an issue. Plan B is one from a L31 vortec truck. They are 190lph instead of 255 like the common walbros. If you're not pushing some serious power, you wont need more than the 190

Extra work... I cant believe Im actually typing this out

1) you have to buy another tank
2) fuel lines WILL NOT WORK FROM A 3RD GEN. 3rd gens end about even with the axle. 4th gens are at the very top of the sender
3) the connector needs to be repinned and several new wires ran inside the car
4) sender must be changed from the 4th gen to a universal or grand am 90ohm sender for the gauge to work (extra cost and/or fabrication to get it in there)
5) whats so great about the fuel bucket? All I see is complaints from 4th gen guys. 3rd gen baffled tanks are better
6) You have to figure out a filler neck length and fab brackets to hold the cap in place on the body
7) regulator is wierd. V8 cars had it in the tank while V6 cars on the rails. You wont know until you go in there and even the V8 regulators are prone to failure more frequently than one would like
8) weight... seriously? Have you picked up an empty steel tank? Its actually a lb or two lighter than the thick plastic tank
9) have you EVER seen a fuel cell rust on a car thats driven more than every other year? They rust from being left sitting allowing the gasoline to turn. My 92 with nearly 300k miles hadnt the first spit of rust because it was always moving. My 49 tractor is also rust free for the same reason. I use is almost every week

Come one, give me a benefit thats worth talking about. All I see are complications for... what? With a 3rd gen tank you do this:

Put new pump in
Drive

 

I ran the stock tank and walbro 255, AN lines, vette filter and that was it. Very easy!

 

I did a 4th gen tank in the '82 Berlinetta getting the LS1/T56, and the Walbro 255 in 3rd gen tank with Vette filter in the '82 Belinetta getting the LS1/4L60E. Since both were factory carb cars, I had to run the pump power wire in both cases. Since I was using an aftermarket instrument cluster in the LS1/T56 car, getting a programmable fuel gauge was simple enough. I swapped a TGO member for an 3rd gen EFI pick-up for the LS1/4L60E, and now the fuel gauge doesn't read properly.

Trimming and mounting the fuel filler for the 4th gen tank was a little extra work. I had to completely rewire both systems (since the 3rd gen EFI wires go to a different spot than the carb wires, and have different connectors). Putting the Vette filter in was more work that mounting the 4th gen filler.

My opinion: If you have a factory EFI car and are going to use the factory instrument cluster, put in a Walbro 255 and Vette filter and be done with it. If you have a factory carb car and have easy access to a 4th gen plastic tank, it's a toss-up.

(FWIW, I picked up a complete 4th gen tank for less than what the Walbro 255 & Vette filter cost. The "support" stuff to install either is about the same.)

 

I cant believe I am actually typing this out

 

well, i think at this point the cost is gonna be a toss up. if i stay with the 3rd gen tank and a new pump, vs the 4th gen tank. however the 4th gen tank has a used pump in it, and i probably should put a new one in now instead of tearing it apart again later. i think at this point i'll just take the old tank down and see what shape its in and go from there. thanks for all the input, guys. i feel like i know more at least so i can make a better decision. any more thoughts, keep em coming.

 

I swapped the Walbro pump into my stock tank and used the Corvette filter/regulator. Took less than half an hour and it was my first time dropping the tank and messing with the pump. It was like the one thing during the swap that went smoothly and to plan.

 

More proof that a fuel bucket is a MUCH better option, from this thread;

I would like to see someone run in four seperate TRACK events on a 3rd gen tank with no starvation on 4 gallons of fuel all day

 

I LOVE the 4th gen tank (fuel bucket is very nice), and if this is your firebird...you can easily make the stock gauge work with the 4th gen tank. Use my tutorial to modify the stock one with new resistors. The 4th gen fuel filter screws on to the stock line, and then the 4th gen line clips onto the filter. Only part you need to mod, depending on your return/fuel rail set up, is the return line. (I used the old style corvette regulated fuel rail)