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Tech / General EngineIs your car making a strange sound or won't start? Thinking of adding power with a new combination? Need other technical information or engine specific advice? Don't see another board for your problem? Post it here!
You can add a low pressure electric fuel pump in line before the mechanical fuel pump.
You could also fab some heat shields for the gas line, fuel pump and carb.
Move your fuel lines away from exhaust as much as you can, if not already. Use an electric fuel pump. Either a low psi uplift/helper pump, or a higher psi pump with a regulator. I've read a plastic carb spacer can help too
One solution I came up with was to incorporate a mechanical pump with a return line to the tank.
This will keep the fuel circulating and reduce the amount of heat it picks up along the way.
As mentioned previously, any and all heat shields will be helpful. Not only in isolating the lines from the exhaust but also the pump from the engine block and carb from the manifold.
Using a pump w return line (stock one works FINE up to around 400 HP) is the first and most obvious suggestion.
Describe EXACTLY what happens. Like, something my car did for a time, some decades ago: I would drive it for awhile, say, 20 - 30 minutes; long enough to get it fully heated up. Then I would park it at a store or something, let's say to go in and grab a bottle of water, or maybe fill it up with gas; and when I'd go to restart it, it would take FOREVER to start and would belch black smoke for the first little while. Or, it would crank right up and drive off, but about the time I tried to pull into traffic, it would start sputtering and would die, and then provided the enjoyment of the above behavior.
Does your car do something like this? Or ... what? Details matter.
In any case, "vapor lock" was something that was largely eliminated by fuel formulations developed sometime in the early 60s. Not likely to be happening to you now today with today's fuel. Tell us what's REALLY going on and maybe we can point you toward the cause and the solution.
1985 my parents had a 1972 Chevy motorhome we drove to California. It started having what we thought was vapor lock. Mechanic in LA asked when the last time we replaced the fuel filter. My dad said he checked it (blowing through) and thought it was fine. Mechanic looked at him and proceeded to replace the fuel filter. Never had another problem in CA heat and all the way home.
