Peter -
You forgot to mention in your "ode to SU fuel pump technology" that the
fuel pump itself actually comes in two parts:
1) The SU Fuel Pump
2) The Thor Hammer (to strike pump to keep it running while on the road).
I switched to the Facet pump shortly after a friend of mine, with a '65
healey, conked out on the Bay Bridge in San Fransisco (no emergency lane)
because he didn't have a hammer to strike the fuel pump to keep it going. As
soon as he got out of the car with his girlfriend, someone in a Honda rear
ended the car at full speed and totalled his Healey.
Since San Francisco requires alot of fast driving on big bridges without
any emergency lanes... I would definitely think about NOT having an SU fuel
pump in the car simply for safety reasons.
Out in the country with endless road shoulders to pull over and tinker with
the SU points... well then no problem!!!
Cheers,
Alan
'53 BN1 '64 BJ8
On 9/14/05, Peter Svilans <peter.svilans@rogers.com> wrote:
>
> Okay that's it ! This thread has gone too far !
>
> I've been mildly tolerating this business of "lets replace everything with
> Asian or American parts to make it better" BUT:
>
> "IT DOES NOT MAKE THAT ANNOYING TICKING SOUND" is treading on sacred
> ground !
>
> I consider the ticking of an SU fuel pump to be an integral part of the
> experience of owning and driving a British car. One of the joys of
> lighting
> up my BN 6 is waiting for the blub, blub,
> blub......blub...................blub to tell me that all is well with the
> fuel system. The rate of ticking is an indicator of vapour lock or an air
> leak. I even listen for it while driving- the regular ticking is
> reassuring
> and is as much a part of the experience as the musical "whoom" of the
> exhaust,
> the faint whine as the overdrive kicks in, and the wind noise around the
> sidescreens.
>
> This venerable old Skinners Union product has given me 50,000 miles of
> trouble-free motoring, ( apart from an initial vapour lock problem caused
> by
> the brilliant Austin design department locating the poor pump directly
> over
> the exhaust pipes- completely cured by fitting a heat shield ), despite
> and
> maybe because of, always carrying a spare in the trunk.
>
> Amongst the hundreds of motorcycles and three-wheelers on display at the
> 1934 Olympia Show in London was one vehicle- the Raleigh Safety Seven-
> which
> was equipped with an electric fuel pump. The very latest in high tech, the
> pump needed a note in the driver's handbook that told the owner not to be
> alarmed by the ticking sound. This car, presently sitting in my driveway,
> has had its wonderful brass and brown bakelite-capped six-volt SU fuel
> pump
> ticking away under the bonnet for some SEVENTY-ONE YEARS.
>
> Surely a timeless classic, and a British car institution.
>
> Best regards
> Peter
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