Here's what I have.. I have a Spectra tank with the pump inside, new, never had fuel in it. It's been setting a few years before I got it, and I popped the sender/pump unit out to have a look-see, and I'm glad I did. There is a bunch of surface rust on the sender and pump lines. Inside of tank is clean.

My question.... do I get another sender/pump unit (which I've heard is not that reliable), or do I make a good pickup tube/sock that fits in the little well in the bottom of the tank, and run a Walbro LPH255?

Next question, if I go with the Walbro pump, will it suck the fuel up the pickup, or should I have a bung put in the bottom of the tank and feed it that way??

Thanks in advance,

Dave that sucks about the rust.....:sad:
And I don't know squat about what might be the best fix, but I did read something on TC this morning about Spectra making some type of upgrade to their new tank just being released. I'm not sure if your current tank is upgradable or not.
Good Luck on getting this resolved.....sounds like your getting close......:beers:

take it out, use a scotchbrite or similar to clean it up. test it by using jumpers off a 12V battery and pumping some gas or solvent through it. run it till it acts up and install a Walbro.

Thanks, Bill. Come to find out it's common. Seems they test the tank with water before it's shipped.. :confused: :clonk:

Dooing some digging and selective key word searches, I found the replacement pump is an Airtex E3270, or an AC Delco EP381.

Tom, I thought of a Walbro 255lph, but not sure if it can go in the tank? Do you know if a Walbro would be able to suck the fuel out of the tube on a sending unit, or would gravity fed from a bung in the bottom of the tank be better?

Thanks,

Dave

You'll notice you never see any kind of production car or truck with bottom feed gas tank. There's a reason for that. It's kind of like marine carbs, no gaskets below the fuel level.

Dave, the walbro is most certainly designed to be used in tank. In fact, it will last longer because of the cooling effect of the fuel in tank. There are guys running as many as 3 in tank walbros for higher horsepower setups.

I can attest to the unreliability of the "stock" pump in the Spectra tank. Got 1000 miles out of it before it died and left me stranded on the Interstate... Replaced it with the Airtex (E3270, i believe). Have not driven it yet, but I noticed that the pump is significantly noisier. Cut an access panel out of the trunk, because I forsee this as being routine maintenance.:sad:

My question, though, is what HP will one of these Walbro pumps support? I'd like to put a 'dry' N20 ~75 shot on my stock LS1. I'm hesitant to do that with the Airtex, but maybe the Walbro is a good option?

I would say in the 500 hp range NA would be the limit for a single Walbro. There is a company local to me Deatschwerks(www.deatschwerks.com) that has a pump similar to a Walbro that should be of better quality and support more power in a similar size to the Walbro. However, I do not have any experience with them other than friends who have had success. Also, the Bosch 044 pump is another option.