Uprated fuel pump

In my search for a more robust fuel system the time has come to the fuel pump.

According to Cosworth a 280hk Duratec engine need 1.4L/min regulated to 4.3 bar. That equals 84 L/Hr.

Inside the white container there was a Walbro ERJ 197 fuel pump. The spec sheet says @3 Bar: 108 L/Hr, @5 Bar: 54 L/Hr and is obviously very marginal.

I bought a Walbro 255 LPH from eBay. At 12V and 4.3 bar it can deliver about 180 L/Hr. That is plenty of fuel. In fact, I could run two engines with that pump. If I in the future would decide to run my engine on E85 I could do that too without problems. At least not with the pump.

On the existing pump mount, the big plastic container works as a small swirl pot. The fuel from the return hose goes back into the container and fills it up as a buffer. On the bottom is a one way valve. Instead of sucking air while cornering the pump still can get fuel from the buffer. Since I've always had problems with fuel surge in long corners it apparently doesn't work that well.

First I tried to make the new pump fit inside the existing plastic container, but as the pump ends are different I couldn't make it fit very well. It worked, but when in a low fuel scenario it would pump air and the pressure would be lost. I verified it by pumping water in a bucket.

Then I modified the existing holder. I straightened one of the tubes. Used an old saw blade and stainless hose clips to hold it together. The old fuel level sensor was wired in place using steel wire. The saw blade acts as a spring and hopefully will keep the pump from moving around too much. The car's tank is v-shaped so it won't move much anyway.

Fuel surge might still be a problem. Maybe even more now without the plastic "swirl pot". I intend to try to put some "Easy Pour Fuel Tank Baffle" in the bottom of the tank to avoid the fuel move around too much. A problem will be the balls obstructing the fuel level sensor, so I can't put in too much of it.

Maybe I should have done it properly with a swirl pot instead.

Now I probably need to remap the engine without the old pump's pressure drop.