engine and drivetrain What is this? And fuel pump question.

[NYNick]

Ok, I found this plastic cap thing at the front left of the nose, screwed in place. Maybe it's some type of opening used for air intake on Carb'ed cars, and it's capped on Tii's? I'm thinking I'll remove it and weld up the hole. WTH?

 

Next is my fuel pump, under the car. Sure enough, this is factory for a Tii, per Haynes and the Service Manual. So what is that trunk mounted pump I've seen before, next to the gas fill tube. Earlier?

 

Again, thanks for the info in advance.

[stone02]

that plastic piece is a guard for the battery

when it is installed on the tray. the pump you

may see in the manual and installed in the

same place is a supplemental pump for carb

cars. not for tii.

stone

[NYNick]

Thanks Stone, but a guard for the battery?  It's covering up a corner hole. Why is there a hole, in a corner no less?

[PaulTWinterton]

Different than mine, but probably the same location.  I can only guess that the designers couldn't stuff the battery in the space without cutting the hole in the sheetmetal and then they had to add the cover for esthetics and some protection for the battery.

 

Re: supplementary pump.  No idea.  Not on pre-74 cars.

Edited June 10, 2016 by PaulTWinterton

[jgerock]

The corner pieces I have in my cars are both rounded - not squared off like your picture.  Wait- we are talking about the upper hole in front of the stock battery- correct?

[NYNick]

2 hours ago, jgerock said:

The corner pieces I have in my cars are both rounded - not squared off like your picture.  Wait- we are talking about the upper hole in front of the stock battery- correct?

Correct. It seems to have no bearing or relation to the battery. Why would they have a hole in the nose like that, and then cap it off? And only on one side?

 

And mine is a corner piece...90 degree edge to it as you can see above.

Edited June 11, 2016 by NYNick

[Danz3]

The part in the original post is a cover for the battery where it protrudes through the front sheet metal.

[PaulTWinterton]

6 hours ago, jgerock said:

The corner pieces I have in my cars are both rounded - not squared off like your picture.  Wait- we are talking about the upper hole in front of the stock battery- correct?

Now I'm confused.  The wrap-around squarish piece that's in my picture is all I have.  I'm sure it belongs there as it's got proper sheetmetal screws, clipnuts, and yellowed thread caps.  I've seen the same piece on other cars as well.

 

What I haven't seen before is the triangular(ish) piece in the previous post.  Also in the previous post you can see an unused hole in the sheetmetal.  I'm pretty sure that is where one of my bolts goes through to secure the plastic wraparound.

 

Edited June 11, 2016 by PaulTWinterton

[PaulTWinterton]

There it is.  I think that rounded piece was introduced in 1974.  ?

[Conserv]

19 hours ago, stone02 said:

.... the pump you

may see in the manual and installed in the

same place is a supplemental pump for carb

cars. not for tii.

stone

 

I've seen dozens of '02's with electric fuel pumps mounted in the trunks.  I've never seen one that was even possibly factory-installed (racing cars not included).  These electric trunk-mounted fuel pumps are occasionally on carbureted cars for which the owner believes the stock mechanical fuel pump is inadequate for some reason -- some entirely valid, some more wishful thinking that an "upgraded" engine couldn't possibly be supported by a mechanical pump (many of these owners are unaware that the ti fed twin sidedrafts quite adequately and dependably with a mechanical pump) -- but more often, in my experience, on tii's.  The tii's factory pump has been both unavailable at many times AND extremely expensive when it is available ($400-$500, and I've seen even higher).  Thus, many of these trunk-mounted fuel pumps are solutions to those issues.

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

Edited June 11, 2016 by Conserv

[Danz3]

My car is a 74 Tii manufactured in January of 74. The factory could have used the old design (triangular) parts and cut in the later version when inventory was depleted.

[Conserv]

I'm not certain I understand the complexity of the plastic corner piece issue.  I sadly cannot find the part in RealOEM.com -- I haven't figured how they categorized it -- but there were at least two different styles, the squared-off corner piece like Nick's fits perfectly on every square taillight I've ever seen, WITH a square taillight nosepiece, that is.

 

I'm leaving the round taillight era open because I don't know if '66-'67 1600-2's, with their very low battery trays, used the very same pieces as, say, a '73.

 

Below is my '76.  This is a piece I haven't broken and replaced...yet!  The piece is identical to Nick's and Danz3's cars (both '74's).  But pre-'74 the piece is different.

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

Edited June 11, 2016 by Conserv

[NYNick]

Well, so much for German engineering! This whole part of "let's cut a hole in the sheet metal and make the area wider with a piece of plastic to accommodate the top part of the battery" debacle seems like a major design screw up to me! Wonder if anyone got fired for that one?

 

And just to mess with Steve, I might weld the hole closed, remove the battery tray and put the battery in the trunk, just to be done with it!

[NYNick]

On 6/11/2016 at 0:56 PM, Conserv said:

 

I've seen dozens of '02's with electric fuel pumps mounted in the trunks.  I've never seen one that was even possibly factory-installed (racing cars not included).  These electric trunk-mounted fuel pumps are occasionally on carbureted cars for which the owner believes the stock mechanical fuel pump is inadequate for some reason -- some entirely valid, some more wishful thinking that an "upgraded" engine couldn't possibly be supported by a mechanical pump (many of these owners are unaware that the ti fed twin sidedrafts quite adequately and dependably with a mechanical pump) -- but more often, in my experience, on tii's.  The tii's factory pump has been both unavailable at many times AND extremely expensive when it is available ($400-$500, and I've seen even higher).  Thus, many of these trunk-mounted fuel pumps are solutions to those issues.

 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

What is the accepted practice these days for a fuel pump conversion? I've read Bill's old thread of the e-30 and the immersible pump, but what have people settled upon as the best solution. I'm almost certain my Tii pump is original...sure looks like it!

 

Thanks

 

Nick

[Conserv]

4 hours ago, NYNick said:

 

And just to mess with Steve, I might weld the hole closed, remove the battery tray and put the battery in the trunk, just to be done with it!

 

Ya killin' me, Nick!

 

But I'd much rather have you relocate the battery to push my buttons than the typical justification: "Moving 35 lbs from the nose to the trunk (while adding 5 lbs. of battery cable) really improves handling!"  Yeah, right, it turns an '02 into a friggin' Lotus Exige.  (Particularly on a tii, the factory battery location is admittedly busy real estate and, without the battery there, engine servicing is a bit easier.)

 

Best regards,

 

Steve

 

Edited June 12, 2016 by Conserv