47-55.1 fuel pump location

[nvrdone]

our club got involved in a local town festival that included a parade. The parade was about 1 mile with lots of cars (we had 27), fire trucks, marching bands etc. You get the picture.
Well, about 3/4 for the way thru, my truck died. I thought it had over heated but the temp was at 185. Then I figured out that I had no fuel at the carb.
After it sat for a bit, it started up and ran fine.
When I got home I started looking for a cause.
The tank is mounted under the bed behind the axle.
The electric fuel pump is located inside the right frame rail above the rear axle and the exhaust ends directly below the pump. It is not an in tank pump.
I'm thinking that the heat build up under the bed was too much.
So now I'm looking for a better place to mount the pump. I've seen some Cameros and Mustangs that have the pump mounted centered under the rear bumper. I'm thinking that's not a good idea in case of getting hit in the rear.
Any creative ideas would be appreciated.

[Rickysnickers]

Are running a carb or FI? If carb, why not just convert back to a mechanical pump? If FI, I'd highly suggest an in tank pump.

[Stepside Jim]

I'm not sure of you're setup now. I assume carburetor.

Using a fuel regulator that has a return line back to the tank may help.

If you now have what's called a dead head situation, the pump might be running full pressure all the time without much of any fuel passing through the pump, especially idling for a long time.

With a regulator using a return line, the pump is freed up from running full pressure. The return line flows unneeded fuel back to the tank which in turn also passes cooler fuel through the pump.

Check my theory to make sure I'm thinking correctly.

[nvrdone]

Got to talking to some of the guys in our club and others have had the same problem. Since it's a carb, the return line idea with heat wrap and a heat shield on the pump seem to be the best idea. I thought about using a mechanical pump but there is not enough room between the front frame rail and the block to9 get a mechanical pump in there.
The other idea was just dont drive in parades. It was interesting that 4 other cars in this parade had the same problem.

[Rickysnickers]

Understood regarding not enough room for a mechanical pump. As the other poster said adding a return line will most likely cure the problem.

[dsraven]

pressure reg with fuel return line may help keep pump cooler by running more "tank temp" fuel through it
pump with ability to shut off when pressure is built up
heat shield the pump for sure, or mount it in a chillier place not near the hot exhaust
change the exhaust to dump the heat (and corrosive gasses) outside the truck footprint, not in front of the fuel tank. that is also generally heating the fuel in the tank as well.
fiber gasket under the carb to keep manifold heat from getting into the carb, somewhat
got a pic of that area in question?

[nvrdone]

thanks for the tips. So far I have wrapped the pump in exhaust heat wrap, created a heat shield and have an appointment with a local exhaust shop to rebuild the exhaust system. That needed to be done anyway.
Its funny that this the first time the pump has overheated. Just got me motivated to improve things.

[dsraven]

It's always best to keep the hot stuff away from the burny stuff if possible. Remount/rerout/reconfigure as required. Exhaust is always best if exit is outside body perimeter. Corrosive gases, heat, moisture AND carbon monoxide can get away. If it's hot enough to make the pump quit then you gotta have a little flashing red warning light going off in the back of your mind somewhere. It doesn't take much to burn your whole truck down.
End of rant. Coming from retired firefighter, always looking for the weak link. Sorry.

[mr48chev]

It probably would have never been an issue if you haven't done the parade with the car club but that club is huge on participating in local parades.

I ran over to the Zillah Cemetery on the Saturday before Mothers day with some flowers and one of the Yakima rodders with a Red Chevy sedan was sitting at the cemetery because his car had quit in the Zillah parade. I think he finally figured out that he had burned up a coil or module in the distributor. If a car or truck is going to act up it will act up in a parade or on the first long road trip it goes on.

[nvrdone]

Yes, that was one of ours. Turned out that he had fried the module in the distributor. Ran all over trying to find a new module with no luck so bought a whole new dizzy. Got it running.
Tomorrow I'm picking up some exhaust heat wrap for the pump and filter. I also created a heat shield using a scrap piece of tin and an exhaust clamp.
Then next week the truck will go to an exhaust shop and have the pipes routed out under the running boards or out the back. Just depends on how much room I have.