The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop In line fuel filter

54’ Chevy 3100 235 inline

My truck has an aftermarket inline filter right before the carb, 2 questions should this clear filter ever be full of fuel it only seems to ever have 1/4” of fuel in it (truck runs fine) and the filter pretty much rests on the manifold is this too hot for the filter plastic (doesn’t show any signs of warping from heat)

Pretty normal to not be full. Better to have it not touching motor parts.

It is full of gas and most definitely does not need to be resting on the manifold. You can probably find a filter that will screw directly into the carb. Do you have a steel line coming out of the fuel pump of some form of rubber line? If it is steel, bend it so the filter does not touch anything hot. If it is a flexible line re route it away from the heat.

The best way to stop worrying about the fuel level in a clear "filter" is to install a metal one. Those tiny clear strainers are about as effective as windshield wipers on a duck's butt, anyway. "Out of sight, out of mind!"
Jerry

Good one, Jerry.

I have a '56 Cadillac with a factory glass filter between the fuel pump and carburetor. It's never full of gas.

I've gotten used to being able to have a visual reference on whether or not the fuel pump is working so I install the clear glass inline ones on everything I own.

In the case of the '50 3100, its original fuel pump had the clear glass bowl attached to it but the replacement pump doesn't have one. The only place I've found that sells the original style pump with the glass filter bowl on top is Golden State Chevys - $75.

A few months after the '51 made it to my homestead, it quit running on a trip to town. About 15 miles from home and 5 miles short of town. I had narrowed it down to a plugged fuel filter by removing the filter inlet hose and cranking, gas everywhere. A total stranger had stopped to check on what was going on and offered to take me to town where I knew I could get a ride back out to the truck. The truck hadn't seen regular service in years and suspecting the tank was not in the best condition my short term solution was to install the largest filter the local NAPA had on the shelf (about 4"x4"). I installed it a foot from the tank outlet. And the good stranger insisted on taking me back out to the truck. That was 7 years and 15,000 miles ago. So far so good.

RonR

If you can install it somewhere out of sight, the huge filter used on Ford fuel injected engines works well. It's about 3" in diameter, and almost that long.
Jerry

Ya it runs fine but there is always so little fuel in the clear filter I don’t even see how it’s getting any fuel but obviously does

Have you run a fuel pump volume test? Of course not- - - - -nobody ever does. All the Sun test equipment back in the 1950's used to have the same slogan prominently displayed: "We Test Not Guess"!
Jerry

I walked around at a cruise-in event with a friend who happened to be a classic car insurance guy. He shook his head at those cheap looking plastic filters right on top of the manifolds. He said engine fires were his biggest claims, either electrical or gas related.

When I LS swapped my current truck, I was looking at filters and ended up buying a canister type designed for filling station pumps. It took a couple creative adapters to hook it to the rest of my fuel system, but it works great and was surprisingly affordable.

Leo Did you know that Rochester's main thrust was to make all fuel system parts steel to prevent mishaps with fuel in service and in wreck situations??