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How to install a really cool glass bowl fuel filter.


Morgan Wright

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What's cooler than a glass bowl fuel filter? You can see the sediment, and it fits in the category of modifications that don't affect originality, such as new tires, new battery, new safety laminated glass windshield, side view mirrors for safety, and even the extreme of front disc brakes, for safety. Nobody is against safety. These 100 year old gas tanks are full of rust and the fuel line is full of crud so nobody calls your car a "rat rod" if all you do is put in a really cool old-style glass bowl filter.

 

Here is how.

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Cut the tube where the filter is going to go. Most cars, the tube runs under the exhaust pipe and muffler, then under the rear wheels. Not a good place. Just put it in the engine compartment where it belongs. Then clean out the line with a gun snake, use the .223 caliber size.

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snake.jpg

Edited by Morgan Wright (see edit history)
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Not quite finite.

You need to paint the top casting red and then rub it with Scotch bright, so it looks like you stole it off dad's Farmall tractor.

 

Yea, I know it's not "hard plumbed" but it is just a temporary rig to see how it looks while I wait for my water pump to get back.

 

Mike in Colorado

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Great how-to write-up. Those glass bowl filters always vex me, but now I see that I have been putting them together improperly. Duh.

 

Also, invest in a good flaring tool. That Piggly Wiggly unit makes some ugly-ass flares. A good tool makes crisp, sharp flares without chewing up the tubing, and that will give you a better fit. Good tools always pay for themselves.

 

Thanks for posting this!

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Or if your car is older and has a vacuum fuel system you can just go to Tractor Supply and get a top inlet/side outlet glass bowl filter with shut off valve for about $15.00 and screw it into the bottom of your vacuum tank.  Mine works really well. When I stop the car I  close the shut off valve and let the engine run until it stops.  That way there is no danger of the carb. float bowl overflowing due to a stuck/leaking needle valve.  When you are ready to drive again just open the valve.  

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That's O.K. Morgan, copper is so easy to dent, and you know that you have to tighten the die bar down so the flare point does not push the tube out.

Steel tube does not ding so easily.

Fortunately the flare nut covers the die bar nicks

Your tool looks a LOT like my 50 year old Craftsman, but shinier. just keep the threads lubed with white grease and it will last forever. 

Thanks for the lesson...............

 

Mike in Colorado

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1 hour ago, carbking said:

Been using glass bowl fuel filters for more than 50 years. This is the FIRST one I have ever seen where the gasket is at the BOTTOM.

 

So, suggesting, before installing the gasket; make CERTAIN where it goes on the filter you have.

 

Jon.

 

I wanted to check how much this filter resisted flow so I blew into it, into the inlet side. If I put the washer on last there was little resistance, you can blow right through it, but if I put the washer on first it was hard to blow into the inlet side. That might work fine for a car with a fuel pump, but for a vacuum system like this I want the least resistance possible.

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Waiter there's a fly in my soup.

 

What did you expect for $2, an ostrich? 

Yeah we were all out of crackers.

Don't wave it around everybody else will want one.

That's ok mac, no extra charge

Yeah, those things are attracted to road kill

That's OK he won't eat much

Would you like a table for two?

He's going to have to pay the cover and minimum.

Really? I didn't think anything could live in that stuff.

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The Carter CARbureTER sediment bowl on my 1949 Super has a coiled spring in the bottom of the bowl with a porous ceramic strainer sitting on top of it. The spring keeps the ceramic strainer tight against the underside of the cap.  It uses a gasket between the top of the bowl and the underside of the cap to prevent leaks.  The gaskets are available from NAPA, regular size and large.  See my photo.  Interestingly, I have a Stromberg carburetor and a Carter sediment bowl. It is all original. Parts bin assembly, I assume.

IMG_20191107_182409147.jpg

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The filter you show is a Carter, and was available aftermarket at least post WWII, and possibly before. As far as I am aware, they were aftermarket only, but am not certain of that.

 

That particular one is fairly common; BUT MAKE SURE YOU A BOWL FROM AN IDENTICAL FILTER!!!! Carter had several aftermarket filters. I gave completely up on trying to sell parts for these things, and wholesaled 1/2 a truck load to a gentleman in Florida because of that. Watch Ebay for a complete filter. The key to the correct one is the wire going from top to bottom as in your picture.

 

The one shown by BuickBob is different from yours, and the bowl will not fit.

 

Check out Ebay 323832671374

 

Jon.

Edited by carbking (see edit history)
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The one I listed in the OP is the basic Speedway fuel filter, Walmart is getting $41 for it by linking you to Speedway who sells it for $40 and Walmart takes $1.

 

But this company is calling it a 1960-62 Chevy original part, and only wants $24 for it:

 

https://www.cjponyparts.com/fuel-filter-assembly-glass-bowl-chevrolet-c10-1960-1962/p/FG46/?year=1962&msclkid=f4d53a500a2e1b88766a67a1c2296a75&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=New Bing Shopping Ads&utm_term=1101201852041&utm_content=All Products

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I'm glad I installed the filter. This is how much sediment I got out of the vacuum tank. It is extremely fine rust particles (it had to get through 2 fine screens).

 

I only drove the car at most 20 miles since 2 years ago when I cleaned out the vacuum tank extremely well. This much sediment in 20 miles? No wonder the car started sputtering and acting weird toward the end.

 

I suppose I have to take the carb apart again, bet it's full of this same stuff.

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DSCN3243.JPG

 

DSCN3246.JPG

Edited by Morgan Wright (see edit history)
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YUCK !

That is why I tell everyone who will listen to install a BIG clear plastic filter back at the gas tank, one before the fuel pump and another just before the carb.

That is of course on the newer old cars with fuel pumps.

For yours the tank and just before the vacuum  tank would be good. Plus the carb too.

 

Mike in Colorado

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10 minutes ago, Ben P. said:

Which fine screens?

I only know of 2 on my E-35. One at the top of the vac-tank at the fuel inlet fitting, and one after the vac-tank inside the bajo-union at the carb. inlet fitting.

(Unless there’s one at the gas tank that I’m forgetting about.)

That’s some scary looking stuff....

 

There is a screen in the gas tank at the pick up......plus the 2 you mention. Plus there's a 4th one....after the banjo union at the carb there is one at the bottom of the float bowl.

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Probably  not a bad idea to clean the gas tank. Rather than just filtering the trash, eliminate it. Eventually whatever trash is in there will clog any filter and you're back to square one and sitting by the side of the road. I had that problem on one of my cars and installed an inline filter as a temporary measure. I thought my problem was heat-related (felt like vapor lock stuttering) but while sitting by the side of the road waiting for it to cool off, I took a peek at the filter and found that it was totally clogged within about 20 miles of driving. The gas tank looked like this:

 

Tank4.thumb.jpg.1d6218122d709c3a950a2fba1bec5efc.jpg

 

If you're getting that much trash in your filter, it's time to clean and seal the tank.

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When I rebuilt the SW Vacuum Fuel Tank I used a brass wire wheel and got all the loose funk out , then sanded the inside of the tank, then washed twice with soap and water then a degreaser, next two run downs with a solvent, then used KBS Coatings Fuel Tank Sealant inside and then three coats of the KBS Rust Seal system.  
 

If this things rusts again, it deserves to rust at that point!!  I’ve done everything I can to preserve this SW Vacuum tank and my new freshly built gas tank in hopes that we can preserve the two for another 93 years!!!

 

🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼

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15 hours ago, Morgan Wright said:

Same as above pic only with a squirt of Dawn and shake well, wait 30 minutes.

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DSCN3252.JPG

 

 

What is this demonstrating? That an emulsifier emulsifies? There are still solids in there, but now they're suspended more uniformly because you've reduced the surface tension of the water so they don't float on top. Eventually they'll settle out. It didn't actually eliminate anything. If you're getting solids of any kind in your vacuum tank, a filter will catch most of them but it's not really solving the problem if your gas tank still has trash in it. As I've learned the hard way, the trash always finds it way into the worst spots at the worst times. That's why restoring the gas tank is the second thing I go after getting a new old car, right after washing it.

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I was suspicious that the brown stuff that sank in water (rust) was the same color as the brown stuff that floats. Maybe it was rust as well, but chelated with something it picked up from the gas, or the gas itself, that caused it to form a compound that is less dense than water, but doesn't add any color of its own. I don't know if rust chelates with gasoline but if it did it would float on water because gasoline is a huge molecule compared to iron, but sink in gas, because the iron in the chelate would make it weigh more than pure gas. It wasn't floating because of surface tension, rust doesn't float on surface tension after vigorously stirring it (in the glass), nor is there surface tension in the bottle at the juncture between the water and the gasoline. I think that brown stuff is a rust/gasoline chelate.

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That's really weird. I've never seen anything like it. Is it building up in the vacuum tank and getting into the carburetor? It has to be coming from somewhere, whatever it is. Can you separate some and dry it out? Is it more dust like above? It's not just coming out of the gasoline, it's got to be in the system somewhere. I'd still be worried that there's a lot of junk in the gas tank.

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