guys,

finally getting my carter mech fuel pump on my car.

problem is that the outbound fuel line hits the radiator hose.

soultion would be to rotate the bottom half of the fuel pump to the next set of mounting holes (like 22.5 degrees away)

problem is that this set of holes is drilled, but not tapped for the screws.

so what do i do:

tap the untapped holes or can i just use a longer bolt and a lockwasher and nut with loctite.

there are like 5 or 6 of these holes .. i dont know how much stress these bolts will see...

they will hold the two halves of the (mechanical) pump together.

what do you guys think?

thanks!!

I would suggest tapping the holes. It only takes a few minutes.

I'm not familiar with the pump. If you think you can disassemble and reassemble it without any problems tap it. It should only require a few inch pounds of torque on each bolt so the stress will be evenly distributed. Tighten in a rotating pattern and you should have no issues. You don't necessarily need to use a torque tool, but even tightness is more important that tightness. A little blue loctite would be good.

i had the same dilemma when i put a Carter pump on my Nova last summer- i couldn't figure out why they didn't tap the holes that would have put the inlet and oulet near the stock orientation to allow using the stock hardlines. in the end- since i don't have a tap and die set and wanted to get the thing back on the road- i just bent the fuel line. i might go back and re-do that, however, as the line is now against the lower rad hose.