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Fuel Systems/Pumps
Pontiac V8 Fuel Systems/Pumps
Four Ways to Feed It — Fuel Systems/Pumps for Pontiac V8s
Fuel Systems/Pumps is where you decide how fuel gets from the tank to the engine on a Pontiac V8. There are only four ways to do it, and the right one is set by what is on top of the engine, how much power you are feeding, and whether you are keeping the car stock or building it to run hard.
Butler splits the category into mechanical pumps driven off the cam, in-line electric pumps mounted on the frame rail, in-tank carbureted modules, and in-tank EFI modules. Brands here include Holley, Sniper, Aeromotive, Rob Mc Performance, Edelbrock, Mr. Gasket and Butler's own tank-and-pump solutions.
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More About Fuel Systems/Pumps
1. Start with what is on the intake
The carburetor or throttle body sets the pressure the pump has to make, and that single number eliminates most of the catalog before you look at flow.
| Carbureted | Wants low pressure, in the single-digit psi range. A mechanical pump or a carbureted-spec electric pump does this, and some of them do not need a regulator at all. |
| EFI | Wants high pressure and a return or returnless system built around it. A carb pump will not feed an EFI engine, and a high-pressure EFI pump run on a carburetor needs a bypass regulator to bring the pressure down. |
| Do not mix them up | Holley is explicit that the classic Red and Blue electric pumps are not designed or recommended for use with fuel injection systems. |
2. Then pick where the pump lives
Location changes noise, heat and reliability more than most people expect, and it determines what else you have to buy.
| Mechanical | Bolts to the timing cover and runs off the cam. Nothing to wire, no relay, no tank work. This is the stock rebuild path and it goes surprisingly far into performance territory. |
| In-line electric | Mounts on the frame rail near the tank. The simplest way to add an electric pump to a car that already has a tank you want to keep, and the easiest to service. |
| In-tank | The pump sits submerged in fuel inside the tank, which is quieter and avoids the hot-fuel handling problems that give external pumps trouble. It requires either an EFI-ready tank or a retrofit module installed in the tank you have. |
3. What you have to buy with it
A pump is rarely a single-part purchase. Budget for the supporting pieces before you order.
| Electric pumps need power | Butler stocks 30 amp fuel pump relay and wiring kits. Long wire runs cause voltage drop at the pump, and a pump that is not seeing full voltage does not flow its rating. |
| Filtration | A coarse filter before the pump and a finer one after it. Running an external pump without a pre-filter is how you kill one. |
| Pressure control | A regulator sized for carb or EFI pressure, and in most bypass systems, a return line back to the tank. |
| Going electric from mechanical | You will need a fuel pump block-off plate for the timing cover, stocked under Hose Kits & Accessories. |
Pick the pressure first, the location second, and the flow rating last. Most fuel system problems on a Pontiac trace back to a pump chosen for its horsepower number without the lines, filters, wiring and return path to support it.
Fuel Pumps- Mechanical Fuel Pumps- In-Tank EFI Fuel Pumps- In-Tank Carbureted
Not sure what your Pontiac needs?
Call our tech team at 866-762-7527. Tell us your engine, heads, car, and power goal, and we will put the parts together as one combination that works.