Fuel Filter
 

I was over at my friend's house the other day and watched as he installed his carburator after cleaning out the mesh micro filter that disolved as a result of todays fuels. What a mess. He told me that he was going to put
in an inline filter instead. Soooooo, I opened the rumble lid on my coupe and
pulled out my spare filter and told him to try it instead----no need for clamps, no need for hoses to splice into the fuel line, no need to cut the line, etc., etc.... A lot of guys on the barn know the filter I'm talking about, but for you newbies it's the NAPA filter P/N 3039 that sits in the glass sediment bowl. Of course it doesn't work for you guys with the sediment bulb, lol. What I like about this filter is that once it is installed
there is about an inch of space between the bottom of the filter and the
glass bowl-----plenty of room to place a small magnet to pick up any rust
particles that the filter might miss. I use a 1/4" X 1: industrial magnet that
grabs onto the bottom of the filter on the metal rim. Pretty neat. My
friend is as "happy as a clam." JMHO

Jack

Re: Fuel Filter
 

I had a lot of problems using a filter in the sediment bowl. Atleast a few years back it clogged up very fast. Chances are the tank is much cleaner now.

I have the screen installed in the sediment bowl and since we've been driving it i'm seeing far less in the bowl. At first I was emptying the bowl every trip. Now its rare.

But I do like the idea of a magnet in the bowl to catch rust! I'll be throwing one in immediately.

Re: Fuel Filter
 

I think you'll like it. In short order you will probably see the magnet sport a new
patina-----rust/brown, lol.

Jack

Re: Fuel Filter
 

NAPA 3039/with magnet on bottom

Re: Fuel Filter
 

i just put the filter in mine also so i am still testing it. never had a problem with trash in my tank anyway but figured it cant hurt having it. i also left the screen on top of it also.

Re: Fuel Filter
 

Jack : I assume the only thing that holds this filter in is the black flat part of the filter? I guess it acts as a gasket against the glass?

I'm looking into ordering two of them and more details if possible.
Also which side does the tank drain into. the center of the filter, or the outer edge?

I have been thinking of ordering a 1" round magnet from mcmaster and laying it in the bowl.

Re: Fuel Filter
 

No, the filter has a lip on the edge and just sits on top of the sediment bowl and
the filter hangs inside just as pretty as you please. Check it out on google and you
will see a picture of the lip. Just google Napa filter 3039.

Jack

Re: Fuel Filter
 

http://www.tractorshed.com/gallery/tphotos/a133796.jpg

Looks like a spring in the bottom?

Re: Fuel Filter
 

Doesn't the tank drain into the center of the filter, making the magnet useless?

Re: Fuel Filter
 

thats a different design filter than the one talked about here. this one has a large lip built into the top so the glass bulb holds it up no spring needed..

Re: Fuel Filter
 

Re: Fuel Filter
 

Mitch has it right. That other filter is a different critter. No spring required with the
3039. Mitch's picture shows the lip that I mentioned. Just pop it into the bowl and
the lip will seat onto the top of the bowl.

Jack

Re: Fuel Filter
 

OK, I see.. thanks

Re: Fuel Filter
 

The first pic Mitch put up looks like a WIX one,these are longer and wont fit in some V8 glass bowls. The napa 3039 does need a spring on the V8 bowls and the center hole has to be opened up a little to fit over the nub in the center of the V8 pump.ken ct. Use in all my glass bowl rebuilt pumps.

Re: Fuel Filter
 

Ken, I know nothing about the V8 bowls, but the 3039 does NOT need a
spring on the "A" bowl.

Jack

Re: Fuel Filter
 

Mr. Tube, in spite of the excellent filtering of the Napa 3039 filter, the magnet
DOES pick up some rust that manages to slip through---albeit very fine. Every couple
of months or so, I take the magnet out and wipe off the fine particles. Every bit of
a foreign item you can keep out of the carb is a good thing. JMHO

Jack

Re: Fuel Filter
 

Sorry to bring up another old thread... but did not see this addressed in any of the many threads that spoke about the NAPA 3039 filter

I have a '31 with the glass sediment bowl...

I acquired the 3039 filter and, indeed, it does fit in the glass bowl, on the shoulder very nicely.

My question has to do with the flange on the filter.

Has the hole in the center for the fuel to enter - and a series of smaller holes around the edge - presumably for the fuel to pass thru on it's way to the outlet.

The question is both versions of the bowl gasket (cork or the neoprene) cover the series of smaller holes... how does the fuel make it to the outlet:confused:

Seems like the gasket would be blocking the flow...

Re: Fuel Filter
 

Just run with original brass filters if you are running the original carb.

The carb is designed to let crap run through it. To be honest, the original brass screens did a great job on my 30 fordor.

The tank would clog the outlet valve when the stuff settled out. So I put in a short piece of copper tubing in the valve to prevent stuff from getting in the valve. I put in a glass sediment bowl just so I could see what was coming out. I then just drove the car. I had to empty a lot of junk out of the bowl at first. Pretty quickly the amount of junk in the bowl became minimal. I monitored the original carb, got to love the single bolt tear down. Never found any stuff in the carb or in the carb filter.

Speaking of original filters, I am looking for a nice original glass bowl filter screen for my cabriolet.

Re: Fuel Filter
 

I suggest that you not get too excited about how well your filter works until you've got a couple hundred miles on it and until you've driven the car on a hot day. Those things are very seductive--they look so slick. IMO, they work best for folks whose systems are so clean that they don't need one anyhow. Vapor block is another issue--I could watch the clear plastic in-line model fill up with vapor and shut the engine down.

Here's a photo of all the models I've tried, and removed, over the years. The best for me was the red fiberglass CG3, but the new models are not made with fiberglass any more.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...repairs036.jpg

Re: Fuel Filter
 

I had a lot of trouble with the micro mesh filter that has the spring and what not. After about a week the gas had turned the plastic into rubber practically and the spring smushed it up until it blocked the fuel flow. I had to put a couple small hose clamps around it for it to keep it's shape until I got home. Since then I've been running the paper in-bowl filter and haven't had any trouble what so ever. A guy I know runs the same paper filter and changes it every other year and has never had any trouble either.

Re: Fuel Filter
 

jcheshire31-

Your experience with the gasket is as shown in one of the photos - covering the series of small holes - and you have no problem with fuel flow - it that what you're saying?

Just seems it would be blocked...

Thanks...

Re: Fuel Filter
 

Yeah, I feel your pain on the micro filter. When I used one of those parts of the
fine mesh wound up in the carburetor. I've never had trouble with the NAPA 3039.

Jack

Re: Fuel Filter
 

Can someone who is using the NAPA 3039 address my question/concern, I'd really appreciate it...

Thanks.

Re: Fuel Filter
 

I see your point about the holes being covered. I'd cut the I.D. of the rim gasket a bit larger, just enough to uncover the holes.

Re: Fuel Filter
 

Really hoping that someone who has used this filter could address my question...

Jack '29 Sport Coupe?

Someone else?

Thanks.

Re: Fuel Filter
 

I feel your pain and don't mean to be rude by not answering. Clearly, I must have dealt with that same problem somehow when I used that Hastings GF-18 filter seen in my photo, but I can't for the life of me remember how.

I do think I use cork gaskets, which may be narrower. Trimming your rubber one down, as Tom suggested, should work.

Steve

Re: Fuel Filter
 

One trick I've learned over the years is to "Never" get gas when the Tanker Truck is at the Station. He stirs up all the sediment at the bottom of the storage tank and some of it will end up in your tank.................:(

Re: Fuel Filter
 

Putting a filter in the sediment bowl really defeats the purpose of the sediment bowl. The crud is supposed to settle out in the bottom of the bowl. If you use a filter in a sediment bowl in a dirty system the filter will plug since fuel has to travel through it to get to the bowl. If you want to filter fuel in a dirty system do it after the bowl where the big stuff has settled out and then allow the filter to catch the fine stuff.

A sediment bowl with a good screen at the top and no filter should be adequate for these old vehicles.

Pete

Re: Fuel Filter
 

Not necessarily; depends on the filter. The two filters in the upper left of my photo above first shoot the gas down thru the center into the bowl. The fuel then has to turn around and go back thru the filter material right before leaving thru the ring of little holes in the top.

Steve

Re: Fuel Filter
 

Steve,
That is good to know. I always assumed the fuel went through the filter first. I will have to admit I have never tried a filter in the bowl on anything.

I did study your pictures and can see what you are saying. I could see using those but not the others.

Thanks,
Pete

Re: Fuel Filter
 

Here's a few more pictures that might help. The Hastings GF 18 I believe is the substitute for the CarPlus 86039, which, if my notes are right, was the one recommended at a seminar at the 2007 MARC meet. It looks a lot like the 33039. It also came with the skinny gasket shown, which seals but does not block the holes. It worked ok for me for a while but then started vapor blocking and had to be removed.

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...s/IMGP1283.jpg


http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...s/IMGP1285.jpg

To answer the other question, the GF 18 has a solid bottom, so the fuel does go thru the filter material before entering the bowl, defeating the sediment bowl function as described by Pete.

However, the other two models shown are open thru the center. In case you can't make out the footstool fabric in the above photo, here's one looking at the TV thru the 3034. http://www.fordbarn.com/forum/images/icons/icon7.gif

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c2...s/IMGP1286.jpg

BTW, the problem with the 3034 was that the center hole was too small for the neck on the sed bowl top, even though it can accomodate an entire comedian head.

Steve

Re: Fuel Filter
 

Jack, I don't have any experience with the filters since I don't use one, I have an indented firewall car. I can offer some insight on how the gasket works. When the bowl is tightened, the gasket is pulled into the top and the center will raise up to provide clearance for the fuel to get to the holes. This is true with the cork or neoprene gaskets. Myself, whgen I had a car with a glass bowl, I used a distributor gasket from a 390 FE motor since it is the correct diameter and has a tapered top which will compress and seal better IMHO. Mileage here will vary.

Re: Fuel Filter
 

Yep, the fine mesh on those micro flters gets eaten up in no time by the gasoline additives, and little particles of the mesh wind up in the carburetor in no time. The paper filter such as a NAPA 3039 work like a charm.

Jack

Re: Fuel Filter
 

Great posts. I am talked into trying the NAPA 3039 filter.

Re: Fuel Filter
 

here is a pic i had saved of a wix part #

http://i684.photobucket.com/albums/v...ps440aec45.jpg

Re: Fuel Filter
 

The most important filter is a mesh stand up filter that fits in the gas cut off valve. If there is enough trash, rust, or loose varnish in the tank to cause a real problem, it will first clog the cut off valve, the engine will sputter, maybe pop and quit running. Sediment should settle to the bottom of the glass bowl if thats the type used and the pre filter in the carburetor should catch the rest. In line filters should be avoided because most are made for later cars with fuel pumps and will restrict flow in a gravity feed system. Not saying that it doesn't happen but I've never seen any filter desolve. The problem that I had with micro filters was that they would clog with micro particals that would have passed through the carburetor with NO problem. Filters are good, but too many filters will restrict flow, don't get carried away .

Re: Fuel Filter
 

How about just cleaning the gas tanks properly ? That would make most of this expense/clogging/special filter experimenting research moot..no ?
And , as to vapor lock...must be fortunate here on left coast that we don't have corn fuel...yet !

Re: Fuel Filter
 

I agree and and take the time to first thoroughly clean my gas tanks. The problem will always be that when the tanks at the gas station get filled, trash at the bottom of their tanks get stirred up and the gas that we get will usually not be completely clean. In any case the stand up filter in the cut off valve is the most important filter for the model A. I even use one in my 31 tudor with the outside cut off valve, it doesn't stand up in that case but does the same job.

Re: Fuel Filter
 

a fuel system does not have to be dirty to run a bowl filter.. it does no harm to the flow or operation of the car but protects it

Re: Fuel Filter
 

Hey Purdy,
Yeah, just for the record...I like to filter everything, but start with a clean tank ! I agree regarding the little filter on the shut off valve (in the tank) is very valuable and also use that. I also use a see thru inline filter just before my 2X2 setup. This one I use just for the reason that you stated...possible stuff from gas station. I never use a gas station while those bulk trucks are unloading for the 'stirring up stuff' possibility. My inline filter has been there for years. I inspect it each/every time before engine operation..still clear. I sympathize with corn gas users troubles...and hey they use our taxes to make the stuff :eek: !