I know I haven't posted in a while, and I really haven't had reason to work on my Toyota because well its a Toyota (and Chevrolet.)..

anyhow, I was working on my LS swap in my c10 Chevrolet pickup. And I am doing in major fuel system upgrade from the standard carbureted gas tank. this is a mod I plan on doing to my Toyota as well, as the standard fuel bowl in the bottom of the gas tank doesn't really agree with 320 pound feet of torque at anything less than a third tank. it gets downright annoying quite frankly. Anyhow, on with the thread.

so, I'm starting with a standard non baffled carbureted gas tank. The floor is fairly flat and would definitely star for fuel since it's a very narrow and long gas tank and the pickup is in the middle. So to remedy this, I looked for the best mod for the buck. Of course you could get the expensive drop in bladders and spend $400-$500 on an Aeromotive drop in unit. but those units also have some drawbacks. For example. the Aeromotive drop in unit consists of a rubber bowl filled with foam and a couple holes in the corners of the bowl to allow fuel in. under hard cornering or acceleration fuel does escape from this bowl, however it escapes fairly slowly and is only ever has the same level of fuel as the fuel tank itself. that means as you get closer to empty, the likelihood of you starving for fuel becomes greater. And the bowl will not prevent starvation because there is no fuel level to fill the bowl in the tank. how do we get around this?

Well, being in automotive fabrication and design, and knowing how things work, I started looking at different fuel systems. As you start looking at different fuel systems, you'll start to notice that very high performance cars and even just about every supercar uses a surge tank style set up. I've noticed that the way Ford, Dodge, and General Motors does it is a little different some of the other manufactures on the other side of the pond. American manufacturers tend to steal fuel flow from the outlet of the fuel pump. is fuel pumps are designed with what they call a jet pump port, or a venturi port. What this does, is redirect a small portion of the Pump outlet to a small jet in the bottom of a canister with a orifice in the side of it. The high velocity fuel coming out of this jet creates negative pressure based on the venturi effect. this negative pressure allows fuel to enter the bottom of the canister and essentially Pump it into the canister that the fuel pump is contained in, and helps to overfill this canister with fuel. It has been said that it helps to cool the pump because it is completely submerged in fuel, however I don't believe this to be true entirely, since the fuel flows around pulls it from the inside out which cools it from the inside out basically. some of the European vehicles use the same method to pump fuel from the fuel tank into the fuel pump canister by using return fuel from the fuel pressure regulator instead. The benefits of this style of search tank is that it does not rob any of the precious fuel flow from the pressure side of the fuel system which feeds the engine and fuel rails.and since nobody made it for my vehicle, I decided to make my own.

I started with a piece of 3 inch exhaust tubing, and cut it eight and a half inches long. I plated the end of one side of it and began drilling holes for my one way rubber check valve that I stole from one of the other fuel canister style fuel systems that I had laying around. Then drill the hole for the jet pump inlet. I purchased a Aeromotive 340 in tank pump, and stopped by a radian performance and picked up one of their venturi style jet pumps. I then gutter my original fuel sending unit extended the return line and bubble flare the end for hose retention. I also dropped the outlet tube and bubble flared it for hose retention. I attached a strap broke at 90 degrees to the canister that I just built, use the single 6 Mill bolt to attach it to the fuel sending lid and made some electrical connections, and voila. I also forgot to mention I made the three feet for the base of the canister, so it does not sit completely flat on the floor of the gas tank obstructing the flow into the canister.



Bottom plate with rubber check valve





Drilling check valve inlet ports.





Checking check valve inlet





Bottom of surge tank





Slightly crushed siphon tube to act as a stop, so it will not over extend past the bottom plate in the canister.





Testing fitment





Inlet check valve and siphon tube.





Stock sending unit





Return line mod.





Modded return line.





Fuel pump assembly. Turned discharge from venturi jet pump 90 to try avoiding air cavitation and air at pump inlet.








Feet on bottom of canister to prevent suffocation of the canister.





Assembled canister





Internal ground and power connections.








Installed in OEM chevy truck tank with aftermarket level sensor to drive OEM gauge.