Fuel Pump Boot (was: Re: [DML] DELOREAN SAFETY).

["content22207" <brobertson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

In lieu of an upper cover I have a splash guard attached to the outer
face of the spare tire well (deflects water from the windshield
plenum). This means only 1 layer of rubber between the tank opening
and hose clamp -- the boot. Clamp holds it very tightly against that
lip. Impossible to remove without loosening the clamp.

Simplest improvement to the upper cover would be a design that
straddles the clamp, allowing it to hold the boot only.

Bill Robertson
#5939

>--- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "therealdmcvegas" <dmcvegas@xxxx> wrote:
> It is a flawed design, yes. But only because too many people over 
> tighten the boot and cap.
> 
> You've got rubber, on rubber, and you're trying to hold them both 
> down with a hose clamp, onto a small, plastic lip underneath. So when 
> you try and torque the giant hose clamp down, you're not going to 
> really feel as strong a resistance in your hand, like you would if 
> you were clamping in a radiator hose, for instance. When you over 
> torque the clamp, it doesn't cut into the rubber, like it would a 
> hose. Instead, both the cap, and the boot begin to creep upwards, and 
> slide off the lip of the tank. Tighten down the clamp too far, and 
> the cap will pop right off of the boot.
> 
> Instead, you need to tighten down the clamp only so far, until you've 
> got a snug fit. As soon as the clamp stops compressing the rubber 
> cap, you're there.
> 
> There is obviously a safety consideration. After all, if the cap is 
> loose, and/or breached somehow, you will have gasoline fumes enter 
> the passenger compartment, as they waft up thru the drain on the 
> water trap for the fresh air intake, and are then sucked into the 
> passenger compartment, where they might be able to be ignited. As a 
> side note, if you top off your gas tank, and smell fumes inside 
> afterwards, you've got a problem with the boot. The belief that this 
> is "normal" for all DeLoreans is total B.S. After replacing a ripped 
> boot, and tightening down my cap properly, I can top off the tank to 
> the point of having a full filler neck, and I cannot smell a thing.
> 
> Now, why did DMC, or Lotus choose this design? Who knows. But, My 
> guess would be that you need to completely isolate the electical 
> wires. Which isn't a problem to get around, and could be easily 
> replaced. Just swap it over to the same locking ring assembly that 
> holds the sending unit in place. You could do it one of two ways, 
> with either a two, or 3 peice assembly that would require minor 
> modifications to the boot and cap, depending upon tooling costs.
> 
> I wouldn't really think that the gas cap becomming unlodged would be 
> that big of a problem, since I've never heard of this senario 
> actually being played out in real life, and due to the limited # of 
> vehicles involved. But contact me off list if you want to know more 
> details.
> 
> -Robert
> vin 6585 "X"
> 
> --- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Harold McElraft" <hmcelraft@xxxx> 
> wrote:
> > Very interesting information and probably something we should all 
> > think about.
> > 
> > The current configuration of the fuel pump and the clamping still 
> > has a weakness in that the pump can come out because the fuel tank, 
> > where the fuel pump clamp goes around the rubber boot, is too 
> > flexible. In a hard frontal impact or probably front side impact 
> the 
> > boot can probably come off especially if the inspection cover above 
> > it was broken loose or deformed in some way. I can't tell you how 
> > many of these fuel pump boots I've seen that are loose or could be 
> > maneuvered by hand and just slipped off. Until now I have not 
> > considered the consequences in an accident.
> > 
> > I can think of several ways to anchor the boot as I'm sure lots of 
> > members can. I believe this is probably a safety issue that we need 
> > to address.
> > 
> > Send me any suggestions (hmcelraft@xxxx) and I will accumulate 
> > and post for the group. I'm sure a practical solution(s) can be 
> > developed or formulated by one of our innovative vendors.
> > 
> > Harold McElraft - 3354




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