1965 L76 Fuel Pump?

[Clark K.]

When my '65 L76 A/C coupe was flight judged at the April chapter meet, the mechanical judging team told me that my car had the "dreaded replacement fuel pump". Even though the car took Top Flight (96.3%), I am in the process of correcting all the items that took deductions, including said pump,, for the upcoming regional meet.

I just recently bought what Corvette Central advertises as the correct pump. I have attached a photo of it for your review. What concerns me is that this pump meets all the criteria in the '65 JG except for one specific part about "...the center section has two distinctive half-round ears on opposite sides the full height of the section.". This pump's inlet has the half-round ear that is the full height of the section but the outlet is only about 2/3 of this section. Can someone elaborate on the correctness of this pump before I have it installed? -Clark

[William C.]

Re: 1965 L76 Fuel Pump?

The top of an original 40083 pump was made of Magnesium, and has a distintive dark appearance, in addition to the "wings" addressed in the judging manual. . I have attached a couple of pictures of real, on a thread from may regarding "fuel pump replacement" as I can't reuse the same pics, I'd suggest a search on "fuel pump replacement to see the pictures. A 2 second look from a modestly experienced judge would tell that judge that your "new" pump is just that, "New" but nowhere near "correct" from about four feet away.

[William D.]

Re: 1965 L76 Fuel Pump?

You can still locate rebuilt originals or rebuild one yourself. They do cost a fair piece of change, though. I looked for about 6 months before I finally found mine.

[Clark K.]

Re: 1965 L76 Fuel Pump?

The pump I now have, bought for $210 from Corvette Central, MATCHES the description in the JG except that the fuel outlet "ear" is NOT the full length of the center section. The pump is dead-on for the description (down to the tiny "S" on the four bottom screws) except for that one detail. In my opinion, it would be difficult for a judge to see the length of the outlet once the fuel pump is installed (A/C car).

By the way, I am only concerned about what the 1965 JG calls for, not what someone's "original" 40083 fuel pump looks like. The 1965 JG makes no mention of two reinforcing wings (butresses) on the top of the pump.

So, if I install this "new" 40083 pump, should I be able to recover most, if not all, the 12 points I lost at the chapter meet because of the replacement fuel pump? -Clark

[William C.]

Re: 1965 L76 Fuel Pump?

The JG will soon be rewritten. The presence of the "wings" is well known by most senior judges, and will certainly be in the next manual. A knowledgable judge would certainly deduct for configuration on a pump without the reinforcements, as well as for aluminum vs magnesiun in the top housing.