1972 LT-1 Fuel Leaks

[Steve B.]

I attempted to pull my '72 LT-1 out of winter storage yesterday. The car started up fine and ran fine. When I backed it out of the garage and peaked under the hood there was a signifcatn amount of gas leaking out of the adjustment screw on the top of the front fuel bow. I also noticed quite a bit of fuel coming from the fuel pump as well. i couldn't tell exactly where it was coming from on the pump. definately too much fuel leaking to safely get the car home.

Any ideas on what could be happening here? I've been told that sometimes when fuel pumps go bad that they can actually generate too much pressure and cause the leaks at the carb. Has anyone seen this before? I'm a novice when it comes to carb / fuel issues.

the holley carb and AC fuel pump are the correct ones for the car. The pump is an NOS unit that came with my car when i bought it so no idea how old it is. it was installed a couple years ago just prior to the carb rebuild.

I had no leaks last year when the car was put away and it ran fine then.

[Terry M.]

[Paul Y.]

Re: 1972 LT-1 Fuel Leaks

Go to puregas.org, there are plenty of stations that sell ethanol free gas in the country.

[Steve B.]

Re: 1972 LT-1 Fuel Leaks

As for the fuel pump -- alcohol in the fuel strikes again. It really doesn't matter where on the fuel pump it is leaking from (unless it is one of the fuel line fittings). Baring the fitting leak it is time to change the fuel pump. Get used to that so long as you use fuel with alcohol in it -- and good luck finding anything else -- unless you have contacts at an airport, and that source is on its way out soon.

Great info as always Terry. I was planning on starting with the pump and going from there. Sounds like I'm on the right track with the pump anyway. I didn't have a lot of faith in the explanation of a bad pump causing high pressure explanation, but maybe that is the case a new pump will do the trick.

Anyone have a recommended source for a new pump other than the usual "big box" suspects?

[Michael W.]

Re: 1972 LT-1 Fuel Leaks

I've been using E10 fuel in my cars for twenty years or so and never had a leak. Ethanol gets blamed for all sorts of problems where 'old age' is sometimes the real root cause.

[Ken P.]

Re: 1972 LT-1 Fuel Leaks

Steve, do you use a fuel stabilizer when putting the car away for the winter? I found with the LT-1s I've owned, that if I don't use a stabilizer the needle valve in the carb gets varnish on it when the fuel evaporates, then when I would start it in the spring the valve would stick and over fill the bowl. Never happened again since I've been using stabilizer. Just a thought.

[Steve B.]

Re: 1972 LT-1 Fuel Leaks

Steve, do you use a fuel stabilizer when putting the car away for the winter? I found with the LT-1s I've owned, that if I don't use a stabilizer the needle valve in the carb gets varnish on it when the fuel evaporates, then when I would start it in the spring the valve would stick and over fill the bowl. Never happened again since I've been using stabilizer. Just a thought.

Ken, yes I use STA-BIL every year and haven't had a problem until this year.

[Terry M.]

Re: 1972 LT-1 Fuel Leaks

Go to puregas.org, there are plenty of stations that sell ethanol free gas in the country.

I have done that, Paul, and the only non alcohol stations near the Chicago area are fleet or agricultural stations. Not too much agriculture or any fleet stations near me either. Only 49 stations listed in Illinois, and none even remotely close to Chicago. Remember we (Illinois that is) are the home of Archer Danials Midland. The devil incarnate regarding alcohol in gasoline.

BTW the site is www.pure-gas.com

There is a CNG station near me that I saw for the first time this weekend. The price was 2.45, but no units were shown. I am sure it was not per gallon though. Won't work in the Corvette anyway, but that is real fuel worth thinking about.

[John F.]

Re: 1972 LT-1 Fuel Leaks

Go to puregas.org, there are plenty of stations that sell ethanol free gas in the country.

Yea, could you find one in Atlanta for me, please.

[Terry M.]

Re: 1972 LT-1 Fuel Leaks

Yea, could you find one in Atlanta for me, please.

199 stations in GA, but no Atlanta. There might be some close by, but I don't know your state:

http://pure-gas.org/index.jsp?stateprov=GA

Good luck

[Timothy B.]

Re: 1972 LT-1 Fuel Leaks

It's amazing we pay $4/gal for all the blended gasoline when natural gas is in such abundance. I guess it's got to be liquefied so it can be taxed..

[Mike F.]

Re: 1972 LT-1 Fuel Leaks

It's time consuming and a PITA, but if you take a 5 gallon jug, put 1 gallon of water in it, add 4 gallons of gas (with ethanol) to it and let it sit for 24 hrs, the ethanol will mix with the water and the top 4 gallons will be pure gas.

[Jim T.]

Re: 1972 LT-1 Fuel Leaks

Terry have you used Holley's blue gaskets? Is there a problem in using them? What does YMMV mean?

[Terry M.]

Re: 1972 LT-1 Fuel Leaks

Terry have you used Holley's blue gaskets? Is there a problem in using them? What does YMMV mean?

No I have not used the blue gaskets, but I have judged a few. They don't judge well but those owners have insisted the minor point loss is better than the regular fuel leaks. So far as I have heard the only problem using them is the judging issue. I suspect -- as with any gasket -- straightening the warped surfaces is important. The best gasket in the world will not work well if the surfaces are not true.

YMMV = Your Mileage May Vary. That is your experience may be different than my experience.