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Automotive V8, Fuel Filters, 100LL

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Spaceclam

Member
Joined
May 31, 2021
Messages
6
Hello everyone,
Brand-new member, 5 years aircraft build experience, previous experience building kit cars, working on airplanes, motorcycles, etc. Manufacturing engineer (spaceflight) and machinist by trade. I've been lurking here for years, and I've got to say, This forum is awesome.

I am building a kit, who's manufacturer shall remain unidentified. Long story short, the entire kit turned out to be "not as advertised" and "not as demonstrated". I have spent the last 5 years remaking nearly every piece. It is going well and will be beautiful once done, but man, it's just a lot of work. I have come to question their every decision and I am usually pretty glad I did.

Which leads me to my question: This kit uses an automotive V8 with electronic fuel injectors and I was supplied a gascolator with a parker R12T filter element (paper construction, 10 micron for use pre-pump, which seems crazy to me. But besides the 10 micron part, I'm a little concerned about a couple things and was hoping someone here could shed some light:
  • Is there an issue with using 100LL with paper filters? Manufacturers seem pretty specific about what fuel they can use. There's a lot of folklore about leaded race fuel on automotive forums, not nothing conclusive, and their lead levels are much lower.
  • Will 100LL clog such a fine filter? If so, I can switch to a 30 micron (screw on replacement) but then what should I be using upstream downstream of the pumps? The injectors really want a much finer filter than 30 micron.
  • Would I be better off just using a normal aircraft gascolator pre-pump? I'm concerned about the lack of filtration due to their design for use in either carburated systems or mechanical fuel injection.
I don't want to start an AVGAS/MOGAS debate. I'm pretty well set on 100LL due to availability. I've found a lot of info about fuel filters in automotive conversions (small aircraft running suzukis and a couple titans running v8s) but folks don't seem to be specific about what gas they are using. A few I know are trucking 50 gallons of gas to the airport at a time, which is not an option for me.

Looking forward to being a part of this forum.
Cheers and thanks all,
-Clam
 
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