Fuel Pump Controller

Many years ago, back in college, my ’65 was my “daily driver” but didn’t get driven daily. One problem I had was that the fuel would evaporate out of the carburetor bowls between uses. I would have to crank the car for several seconds just to pump fuel up to the carb. I really didn’t like that, so my solution was to add an electric fuel pump. With an electric fuel pump, I would just turn the key on, allowing the pump to run a few seconds, tap the throttle, crank the engine, and she would come to life quickly.

The only problem with my setup was that the electric fuel pump was “hardwired” to switched power. We all know this isn’t safe, and I knew it, too. If I had been in an accident, that fuel pump would keep running as long as there was power available, potentially dowsing a fire with ever more fuel. The solution that most people implement is the “oil pressure switch,” but that didn’t allow me to prime the fuel bowls before startup, and that was the main reason I had converted to an electric fuel pump.

The most common solution to this new problem is to hide a “priming button” under the dash to bypass the oil pressure switch. When you get in your car and turn the key on, you are supposed to press this hidden button for a few seconds to activate the electric fuel pump, priming the bowls.