Fuel pump - Convert to electric?

[eric281]

I bought a 65 Continental a few weeks ago. When I bought it, I was told that the engine had just been rebuilt (have receipts), but he had not finished putting it back in. This weekend, I got everything tied up and in the car, and went to change the oil before I fired it up. Once I drained the oil, I noticed that it smelled like gasoline, and was very thin. My first assumption was that the fuel pump diaphragm had gone bad, but I decided to wait a night and see if any more gas would drain. Sunday morning I woke up and didn't find any new gas in the oil pan, so I filled it up, and tried to start it up. Of course I got no output from the fuel pump.

My question is, should I just convert to electric at this point? Another Continental owner in my neighborhood has stopped by to check out the car, and he told me he converted to an electric fuel pump and suggested that I do the same. I'm not adverse to doing any modifications, the car was customized when I bought it, so there's no going back to a full restoration at this point. So the question becomes, is it worth it to spend a little bit more money and time converting to an electric fuel pump? What are the pros/cons of each? And finally, anyone have any idea where to mount an electric one if I do go that route? Anyone have pictures of their installs?

Thanks for the help guys.

[Theo]

Electric fuel pumps are no-brainers. Deinstall the fuel pump and the push rod. and Install a block off plate in place.
Electric fuel pumps are just a few bucks for normal automotive use. They come w. an easy to understand installation guide. Usually they mount near the fuel tank and should be sitting a little lower than the lowest point of the gas tank.You also need to hook up the wiring w. the ignition circuit. It should be all written in the paper work. J.C. Whitney is a source for a lot of reasonable priced auto parts. Don't bother about buying a fancy polished alum. race pump. You don't need it. Any J.C. or junk yard pump will do the job.