Fuel Pump Flange woes

[bnam]

My 71 vert had been running pretty well for a while now and there were only minor niggles to deal with.

One such was a slight oil seepage from the fuel pump intermediate flange area -- which was more evident only after longer drives. I was mving some of my tools around when I came across my torque wrench and thought I should check the tightness of the flange nuts. I tightened them to 18ft-lbs when I heard a crack and saw a crack near the rear stud -- shit. I should have left well enough alone.

Luckily, my wife was going to be on a business trip back to California so I ordered a flange from JBugs along with some other parts and also a used original flange from a Samba member.

Today I went to take out the old cracked one and the one that came out was this shorter flange

The bottom looked pretty smooth and at first I wondered if there was a shorter version being sold. This flange was a VW one with the logo and part number 040 127 303.1. Then I remembered that back in '06 or '07 I had to deal with a flange that had broken off inside

Since it had broken off clean, I think my hack repair (which had lasted these past 10 years) was to shorten the new one and use it.

What I noticed when I pulled out this flange today was that the cavities on the flange were filled with oil and there was oil under the gaskets as well. I wonder if the shorter flange is allowing more oil to travel up the flange with the motion of the rod and over longer trips this oil starts having to leak outside.

I'm going to try to remove the stuck piece this time. I don't have a large enough lag bolt, but I did come across a #15 X-acto saw blade that I could use to make vertical cuts in that lower broken off part and hopefully loosen it. Of course, with Murphy's law in full effect, the blade is wider than my standard x-acto handle, so I'm going to have to think of some thing.

I also noticed that the rear stud was different from the front stud with larger threads on the portion that fit into the case. Looks like a repair was done some time in the past. I'd like to redo that so that the larger lower threads are not showing (it interferes with the flange holes very slightly). But, if I turn the stud in till just shoulder shows, the portion that's on top isn't going to be long enough..

The parts catalog does show a part # N145661 with spec CM 10 A/M 8 x51 -- how do I decipher this? M8 on top, M10 below? what does the CM and A stand for?

Any suggestions on how else I might attack the broken flange?

BTW, I measured the JBUGS flange (12.2mm thick) with the original used German (12.8mm thick) -- and found it to be quite a bit thinner. Would take a couple of gaskets to make up the difference.

Regards,
Byas

[kreemoweet]

Stock pump studs are M8, 100% threaded, about 1 3/4" long with 1 1/4" extending above case. I suggest you repair the one hole
with a helicoil/timesert for M8 thread, and get a couple stock studs and install with threadlocker compound.

The thinner flange of aftermarket junk will increase pump pressure, so make up the difference with gaskets. Gaskets being sold today are
also rather crummy, you might want to get a sheet of stouter gasket material and make your own.
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[Glenn]

The thinner flange will greatly increase fuel pressure and cause problems.
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Glenn
74 Beetle Specs | 74 Beetle Restoration | 2180cc Engine
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[USMCbug]

Get a tap (7/16 iirc) and a t-handle. Tap the plastic portion and thread a long bolt into it then clamp a vice grip under the head of the bolt and tap it gently upward with a hammer. Also a good idea to use a little oil before hand to try to loosen it up a little.
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