Been a while since I posted on here properly but I'm still about the the Alpinweiss is still making me giggle like a girl.
After looking in to fitting a Bosch 044, I was pointed in the direction of the Walbro 450. This is a seriously neat little piece of kit and makes the 044 look (and sound) like something the Victorians made. Priced at £130 or so, it's good value and requires no special parts to fit, though I took things a bit further. The 450 also outperforms the 044, is silent and there are similarly sized, larger capacity Walbro pumps that people lie Audrius are using with 700bhp (with larger lines), so it's tried and tested.
For the simple life, the 450 can just be put in place of the original S2 pump (and RS2 pump, though an S2 hose will be required). I tested the pump in the original position, with the only remotely tough thing being the swapping over the electrical plug, which took about 5 mins (I'm ashamed to say I used to the crimp connectors) and removing the top sleeve in the basket using a couple of flatblade screwdrivers (as it's too narrow)... It all works, however the perfectionist in me noticed that it wasn't quite right, so I decided to investigate.
With the pump, the S2 hose fits straight on and I cut the plug off the OE pump and crimped it on to the supplied connector tails for the 450. When happy with it all, I'll remove and solder everything direct, so that it has only one connector. It's so simple to do that I was quite surprised.
image_76942.jpg
I decided to see how neatly I could do the job and it was easy and took about 2 hours, including learning and pondering.
Having failed to remove the basket in the past, I tried a few methods, however a pair of mole grips on either side give me the rotation required, it was removed quickly and easily, there is a tool that does it 3037 or something.
I had a spare basket (from an RS2, which is nearly identical), so could afford to mess it up, so decided to remove the strainer using a Stanley blade. This enabled me to see what was going on and take photos
image_76937.jpg image_76935.jpg
The first thing I noticed was that the top of the pump was narrower than the bottom, the second was that that the 450 was sitting a little higher than the OE pump, despite being the same length and the third was that the intake wasn't in the right place and could be obscured.
So, to solve the size issue, well at least help with it, I purchased some fuel safe foam sleeving, which perfectly slid over the pump and gently braced it against the side of the holder. This cost less than £5.
The height issue was due to the ridges inside the original holder, and held the intake of the 450 about 3cm higher than the OE pump. This would only be an issue with the tank being really, really empty but still, it's not quite right. Let loose with Mad Dog's favorite tool (a Dremmel), i removed these ridges, allowing the 450 to drop in nicely but still being a tight fit against the return pipe. This enabled the pump to push the pump further in but also highlighted the changes required to the holder. As I'd removed the filter to see what was going on, I decided to use new filter included in the fitting kit, which fitted perfectly and has the added bonus of preventing the pump from coming out, if it were to become a little loose.
image_76934.jpg image_76938.jpg
Again with the Dremmel, I enlarged the hole in the basket and chopped off the boss at the bottom and the 450 sat in place perfectly. Result
image_76941.jpg image_76936.jpg image_76940.jpg
With the filter fitted, I was able to install the whole thing back in the tank, taking time to adjust the hose on the pump first and then using my 2 mole method to rotate it back. Next, I used a little red rubber grease to help the tank seal slide in place perfectly, where it had caught when dry - top tip as a pinched seal can lead to leaking, fumes and other nasties.
image_76943.jpg 20200123_105321.jpg image_76944.jpg 20200123_110836.jpg 20200123_110845.jpg
The final thing was to install a 30A fuse in position 12, not sure if this is needed on our cars the correct thing is to fit a direct to battery harness) but it'll have to do for now and internet wisdom seemed to point to higher than normal current draw on the 450.
image_76946.jpg
After looking in to fitting a Bosch 044, I was pointed in the direction of the Walbro 450. This is a seriously neat little piece of kit and makes the 044 look (and sound) like something the Victorians made. Priced at £130 or so, it's good value and requires no special parts to fit, though I took things a bit further. The 450 also outperforms the 044, is silent and there are similarly sized, larger capacity Walbro pumps that people lie Audrius are using with 700bhp (with larger lines), so it's tried and tested.
For the simple life, the 450 can just be put in place of the original S2 pump (and RS2 pump, though an S2 hose will be required). I tested the pump in the original position, with the only remotely tough thing being the swapping over the electrical plug, which took about 5 mins (I'm ashamed to say I used to the crimp connectors) and removing the top sleeve in the basket using a couple of flatblade screwdrivers (as it's too narrow)... It all works, however the perfectionist in me noticed that it wasn't quite right, so I decided to investigate.
With the pump, the S2 hose fits straight on and I cut the plug off the OE pump and crimped it on to the supplied connector tails for the 450. When happy with it all, I'll remove and solder everything direct, so that it has only one connector. It's so simple to do that I was quite surprised.
image_76942.jpg
I decided to see how neatly I could do the job and it was easy and took about 2 hours, including learning and pondering.
Having failed to remove the basket in the past, I tried a few methods, however a pair of mole grips on either side give me the rotation required, it was removed quickly and easily, there is a tool that does it 3037 or something.
I had a spare basket (from an RS2, which is nearly identical), so could afford to mess it up, so decided to remove the strainer using a Stanley blade. This enabled me to see what was going on and take photos
image_76937.jpg image_76935.jpg
The first thing I noticed was that the top of the pump was narrower than the bottom, the second was that that the 450 was sitting a little higher than the OE pump, despite being the same length and the third was that the intake wasn't in the right place and could be obscured.
So, to solve the size issue, well at least help with it, I purchased some fuel safe foam sleeving, which perfectly slid over the pump and gently braced it against the side of the holder. This cost less than £5.
The height issue was due to the ridges inside the original holder, and held the intake of the 450 about 3cm higher than the OE pump. This would only be an issue with the tank being really, really empty but still, it's not quite right. Let loose with Mad Dog's favorite tool (a Dremmel), i removed these ridges, allowing the 450 to drop in nicely but still being a tight fit against the return pipe. This enabled the pump to push the pump further in but also highlighted the changes required to the holder. As I'd removed the filter to see what was going on, I decided to use new filter included in the fitting kit, which fitted perfectly and has the added bonus of preventing the pump from coming out, if it were to become a little loose.
image_76934.jpg image_76938.jpg
Again with the Dremmel, I enlarged the hole in the basket and chopped off the boss at the bottom and the 450 sat in place perfectly. Result
image_76941.jpg image_76936.jpg image_76940.jpg
With the filter fitted, I was able to install the whole thing back in the tank, taking time to adjust the hose on the pump first and then using my 2 mole method to rotate it back. Next, I used a little red rubber grease to help the tank seal slide in place perfectly, where it had caught when dry - top tip as a pinched seal can lead to leaking, fumes and other nasties.
image_76943.jpg 20200123_105321.jpg image_76944.jpg 20200123_110836.jpg 20200123_110845.jpg
The final thing was to install a 30A fuse in position 12, not sure if this is needed on our cars the correct thing is to fit a direct to battery harness) but it'll have to do for now and internet wisdom seemed to point to higher than normal current draw on the 450.
image_76946.jpg
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