Weldon Racing Pumps Meet High-Flying Standards
(Photos courtesy Weldon Pump; Click to enlarge)
If ever there was an unfair advantage for a fuel pump maker, it must surely lie with Weldon. Every pump element they produce for a high performance or racing engine, whether auto or marine, has already been certified for flight by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
FAA regulations prohibit the use of non-metallic parts in the construction of fuel pumps, which if applied to the racing industry would eliminate the products of virtually every other pump maker. The problem with Phenolic resins and thermoplastics, usually Delrin®, and the thin-wall aluminum housings that usually contain them is that they expand when they become warm. As a result they require much greater operating clearances, and for this reason it is impossible for them to compete with the efficiency, the strength, and the trueness of a racing pump made of tool steel and bronze.
Moreover, FAA representatives can appear at Weldon’s door, should they wish, without notice and demand to inspect every component within the building, review every record pertaining to every piece of bar stock in their raw material racks, or test every member of the workforce for drugs. These stringent regulations are, presumably, mandated, for one reason: to ensure aircraft do not fall from the skies due to fuel pump failure. Obviously such regulations benefit Weldon’s racing fuel pumps appreciably, as both they and the aerospace pumps are all produced in the same factory, controlled by the same standards, and assembled by the same teams.
In Cleveland, Ohio, the Weldon Tool Company began at the turn of the last century and produced carbide end mills made of nothing less than tool steel. This material is heat-treated, composed of 0.7-1.5 percent carbon, 75 percent alloy content, and manufactured under carefully controlled conditions.
In the 1940s, during the second German war, the US Army needed precision-made windshield washer pumps to transfer ethylene glycol for the windshield cleaners of B24 Liberator heavy bombers. They searched for a company with a sound working knowledge of tool steels and the ability to hold extremely tight tolerances. They contacted Weldon.
At once Weldon began producing the pumps to the military’s specifications, which incorporated the lubricious leaded bronze appropriate for the transfer of ethylene glycol. Since the end of the Big War, Weldon has enlarged its market, making precision-built pumps for the aircraft industry, OE automotive, street performance, and racing markets—both auto and marine.
The pumps were obviously made from the highest quality materials and the closest tolerances these sectors had ever experienced. If you’re soaring in the blue, your life depends on the equipment surrounding you absolutely. With a stuttering or dead fuel pump or oil pump, you can’t just pull to the side, punch the emergency lights flashers, and wait for help. No, at the very minimum, your equipment must perform without flaw until you are standing on firm ground. Thank military-spec and the FAA for that.
To experience first-hand, we looked closely at the latest big-volume fuel pump produced by Weldon, the D2035-A. This is their twenty-series pump, which is very similar to the Weldon DB2025-A. The only difference between the two lies in the power of the electric motor. The D2035-A has a more powerful motor, and is popular with Pro Stock teams as well as Outlaw race teams with 2,200 horsepower supercharged and turbocharged engines. In kind, this pump spins at almost 7,000rpm and has the capacity to move 180 gallons of race fuel per hour at 80psi.
Finished assembly of a Weldon big-volume fuel pump, flanked by some of the calibrated and certified torque wrenches used by technicians during assembly.
Whether the fuel pump is designed to support race engines of low or high horsepower output, Weldon uses a precision device to transmit fuel. Not only are their rotors and vanes produced from tool steel (M4 and M7, and treated to 65 Rockwell hardness) but also the rotors are uniquely of a one-piece design—as mentioned earlier no phenolic resins, thermoplastics, or powdered metal components permitted.
Because of their exacting specifications, chiefly materials and tolerances, these pumps are capable of running exceedingly high fuel pressures. The same pump, say, a DB2025-A will serve a fuel-injected engine equally as well as a carbureted engine. Weldon has only one style of vane (four vanes per pump), that is also made of tool steel. As pressure increases, tool steel vanes do not deflect. Adjunct to this, all fasteners and all metal used in Weldon pumps must originate in the United States in order that the material may be traced by the FAA for its validity.
With regard to the electric motors, they are designed to operate at a low-amperage draw. At 80psi Weldon’s DB2025-A fuel pump draws fewer than 20 amps. This compares favourably with normal racing pumps of similar capacity that usually draw around 28 amps at 80psi. In brief, most of the efficiencies of Weldon pumps can be attributed to the stability of the materials used. With rotor to pump-ring clearances of one-thousandth’s of an inch, expect supremacy from their racing pumps—no wonder they offer lifetime warranties.
Visit Weldon Racing Pumps online at www.WeldonRacing.com.
SOURCE
Weldon Racing Pumps
640 Golden Oak Parkway
Oakwood Village, Ohio 44146
Telephone (440) 232-2282
