1979 C1500 electric fuel pump conversion

Hey y'all my shade-tree mechanic screwed up replacing my mech. fuel pump. which I should've and could've done myself looking back. but my real mechanic says i bent the rod for the mech fuel pump and suggested I retrofit it with an electric fuel pump. but like everyone else i'm broke so i'm gonna do this myself this time. got the pump put in line and all the hoses are hooked up. the question is where do i hook up the positive wire? i know it needs to go to something that's hot when the key is on but not sure what that is... can I hook it up to tank switching controller?  

anybody at all?  

Pump has to be hooked up to power when ignition is on.There are a number of places on the fuse box to do this.If you are not sure what is on with key on simply test with a meter or test light.Best place would be at key switch.Be sure to use an inline fuse link.
   Mike  
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besides hooking the power wire to a hot "key on" connection, you might want to consider a little safety too, a good way is to run the power wire from the key switch to an oil pressure switch, and then to the pump, so that when the key is just turned to on, or the engine stalls, or cuts out, (and the oil pressure drops), the pump will not keep running and flood the engine. (also, heaven forbid, cut out in a collision and continues to pump gas all over the place), now if you have a problem with the gas evaporating from the carb when it sits for a while, then you may need to add a "primer" bypass circuit to fill the carb to start the first time after sitting, and then revert back to the oil pressure safety mode.  

Why don't you save the money and hassle and reinstall a stock, mechanical pump?  If it's simply the rod that was bent, replace it with a new fuel pump rod.  

The electric pumps can be a safety hazard and flooding hazard if not hooked up and thought out properly.  I have used them on a number of sbc's on bracket (race) cars, but never on a daily driver.  We have always wired through a switch in the car, pump is turned on to fill the bowls, turned off, pump the peddle to prime the carb, start the car, THEN turn on the fuel pump.

You can wire it through a switched ignition-controlled circuit, but I agree that it can be a safety and flooding hazard.  A return line and regulator should always be installed to keep from blowing too much pressure through the carb.