Aaron,

Across the river in Vancouver, as in SW WA state? That's where I am... no performance-oriented club here, but a few of us local enthusiasts get together once in a while.

If you're in Vancouver, B.C., absolutely join VCBC - most fun Volvo club on the planet. Heck, join 'em anyway - it's worth a few hours of driving to attend their functions.

But back to the topic... I'm running 45 DCOEs with a Facet electric pump back by the tank, and a Holley regulator under the hood. The Facet is solid state and has the reputation for extreme reliability, but it clicks. It's not noticeable once the car is under way, but is definitely audible at idle. I don't mind it a bit, but some might.

Whatever pump you use, wire it through a relay and fuse it. The oil pressure gauge on my 1800 doesn't use an electric sender, so I didn't mess with any sort of auto-kill function. The pump runs whenever the ignition is on.

The regulator is set for 4 psi -- conventional wisdom is that this is too high for Webers, but no problems with mine. It raises the float levels very slightly, which suits my motor's overall tuning.

For the record, the mechanical pump is just fine for mid-performance motors. I have never had one fail in 18 years and ~400K miles of driving B18/20-powered cars.

--Phil S.