Is there a difference between in-line fuel filters for carbed engines and fuel injected engines, or are they all suitable for either application?

I dont think carbed ones are suitable for FI unless they say so, cos of the much higher pressures involved. I think FI ones are usually made of metal rather than plastic / glass like some of the carb ones.
You probably should run two filters anyway, one before the FI pump to protect it from any crap in the tank (this can be a low pressure one), and then one after in the high pressure line to make sure that if the pump internals start breaking up, it doesnt end up in your injectors.

The two are quite different.
EFI filters are large metal cans, Carb filters are much smaller
The reason is that a little bit of grit won't harm a carb much but will quickly wreck fuel injectors (or even jam them open).
The upshot is : I guess you could use an EFI filter for carbs but not the other way around.

OK. Next question. Anybody know where we can get an in-line fuel filter for a FI engine? (other than the one in demon thieves catalogue)

Halfords - just rummage around in a few boxes for regular tin top replacement filters. Ive been told a 2L Zetec one is suitable for my R1 install but some of it depends on the size of inlet / outlets you want, general rule of thumb id guess is to pick one that supplies an engine at least the same sort of power as the engine you want to use.

[Edited on 28/4/05 by ChrisGamlin]

Old shape Rover 214/414 had a very nice fuel filter unit mounted in an easy to get at location on the engine bay bulkhead.

Thanks for the info guys. Looks like a trip to the scrappers when we find the filter we need.

For the sake of a few quid I'd get a new one to be honest, that way you know its clean!
I was having a mosey in Halfords at the weekend and they are mostly between £10-20 depending on size.

What about one of those smallish aluminium ones? They don't specifically state they are suitable for fuel injected engines but surely all they have to do is withstand the 40psi pressure in the fuel line......

Hellfire,

We run 2 filters: VX Astra GTE, circa 1987 should do you fine.

We wrecked 2 fuel pumps by not pre-filtering so I'd wholly recommend you do it too.

The additional bonus of running a large FI 'pre-filter' is that it'll hold a small volume of fuel, therefore acting a bit like a collector and providing an (additional?) anti-surge benefit in fast corners.

Thanks for that Steve. We have fitted the original fuel pump, which has a built-in pre-filter. We are looking to provide a secondary filter before the fuel rail but don't want anything hefty like a car fuel filter, hence the questions about the smaller aluminium filters.

They should be able to cope with 40psi, so would one of these be OK? Or am I missing something important about FI fuel filters.