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Wheel well mounted fuel tank

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Bobbieslandy
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Wheel well mounted fuel tank

Postby Bobbieslandy » 27 Aug 2010 19:37

Just wondering if anyone has one, how it's filled and how the level is read? I recently hired a boat which had a 6 foot long wooden dipstick, i suppose i could use this approach but getting the original gauge to work would be ace[:D]. I'm assuming you open the boot to fill it but my concern was filling the boot up with fuel vapour, shutting the boot, paying for the fuel, getting back in the car and turning on the lights. KABOOM!!!!!! i like to cover all bases before i start fabbing up a new fuel tank. The tank will be the same size as the spare wheel and made out of stainless steel.

Thanks,

Rob.

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Workshop Help
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Postby Workshop Help » 27 Aug 2010 19:55

Silly question, I know, but will you only be driving on certified nail, screw, glass, and sharp rocks free smooth pavement without the spare tire?

Or, will your spare parts truck be following always in close sight?

Just wondering. These days I seem to do a lot of that.

Mildred Hargis

tr8
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Postby tr8 » 27 Aug 2010 19:59

I have one in the race car, not likely what you are looking for though...

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Bobbieslandy
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Postby Bobbieslandy » 27 Aug 2010 20:32

Hi Mildred,

Tire foam is pretty good stuff, also i have a "kit" which resembles a corkscrew, a sewing needle with a handle and some strange black sticky string which repairs tyres pretty good, the ozzies use it so it must be good!

I'll be cutting two discs of stainless sheet seperated by 3 lengths of box section (also stainless) with a few baffles thrown in then wrapping a stainless band around it seam welding top and bottom. i'll obviously fit a tyre valve in and pressurise it to check for leaks. All quite straight forward really. Are the red and blue connections fuel supply and return? i think i may have to vent the boot somehow!

Thanks for the replies.

Rob.

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saabfast
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Postby saabfast » 27 Aug 2010 21:20

Apart from the question of 'why do you want one?' (isn't the standard one big enough?), you could consider an lpg tank as these are often toroidal to fit in wheel wells. The vent from the tank would be routed outside the boot in any case. LPG fillers are normally routed to the outside of the car. You could adjust the route of the standard filler to turn out into the boot where the cover plate is located and drop onto the tank or run a separate filler pipe from the side of the car, although it would leave a bit of a bump in the floor.

Alan
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Bobbieslandy
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Postby Bobbieslandy » 27 Aug 2010 21:33

Cost basically. the size of the tank has nothing to do with it. i have an LPG system available, not toroidal but a cylinder which i bought for a ford granada. Its a vapouriser system not a sequential job so could be plumbed in but i'd loose my boot completely and i'm not entirely convinced it would be suitable. To be honest i can't be bothered with it. The way i see this car (if no one's noticed already) is an engineering exercise. i want to try different things and if they don't work or i'm not happy then rip it out and start again. The tank will only cost me my time, something which i can afford. an LPG system will cost probably upwards of £500 and achieve nothing.

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Postby Bobbieslandy » 27 Aug 2010 21:37

Sorry, should of mentioned, the fuel filter is picking up bits of rust so i have to either replace / remove and fix the tank or make a new one which will cost me 10 cups of tea and a day in the garage.

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Postby Hasbeen » 28 Aug 2010 01:43

I reckon that our great heavy bumper is just about enough weight hanging out the back of the rear wheels, without adding even more with your fuel.

Depends what you use the car for, & how hard you want to drive it, but a very short wheelbase car, like ours, wants to swap ends quite enough, without giving it any more encouragement.

Of course, the fact that you get it lower may make up for the weight in the ends problem. TR8, I don't suppose you have much fuel in the tank, but have you noticed any difference, or have you only raced the car with that tank.

Just my ratbag racer take on it.

Hasbeen

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Postby tr8 » 28 Aug 2010 02:20

That is how the car was prepared as a race car in 1980. The regulations required a fuel cell. I have never driven/raced the car, I bought it about 6 years ago as a restoration project. I just throw money at it and spend great gobs of time trying to massage it back into shape. It is only a 10 or 12 gallon tank.

FI Spyder
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Postby FI Spyder » 28 Aug 2010 03:20

Hanging 120+ lbs of fuel out behind the rear axle can't be good for handling. Similar to me using the Spider as my truck to haul three boxes of hardwood flooring (165 lbs.) in the trunk or a couple of cement patio blocks. I drive it like the advertisements of AMC products in the seventies, like there's a bowl of goldfish on the front seat. You might try something like that to see how it handles (with low gas tank so weights about the same) before spending the time on an experiment that can't have a good outcome.


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Hasbeen
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Postby Hasbeen » 28 Aug 2010 04:56

A little while back my lady arranged for me to pick up some kitty litter for her & some friends, from a wholesaler, about 35 Km away.

What she didn't tell me was that the "some" was 100 kilo, about 220 Lbs.

I all ready had a largish friend with me, which was just as well, I think he helped keep the front down. After loading the stuff, the back wheels were disappearing up into the rear wells, & the front ones were almost hanging. I gently lifted the front bumper, & it felt as if I could lift the front right off the ground.

On the trip home I was very driving tentatively indeed.

Hasbeen

Bobbieslandy
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Postby Bobbieslandy » 28 Aug 2010 09:00

i'll be bolting it in and trying it out before i attempt to remove and fix or replace the standard tank, it's a very common thing to do on a lot of modded cars and i've never heard anyone say it didn't have a good outcome.

On my way back from France i had around 20 litres of water (some drinking, some for the engine), 5 litres of oil, a litre of brake fluid, 5 litres of antifreeze, least 25kgs of tools and spares including a trolly jack, large hammer etc etc, a spare wheel in the well and enough clothes, food and stuff to see me and my brother through the week. Let's just say the car had way over what's considered normal in the boot. All the weight was above and behind the rear axle, the worst possible place for it. On the way back my bro decided to tell the sat nav to "avoid all tolls" which i didn't know about so ended up making a wrong turn making me very mad in the process. I drove like an absolute loon from that point as it was now very late and not once did the tail want to come out, unless i wanted it to and it was very progressive when it did. The weight in these cars are biased towards the front anyway and with the 200lb springs and uprated shocks / polybushes it seemed to take the weight very well. I'll do it anyway and let you guys know how it goes. I cannot imagine it will make any noticeable difference to handling, if anything i can see it improving.

The gauntlet hath been lain and the bets are on[:D]

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Postby tr8 » 28 Aug 2010 15:02

Just about every vintage track racer that I have seen has a trunk mounted fuel cell.

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Postby silverseven » 29 Aug 2010 01:23

also any of the 2+2 conversions need the trunk mounted tank ...
if memory serves me right, i've seen pics of a 2+2 with the resevoir mounted in the spare tire well , and the spare tire itself mounted on top just to the side.

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Postby Jolyon39 » 29 Aug 2010 01:59

Were not tanks placed so far inboard to prevent them being busted open by a car rear ending you? I seem to recall that some old cars fireballed if hit in the rear and after the flames of controversy died down they regulated the position of the tank.

Is it wise to have this mod in a daily driver?

Jolyon


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