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MG Midget and Sprite Technical - custom fuel tank...

My plan is to make a custom fuel tank for a higher capacity and to make space for my very elaborate center exit exhaust, which will be recessed in to the rear clip, similar to that of a Porsche Cayman (pic)..

Can these be made from plain ol' steel? Does it have to be stainless? Any advice on placement of send/return etc...


Rob McGeown ( LMG 5K - '72 RWA)

Rob

Could you not run a box across the back of the car with a central exit pipe similar to this photo. Custom exhaust made by Smartsport of Warwick.

Carl



C Bintcliffe

Rob, i think steel or s-steel are to heavy, use aloy.
But running a exhaust straight in the middle does make it diffecult to create a normal size tank.
You were building it as a fast roadcar to use also on trackdays isnt it?

Frontline sells alloy 9/9.5 gallon fueltanks with returnpipe opening and build in swirlpot and it uses the standard fuelsender.
I have one on my car and Frontline also build on a external swirlpot on my car.
I have no problems taking fast corners with an almost empty tank, always enough fuel/pressure.



Arie de Best

Yeah fast road and track days Arie.

I just wanted to keep the system as straight as possible, both for looks and performance... i may be wrong, but i thought i would make a difference.
Rob McGeown ( LMG 5K - '72 RWA)

do you need your boot space?? have you thought of a mini tank in the boot I believe they fitted on one side, and I seem to remember seeing that you could get a mirror one for the other side!
Mick - nearly ready to paint

sounds good -dont need boot space ill look into it.
Rob McGeown ( LMG 5K - '72 RWA)

:-)please let us know how it goes -- I have been thinking about it myself as i need room for my 'special' exhaust!
Mick - nearly ready to paint

Micks right, you can get a boot one, although do watch out as I've seen ones which mean you have to open boot to fill it, so if you've packed your boot, you'll be having to unpack to fill it! also worth noting is that it's not quite as nice in a crash having a boot tank...

Have you also thought of running the exhaust through the boot and out the back panel? Just an idea...

I guess if you were really clever, you could strengthen the bootfloor and half-sink a tank in it so you can have more capaciy, but have the tank higher from the floor.

The other thing worth considering might be (and this is getting ridiculous, but a challenge) a dual fuel tank. One either side of exhaust. Probably the most ridiculous idea ever but it would be impressive and has now got me itching to try cutting a tank in half!

Let us know how it goes as I have similar plans.
Rich Amos (1330cc Blaze Red '72)

I also thought about split / dual tanks... and then it occurred that 2 tanks and a swirl-pot is 3 tanks. With good design you could drive 1000 miles without stopping... probably not with a gf/wife on board though...

A
Anthony

two tanks could help with balance i guess. How would you link the tanks...would both have their own pump and pickup/return or would you combine the two with pipes and such...?

I was also thinking along the lines of a flat tank sitting on the boot floor a few inches thick,could get a good capacity with some boot space left...
Rob McGeown ( LMG 5K - '72 RWA)

My E30 BMW has a tank that straddles the propshaft. The two wells of the tank are connected by a pipe running under the propshaft.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=AF93&mospid=47305&btnr=16_0046&hg=16&fg=05

-=Chris
Chris King: 1500 Midget mutt

Another daft idea.
How about a fuel tank behind the seats. Higher centre of gravity but in the middle of car not overhanging the rear axle.
Same old Gary

And when Chris's prop shaft loses a u-joint...
He will be glad the tank is not right behind the seats ;-)

Having uttered such sanctimonious (makes it easier to search for this thread later) sentiments, I will now confess to having used a plastic fuel tank intended for use with an outboard boat engine in my boot, strapped down to the spare with a second fuel pump that allowed me to flip a switch in the cockpit and start re-filling the main tank from this six-gallon(US) tank whilst motoring merrily down the road. Plumbed it into the emissions hose feed to the tank. Nothing like watching your fuel gauge go up while you drive ;-). Very useful on long solo trips, although I have found that it takes about the same amount of time for a pint of 7Up to work its way through my system as for 7 gallons of petrol to work its way through my midget ;-)
David "16-oz tank" Lieb
David Lieb

Rob, have you checked with the vendors for racing fuel cells? I know they are a bit pricy, but I've seen some on sale at pretty reasonable prices in the past. With one of these you could mount it in the boot and have the whole underside clear for the exhaust system. If you do put the petrol in the boot make sure you replace the hardboard divider at the rear of the cockpit with an alloy sheet for flame protection.
The design you show for the exhaust would look great, but there's so little room under the car that you'd almost have to build two small tanks to sit on either side of the central exhaust to get everything to fit under the car and that would create problems with transer tubes and sending units.
As far as material goes, unless you're a really good welder with the correct equipment to weld up an alloy tank, I'd go for 20 gauge mild steel. It's not that heavy for the size part you would be building and much easier to work with.
Here's a small 8 US gallon cell that would fit in the boot for $100, you should be able to find something similar over there. http://www.speedwaymotors.com/p/443,58_Bottom-Sump-Fuel-Cell.html?itemNo=fuel%20cell
Bill Young

You must remember that US gallons are a lot smaller than imperial,30 ounces per quart in lieu of 40.
Sandy Sanders

UK ounces are also not the same as US ounces, Sandy, so perhaps we should use liters as a comparison?

1 liter = 33.8140227 US fluid ounces
1 liter = 35.1950652 Imperial fluid ounces

"A pint's a pound the world around" Right? ;-)
David "picky picky" Lieb
David Lieb

yes convert to liters you!
no realy al i know is that i've put in 27liters once.
so i assume the std one is 30liters?

can a custom fuel tank fix the fueling hassle (hate having the thing overflowing when i forget to use the trigger carefuly)
o Könemann

Don't know what I was thinking about, I guess the mention of custom tank got me off track. The stock tank will fit in the boot, it bolts to the bottom of it so should fit inside. That means no fabrication except for a relocated filler, and extended fuel line and a firewall at the rear of the cockpit. Yes, no more room for a spare tyre or such, but there are some sacrifices you have to make for the custom exhaust. Also it's the same capacity in either US gallons, Imperial gallons, pub pints, or liters so no changes there or recalibration of the fuel gauge. ;-)
Bill Young

o,
I wish we would, yet I would miss the charm of the old system...
Assuming the Bugeye tanks were 6 imperial gallons as claimed, they would equate to 27.27 liters.
Assuming the 1500 tanks were 7 imperial gallons as claimed, they would be 31.82 liters.
You could have waited another 60km or so to fill up ;-) Unless, of course, you had the early size of tank (not quite sure when they changed).
David "15cm?" Lieb
David Lieb

it's a "67 might be old style whoops

can't find teh charm in having gas sprayed over my pants
o Könemann

i thought about the original tank, how do you clean them?
Rob McGeown ( LMG 5K - '72 RWA)

This thread was discussed between 03/03/2008 and 05/03/2008

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