Can someone point me in the direction of a few "Proper" fuel cell setups for our cars. I've been searching for a while now, and cant find a whole lot other than pictures of them already mounted.

I'm looking to mount a 10-15 Gal where the stock tank was, after cutting out the spare tire well. It Will have a flap to open above the tank in the floor to fill thru the hatch.

I really cant find a whole lot of anything about actually installing one, just people complaining about others doing it wrong. This is going in my XP Race car, so must be SCCA legal.

I have a 15gal Plastic cell available to me for free, but it has no baffles (does have foam and sender already) but I'm looking for some extra advice on what a correct setup would look like, and how to tackle it properly. I will be cutting the wheel well out this week and welding in a new panel. I think I would rather start with something baffled so I wouldn't need to worry about it.

So if you know of any good links talking about a good install, or if you could post up some insight, it would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

I installed a 16 gal fuel cell about 5 or 6 years ago in my 82 when I had it, have to say for a road driven car it is not an ideal setup and was actually quite heavy as well as I armoured the tank quite a lot. To fit it properly under the floor it will take a fairly shallow tank. I personally would suggest a good RCI or Jazz fuel cell with a bladder for the extra protection, if either of those are available in the size you need. Also, I don't think baffling is really needed if you have a foam filled cell since the foam will prevent sloshing of the fuel.

 

IIRC, to be scca legal you need a tank with a bladder that is SFI or FIA certified.

ATL tanks are your best bet. You are going to need to frame it and drop it in from the top. You will also need impact protection for areas that are exposed.

 

A couple of thoughts

First for X Prepared - a Solo class - you do not have to have an FIA certified fuel cell. I do believe that there are height requirements for fuel cell mounting - the bottom must be 6" off of the ground.

A fuel cell with foam installed will not have a slosh problem. This is especially true if you are running a drag race cell because they have the sump on the bottom rear. If it is a circle track cell with one pickup you can have slosh issues if the fuel level gets too low, however. Fuel cells are rarely baffled unless they are made for EFI in tank pumps or are made for a specific applicaiton like circle track.

For a solo specific application you don't need a big cell. I ran a 6 gallon cell in a CP Mustang and it was fine.

I'll put together some images of my road race cell install. It is over-kill for what you are doing though.

 

A used 15 gal Fuel Safe is in my car. It has a plastic bladder in a steel shell. It also has foam and an open top surge box with three one way ping pong ball valves. The fuel return line dumps right into the surge box.

Make a rectangular frame of 1" square steel tubing that the cell drops down into. Then run aluminum straps across the top of the cell and bolt them to the frame. Take it all apart and paint the frame

Cut the wheel well to within 1" of the hatch floor. Weld four pieces of angle iron to the car frame to where the fuel cell frame can bolt up to them at each corner and do so. Take off the cell frame and paint the angle iron and car frame.

Also where you bolt through the cell frame make sure you weld sleeves so you don't crush the frame while tightening it down.

I also have a round .063" aluminum disc riveted every 3" to the floor to cover up the wheel well with a hatch door above the fuel fill cap.

This sounds like overkill, but I hit a concrete wall doing about 80 on driver's right rear that detached the fuel cell from the frame in two opposite corners. The crash also caused the round cover to shear the dozen or so rivets holding it down. Then a severed fuel line caught fire, but that's another story...

 

Here is my fuel cell mount

I built a "cage" using 1" angle, .75" and .50" square tubing. The cell, 15 gallon ATL in an aluminum can, bolts to the cage using the bolts that hold the can together. The cell cage also mounts the fuel pumps. The entire assy is held in the car with 4 3/8" bolts.

Like I said earlier, this is over-kill for your application. You may need to add a couple of cross members to attach the fuel cell to but crash protection shouldn't be a concern. Making what ever you build serviceable and easy to fill is what you need to focus on.



Here is the cage in the car





Here is a shot of the fuel cell cover I had in my Mustang CP car. The door was sourced from Moroso and it covered the fuel cell fill.

 

I believe respeed was making a bolt-in Gas tank that might fit your needs without any body modifications.