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Has anyone moved their fuel tank INSIDE their car?


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the only person ive seen on the board with aftermarket fuel tank is subarubrat, so subarubrat... i hope your reading this :D

 

anyway... i was looking at my loyale and noticed i can shave off about 3" of approach angle if i were to move the fuel tank inside the car.. (and a little bit more for the rear bumper if i made it smaller?.. but ill worry about that one later)

 

anway! anyone know what this would consist of before i dive into it and move the tank into the holding area of my loyale? What about fumes or smoking.. would i still be able to smoke while going down the trail if i had a fuel tank in the car? What would i have to move other than the fuel tank itself...which hoses would need to be re-routed or what regulators (fuel pressure regulator?) would have to be moved?

 

any advice on weather or not to do this would be great!

 

thanks guys

 

Jonathan.

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Jon, invest in flame-retardant clothing. A better idea would to make your tank a roof mount. Keep the flare-up possibilities away from the place where you are. Good luck and good to see you on the board again. Seems like you've taken a bit of time off. How's the insurance thing going?

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I would not be too eager to move the fuel tank indoors, although it is often done on race only vehicles. The real issues you would have to deal with are the filling of the cell which would definatly get some fumes in the car and with the foam filled cell some overflow is common. There is also the vent line, that could be routed overboard. All together I think it is not the safest option.

 

The actual conversion varies if you have a carb or fuel injection. In my case I have FI so I have a return flow system. The fittings were not the easiest because the tank has 3/8 ID AN fittings AN7 I think. I have 3/8 braided stainless running to the pump and from the return hardline. The hardlines I left in place. Going from a 3/8 braided stainless to 1/4 hardline involved having a threaded fitting brazed on by a shop. You need your two hardlines modded to mate with the AN fitting on the end of the hose from the fuel cell. You must also secure the tank, I used the steel strap mounting kit from Summit.

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I think that at least in theory it could work, but I still wouldn't recommend it. You could probably route your vent and fill lines to the outside of the car and most likely have no problems with fumes and such, but it's still inherently dangerous to be carrying that much explosive liquid inside your car due to the possibility of leaks or rupture during a crash. And if that thing went off, I would be able to see it from here!

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You're asking for quite a few problems in doing so, 'specially if you're a smoker.

Spend the money, and have a local sheet-metal fabricator make you a tank that's customed to your demensions, to fit the stock locale. Pricey yes, but safer, by far.

 

I did, for a while, run an extra tank in the trunk of a '66 Falcon I had. Was there just to prove to the Ex-Brother-in-Law, that his cars gas mileage wouldn't be that much improved by draining my tank.

One load of Deisel Fuel,(out of the stock located tank), and he quit draining my gas tank.

Couldn't figure out what happened to his engine one night after leaving my place.

Told him to take a whiff of his portable gas station.

I can still hear him screaming! 20 years later.

 

Be safe, and don't do it!

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I think it was Clint from Austrailia that added a custom made auxillary tank to his EA82 wagon for his outback expeditions. As I recall, the second tank fit where the bottom of the back seat used to be. I have no idea how the plumbing worked.

In rally cars they seem to put the fuel cell inside custom fabbed sheetmetal compartments like seen in this photo. I was thinking of doing something like this in my Hatchback but have many more urgent things on the agenda.

watertank.jpg

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Probably goona be thought of as "shooting myself in the foot" here but, has anyone ever seen the Pug's trunk area? Geez I forgot how to spell pugeot(sp).

 

If you haven't then I recomend you do. Those of you whom have might want to back me up here too [looks at the (lurker Okami and Calebz then coughs loudly]

 

seems they have their gastank saddled up against the rear seat in the "sedan's trunk" area. interesting to note it approximately the size (within a few inches) of the measurements of the storage space in the rear of our subie wagons flooring.

 

Then of course there is the hsitoric use of gas tanks in the 1950/60/ and into the early 70's of American Trucks for them to stick the tank in the CAB right behind the seat.

 

SO here is my harebrained idea:

 

That Pug fueltank and all its straping stuff and lines etc. snag it!

then pull the piano hingepin from the subies rear wagon storage area and have someone help you cut the area up.

***ONCE you measure the needed cutting area***

the old addage of measure twice cut once. Yeah, use it.

Then you can mount the pug tank in the rear of the wagon or sedan or XT in said region and then adapt the feuldoor for the two nozzles or make a second fuel door right next to the stock location okay?

THEN lay some of that amazing black tar like substance and seal around the tank with some custom square shaped -box-like metal fabrication and then bolt it down (noe that it's *Sealed* and yer good to go with a second fuel cell).

 

OR if you want a single one and this is a higher position no doubt then you can use the area for some other stuff like who knows what? a smaller less area hanging mod'ed tank that would go back in the stock place that just holds less fuel is all.

 

or who knows.. maybe you could cut it out and make a hidden box for steroe sub and speakers and other stuff to be hidden from view when you lift the rear seat tab Voila you have storage space and speakers and amp... but now I'm babling so there.

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Guest taprackready

All FJ40 Landcruisers have the tank in the vehicle right under the passenger seat. All pre 1973 chevys have the tank in the cab behind the seat. Careful planning and it will work fine. Not so careful and you might be a Ford Pinto disaster.

 

Bill

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Steve beat me to suggesting a tank from a peugeot 505. They are fuel injected , so they have the return line. and they come mounted in the trunk against the back seat as steve said above. I can vouch for the fact that there's no worry about fumes.. my wife's car(besides my turbowagon) was a turbo pug 505 for the past 2 years or so. It would take a little doing, but it could be mounted safely in the rear of a wagon. Of course you would want to make some sort of box to go around it. The filler neck comes off the side, so depending on location, its conceivable that you could use the stock fuel door on your soob.

 

In addition, its easy to find one of these tanks in tact in the wrecking yards. given their location, they don't rust, and the yard workers don't punch holes in them to drain them because most don't seem to know where they are.

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Miles Fox had a bunch of jerry cans rigged up behind his rear seat in the trash wagon that made it out here.

 

 

BTW Miles. The big rump roast matt you we talked you into leaving finally lost the gas smell and now it has a new home in Dante's lifted wagon.

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Originally posted by taprackready

All FJ40 Landcruisers have the tank in the vehicle right under the passenger seat. All pre 1973 chevys have the tank in the cab behind the seat. Careful planning and it will work fine. Not so careful and you might be a Ford Pinto disaster.

 

Bill

 

speaking of pintos, and trashwagons for that matter, my 79 pinto TrashWagon 3 actually had a 4 gallon jug and a garden hose for a gas tank, because the tank's straps broke over a railroad. ha, what do you know, i learned something, hence trashwagon 5 to the wcss.

 

as far as moving the tank to the inside of the car, the only thing i wouldnt like about it is it takes up yout cargo space. what i DO like about the idea would to be an AUXILLIARY tank, not a relocation.

 

trashwagon 5 on the way to wcss had 3 5 gallon jugs in back, all connected to a tap fitted to the tanks drain plug. vary simple in hook up, but we had catastrophic gas tank failures on the way out west ("Folks, dont use a rusted out 20 year old gas tank from a car that sat for 10 years, and install it the day before a 2300 mile trip")

 

other than the gas tank going to hell, the system worked, drove from indiana/ohio border to minnesota/wsconsin border before considering stopping for gas. since the gas tank was the lowest to gravity, the fuel gauge rep[resented all 27 gallond of fuel.

 

and to answer your question about smoking, we smoked the whole way there, in the back seat, with ambient leakage(outside the car) and myself personally soaked in gas after the rupture and recovery attempt in south dakota.

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Originally posted by Zapar

Miles Fox had a bunch of jerry cans rigged up behind his rear seat in the trash wagon that made it out here.

 

 

BTW Miles. The big rump roast matt you we talked you into leaving finally lost the gas smell and now it has a new home in Dante's lifted wagon.

 

trashwagon lives on. at least someone had a use for it. i cant complain, because i scored a new carpet on the way out!

 

i can always get another mat. does dante know its from the trashwagon?

 

let him know that mat has some history behind it!:D

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