Check out my new aluminum fuel tank! (Page 1/9)
joesfiero MAR 16, 10:17 PM
Finally got my tank built by my buddy who builds aluminum marine tanks.





Physically the tank is the size of the old tank's widest and highest points but since it has sharp edges instead of rounded ones, and the sides were made to the width of the pinch welds on the old tank, it is actually a bit bigger than stock. For length, we had to actually make it a few inches shorter than the old tank at the front due to the sheet aluminum he had in stock, 48" and ordering new would require waiting for it to show up which means time that I dont have. Really when you look at how much we cut off the front, that very small area only would have held another 3 or 4 cups of fluid which we more than made up for with the rest of the dimensions.

The bigger dimensions also meant the straps need reworking which I was prepared to do, I cut some strips of thick sheet metal that I was going to then rivet onto the old straps to lengthen them. What I didnt foresee was the fact that the width made it very hard to get between the tank and floor pan of the car. Lying on my back I just gave up on them temporarily but plan to get it up on a lift soon to work with it in a much more natural standing position.

So whats holding up the tank? Well that cross brace in the center of the tank, when installed properly actually protrudes up toward the tank and is flat across the bottom. Without the provision in the tank for that brace to bump up in the middle, I had to actually flip the brace around using the flat part across the tank. My brace was drilled very unevenly so I had to elongate some of the mounting holes to get it up. Also with the tank sitting a little lower at the bottom (due to the squared edges up top) I actually had to put a jack under the brace and squish everything up real tight just to get the bolts started into the floor pan. Dont worry though, I didnt dent anything, not even the tank, its very rigid for aluminum. So now with the brace holding the tank up tight, I gave it a really good wiggle to make sure it wasnt going to go anywhere when driving, solid as a rock.

Now for more pictures, the rear of the tank was a critical dimension. The new sender had to fit just right so it had to be perfect. Also what I forgot to take a picture of was the new sender hold down. We got rid of the ring and made a new one that simply screws down into the tank. You can see the 4 screw holes around the sender here.



We also raised the vent tube on the rear, when filling up the tank, when the level gets up to the vent tube is when the pump shuts off. Raising this will increase my capacity, as long as I dont fill the car and let it sit hot long enough for the fuel to expand too much.



I plan to get him to build another tank for me, this time we will learn from the lessons on this tank and make it more "stock fitting" than this. Unfortunately this means losing some of the capacity that we have with this tank but I want to get him to draw up a good blueprint so he can replicate the tank easily if anyone here wants to purchase one from him. If/when that happens I will offer these for sale, not for personal profit, just as a point of communication between PFF and him. Final cost and such will be totally up to him and I will just announce what he offers.

Let me know what you all think.

-Joe
Stubby79 MAR 16, 10:29 PM
Nice.

Any kind of baffles inside?
craigsfiero2007 MAR 16, 10:30 PM
I think.... Very nice. Looks great and sounds like an improvement over the stock Fiero tank.

Edit: Is there some type of "Foam" in there? Like a race car tank.

[This message has been edited by craigsfiero2007 (edited 03-16-2011).]

KurtAKX MAR 16, 10:32 PM

quote
Originally posted by Stubby79:

Nice.

Any kind of baffles inside?



what he said.
Pappy MAR 16, 10:32 PM
Hey Joe,

That looks very cool

What is the weight difference?
mattwa MAR 16, 10:37 PM
Quick question for you, Joe. Is that OEM tank an 84-86 tank or the bigger 87-88 tank?
joesfiero MAR 16, 10:38 PM
Thanks,
yes we did add some baffles, similar to the stock tank baffles. Its really just some plates welded to the bottom of the tank that span the width but dont close off the sides just in front and rear of the sending unit. This keeps fuel from flowing too fast to the front or rear of the tank on braking or accel. The main difference from stock is that in the stock tank, where the fuel enters the tank from the filler neck is actually a long tube that dumps right into the baffle. Ours simply dumps right into the rear of the tank. Fuel can flow all the way front to back though, it is just slowed by the baffles.

The main reason for doing this in the first place was that when I had my duke in my car, it ran fine. Once I put the 3800 and required 255LPH fuel pump in, it was sucking much more fuel as well as the rust in the bottom of the tank. My swap never ran right originally because it would lean way out from rust clogging the pickup sock. I tried cleaning the tank 2 or 3 times and everytime the rust would just come back in piles. I even pulled the tank from my other car and it was the same way. I bought some of the liquid tank sealant that comes in 3 stages in cans, to clean out the tank and seal it up with a membrane. The only problem was they suggested not using it in tanks with plastic parts because it may not stick to the plastic (our baffles) and could end up clogging the pump just as easily. Finally this was my solution. Get rid of the old tank all together and make one that will never rust.

-Joe
joesfiero MAR 16, 10:40 PM
The weight is virtually the same, the aluminum one may even be a hair heavier because of the thickness, but nothing thats going to make any noticeable difference.

And the tank is made from the dimensions of the 87-88 tank.

-Joe
craigsfiero2007 MAR 16, 10:41 PM
What is the pricing range for one if you all decide to produce them?
joesfiero MAR 16, 10:51 PM
Thats totally up to Tony, the guy who made the tank. This "one off" was a test just to see if we were close and it does work, but isn't perfect. Hopefully he will have the time coming up to make another one so we can play around with some of the dimensions.

And if you really want to know, I didnt pay anything for the tank. We scratch each others backs and I think its my turn to start scratchin.

-Joe