I have finally got my new fuel tank back from the welders and a very nice job it is too. I have yet to work out exactly how much fuel it will hold but I will be very surprised if it is much less than 30 litres.
making the tank fit the space entailed the tried and true method of making a cardboard model and then using that to make the real thing out of 3mm aluminium. I had originally designed it to be wider on the drivers side to increase the volume but ended up making it the same width at each end . it is however a couple of inches higher than the book dimensions.
To actually get the petrol in I had decided to re-work the filler spout to eliminate both the bend I had put into it and the “unleaded” spout restrictor. The bend which was immediately after the restrictor and had the nasty side effect of shutting the pump (at the browser) down unless I filled the tank at a rate that can only be described as a dribble.
The gauge sender is now mounted so that when it reads “empty” There will still be sometime before the car splutters to a stop for want of fuel. This is of course a lot better than the previous situation where the gauge still read 1/4 full and there was nothing left.
The new tank necessitates a re working of the boot floor but as the diff was kissing it over pot holes that was necessary anyway The tank top will become part of the boot floor and I think that I will have no trouble re using the side pieces and keeping the jack in the same spot as before.
Iain Hall
Iain's Seven 