Canuck
Frozen Garage Hell
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2006
- Location
- Lethbridge, AB, Canada
One of the first jobs I did back when this car was just getting EFI and a head swap was I wanted a fuel tank that didn't slosh. Now I know this is the way all 122 owners see if there is still fuel in the tank (quick yank on the steering wheel while driving...did the gauge come off empty? If it did, you're going to make the gas station. If not - sorry about that.) - but I just wanted a few more gallons of range, the ability to have a return line and while my tank wasn't rusty at all, I just didn't want to have it boiled out and fiddled with. So I built a tank.
First I had to get some 6061 sheet out of the T6 state so it would bend nice without cracking. I could have ordered 3003, but I'd have to get an entire sheet and that was stupid expensive - so 10 ga 6061 T6 was the order of the day.
End caps were going to be formed as I don't like to put seams in corners, so we're going to bash out end caps. I first mark up the sheet with a sharpie and when the pen marks burn off, it's been heated to around the right temperature.
The sheet is then clamped in a wooden hammer form. There is no way I can get this to shrink 10 ga by hand, so I form the puckers, then cut and weld them.
That gets me to here.
Sender mount made.
Sump with supply and return - could have gone with a little less heat with these welds. Return line has a tube attached so it empties into the main body of the tank.
Mocked up with frame and tank body.
Weld those parts on.
Tack the body together and add internal baffles.
All welded up.
I added some scatter shields on the front edge.
Added a filler neck and frame and tossed it in the trunk.
It's around 12 imperial gallons of volume.
First I had to get some 6061 sheet out of the T6 state so it would bend nice without cracking. I could have ordered 3003, but I'd have to get an entire sheet and that was stupid expensive - so 10 ga 6061 T6 was the order of the day.
End caps were going to be formed as I don't like to put seams in corners, so we're going to bash out end caps. I first mark up the sheet with a sharpie and when the pen marks burn off, it's been heated to around the right temperature.
The sheet is then clamped in a wooden hammer form. There is no way I can get this to shrink 10 ga by hand, so I form the puckers, then cut and weld them.
That gets me to here.
Sender mount made.
Sump with supply and return - could have gone with a little less heat with these welds. Return line has a tube attached so it empties into the main body of the tank.
Mocked up with frame and tank body.
Weld those parts on.
Tack the body together and add internal baffles.
All welded up.
I added some scatter shields on the front edge.
Added a filler neck and frame and tossed it in the trunk.
It's around 12 imperial gallons of volume.