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Foam in fuel cell?


hpfiend

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Hey all-

 

We have a car we bought that has an aluminum 8 gallon fuel cell in it. It doesn't have a gas gauge and when we asked the seller about that he came up with a pointed stick! He pokes it into this yellowish foam inside the tank until it touches the bottom and that is the gas gauge.

 

My questions are:

 

What is the foam for?

Is the puncturing of it with the sharp stick a bad thing?

How would you replace it or how did they get it in there in the first place?

Also this is a hatchback car- what other requirements are there if any to having this in there without a rear firewall?

 

Thanks in advance!

Andrew

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Hey all-

 

We have a car we bought that has an aluminum 8 gallon fuel cell in it. It doesn't have a gas gauge and when we asked the seller about that he came up with a pointed stick! He pokes it into this yellowish foam inside the tank until it touches the bottom and that is the gas gauge.

 

My questions are:

 

What is the foam for?

Is the puncturing of it with the sharp stick a bad thing?

How would you replace it or how did they get it in there in the first place?

Also this is a hatchback car- what other requirements are there if any to having this in there without a rear firewall?

 

Thanks in advance!

Andrew

 

At the track you just need a firewall and it be protected/ bolted in place as far as i know

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thanks guys - that makes sense!

So I def need a rear firewall? that is going to take some figuring- the rear seat wont count will it?

 

NOT 100 PERCENT SURE I know at trails about three years ago before they started getting hardcore on the safety stuff the rear seat was ok but IDK now. Yu might have to put in a wall behinde the seat. something you could check or maybe call them about

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here is how my hatch back was setup. Never had a problem with tech. fuel cell mounted in the spare tire area. Battery box on the right side. I used a paint stick to check the fuel. Wrote on the stick with lines 1/4 - 1/2 - 3/4 and FULL. She sponge never broke down or started falling apart.

 

http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc84/croz98gt/89mustangfuelcellbatterybox.jpg

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here is how my hatch back was setup. Never had a problem with tech. fuel cell mounted in the spare tire area. Battery box on the right side. I used a paint stick to check the fuel. Wrote on the stick with lines 1/4 - 1/2 - 3/4 and FULL. She sponge never broke down or started falling apart.

 

http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc84/croz98gt/89mustangfuelcellbatterybox.jpg

 

That's almost exactly how mine is setup(without the cage for now)! So the extra bar on that roll cage served as enough of a barrier? Great! I could even weld some sheet metal in that triangular area- do you have any more pictures of that cage it looks like a unique setup...

 

The sump does protrude into the bottom of the car and the PO did some hack sheet metal work underneath it to cover it- I was going to redo it anyway- any idea what gauge?

 

I am glad you joined this thread AJ as I think I remember you mentioning something about a fuell level sender for the cell in yours?

 

Thanks all for the great info!

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What is the foam for?

Is the puncturing of it with the sharp stick a bad thing?

How would you replace it or how did they get it in there in the first place?

Also this is a hatchback car- what other requirements are there if any to having this in there without a rear firewall?

 

1 - stops fuel from sloshing.. helps prevent explosions etc a lot of websites have random info on the pros of it (mainly suppliers of course)

 

2 - i would follow the advice of a smooth painter stick instead of a sharp stick

 

3 - I have heard/read you normally replace it every 3-5 years but I've seen people who have never replaced it with no problems and others who say it deteriorates after a year or so

 

4 - I would think you would need to build a fire wall.. but how crawdad did his i think is pretty decent.. it looks like a fair bit of metal separating the cockpit from fuel.. and of course i'd make sure its vented properly.. just look up the sanctioning body of whatever you'll be racing in and see what the rule says pertaining to it

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3 - I have heard/read you normally replace it every 3-5 years but I've seen people who have never replaced it with no problems and others who say it deteriorates after a year or so

 

thats mostly with E85.

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Firewall basically means some sheet metal surrounding the cell itself. Exactly what Crawdad did.

 

I have a fuel level sender in mine. You can buy cells with them pre-installed. It's just a big ohm meter basically. Find the two wires used on your stock wiring for the fuel level sender, and attach them to the two nipples on the sender on the cell. If your cell is full, and your gauge is reading empty, switch the wires on the sender.

 

Foam helps sloshing/fuel starvation during launching or cornering. $13-14 per 18x6x3" section at JEGS.

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