Thread:

Fuel tank Pick tube/fittings..project

My aluminum fuel tanks have small fittings for the pick-up tube. I think they are 1/4NPT pipe that scews into the tanks. This is not going to cut it for my EFI blower project. So I decided to make new pick ups and tubes. This will also include a vent. I do not like the way my caps "vent". These spun alum. tanks are really thin so the matrial I am using I am trying to keep on the thin side so I am using .090 6061. You tig welders out there know what I am talking about. I have yet to get the tube and the pipe bungs (vent) for the project. I am using -12AN bungs for the feed. I was going to use -10AN but I only had one and not two. I know this might be over-kill but that is the way I am.
T.J.

Man you do some focking nice work. I wish you were closer. I could get you all kind of business. You have a talent with that rod and it shows

Originally Posted by 396_Ways_To_Spit

Man you do some focking nice work. I wish you were closer. I could get you all kind of business. You have a talent with that rod and it shows

Thanks Spit. I orderd some NPT bungs. They are really cheap and it would take me in time longer to make than it is worth. I am also ordering my schedule 10 un-threaded alum. pipe from Mcmaster-Carr, it is almost .700" ID. I will weld that to the underside if the plate. My Miller Dynasty 300DX machine is great I love it.
T.J.

Worked on these more today.


This first pic shows the 3/8 NPT bung I am going to use for the vent. I turned a shoulder on it so I could weld in from the back-side. I did not want to weld it from the top because it was very tight next to the other fitting. Notice the -12AN fitting has specs in it. This happened when I welded it to the plate. I guess this alum. had some impurities in it. I have to polish it off.



Here it is welded from the back.



Getting ready for the large pickup tube. Jigging up alum. is sometimes a real pain. I had to line up the inside hole and not move it when tacking. I was looking for a long threaded rod to "squeeze" everything togehter but did not feel like looking for it. So I just tacked it.



A few minutes later all welded up.



All nice nice.



You can see the wriitng on my welding JIG. These are the settings so when I do the other one I do not have to play around with settings. My machine has memory settings as well.



I almost broke my wrist cutting this hole with the 2.75" hole saw.



Here you can see the difference between the stock and the new pickup. The ID of the new one is almost .700"



Just another shot of the size.



I had to hammer a little curve in the plate. Also there is a plate/baffle welded in the tank I have to "adjust" to get the new pick-up to fit right.


Stay tuned for welding the pickup on the tank.

Originally Posted by Michigan Daaaaaa

Why not just weld the fitting in the bottom of the tank and forget about the pick up tube. What kind of fuel pump you planning on using ???

I could have done that but that is not US Coast Guard Approved and in CT they do spot checks. So I wanted to keep it legal.

As for the pump I am using right now for the first part of the season is the clay smith mech. pump--N/A set up. But I am doing all this for my near future build up of putting on an 8-71 with EFI and a bugcatcher(see post in the Forced Induction section). I am going to use RacePump's EFI pump and regulator for that set up which is a returnless regulator.
T.J.

I finished welding the large pickup to the tank saturday. I purged it with argon while welding. I then pressure checked for leaks. I put about 4 psi to test. I spayed soapy water on the joints. The plate welded to the tank had no leaks. However, I did find a leak at the 3/8 NPT fitting where it was welded from the backside. So I had no choice but to weld now from the top side (see third pic). This was a real PITA. I had to stick out the tungsten far to get in-between the two fittings without hitting. I was able to make the seal. Re-pressure checked it and all is good. Now to finish the second tank. I made this pressure testing JIG for testing tanks.
T.J.

Is that a big piece of acrylic or polycarb. stuck in that rubber tube to seal the tank?

Looking good man. Keep up the good work. Sometimes you just gotta get creative when trying to weld custom stuff like this.

Originally Posted by 396_Ways_To_Spit

Man you do some focking nice work. I wish you were closer. I could get you all kind of business. You have a talent with that rod and it shows

Originally Posted by HawaiianJet

Is that a big piece of acrylic or polycarb. stuck in that rubber tube to seal the tank?

Looking good man. Keep up the good work. Sometimes you just gotta get creative when trying to weld custom stuff like this.

HJ,
Just some plastic stock I had laying around. I had to machine a shoulder on it first so it would fit in the hose to make the seal with the clamp. I will finish the other tank this weekend. I already have -12 lines and fittings ready to go.
T.J.

I like this statement on your website, "I used to work for a fabricator and he said I did not know how to weld. That is the day I quit there and told him where to put his welder." I probably would have knocked the mofo out over a comment like that, and taken his welder with me on the way out. Especially with perfect beads like you showed in the picture. That work bench looks bitchin', and built the right way to. With all the ends milled to the same length and made square, so that you can actually trust your work bench when setting up a jig or something. It's good to see people doing things the right way these days, most people just want to half-ass everything, and try to call it gold.

Got the other tank done today. Used the MACRO mode on my camera to get a better shot of the welds. Almost ready to mount back in the boat.
T.J.