Fuel Tank Repair

[Rotazuk]

Hi
Well after another crapping day at the fun trials on Sunday , great day , just more fuel issues . Had to put another fuel pump in as it died lining up for the first hazzard . Then all day it would die and come right again . The conclusion is my pick up in the tank has packed a sad . I suspect it has folded over on itself and started blocking , either since I ran it out of gas or after the bonce on its nose at the second trial . Pick up was welded into the tank so it would have to be cut open to have a look , so decided I may as well make a new one .

An hour and a couple of cut off wheels later I have access to the tank .



I feel much better now . Althou I spent the day at fire trianing and on the way home thought I could do with some more practise , alas no , it will have to keep going for another year or so now . Too busy to build a new one .

Removing the back will allow me to fix a few small things that have been building up , but none of them on there own justify it . The rear axle has 50mm bump stops to stop the a arm coming up through the floor , problem solved
The battery will move to the back , to give me space under the bonnet for a future mod, wait and see .
The tow hooks can get mounted upright since the rear tailgate has gone .
And the body was getting beaten up on the corners so its out of the way now and the chassis can be shortend a bit .

And most importantly I can mount a tank behind the seats and not have it in the tray , a fire under the floor is better than a fire around your feet . Will go and work on tank shapes and see what I can fit in .

Cheers

Chris

[yorick]

Chris,
What are the dimensions I've got a few tanks lying about that you can have. I'm up north of the Bombays this thursday.

[Rotazuk]

Well got the back panel in and painted this weekend . Made a cardboard template for the new gas tank . Thanks for the offer Yorick and others but to get it to fit the space its going to be an odd shape . I want it standing up as much as possible to keep fuel at the pick up on angles etc . Will post more pic's of it once its made and in place .



Chris

[zuky]

What a savage!

Are you making a fuel tank to go under the truck in the original spot or are you putting it onto where the new tray could/should be?

What happened to the SC on the 1600? Did you ever get that running? If not when can I pick it up

[Rotazuk]

Well did a bit of work on the suzuki today . I need to mount the tank but that mounts to the new flat deck and that will mount on the rear roll bar , sooo I mounted the new rear roll bars .



And then cut off the extra bits



The was a fair bit of weight there with the mounting for the tow hooks .Anyway it seems a bit short now , but I only needed enough deck for my recovery box and spare parts And there is no such thing as not enough departure angle .



On to making the deck the next day in the shed and then mount the tank .

The s/c is mounted on my cousins vitara at the moment , boy does the s/c scream its head off , Alas he has not driven it for months and I tried to start it today and no go . Oneday I will look at it .

Chris

[mfrsr]

I had similar problems with mine - drawing air into the fuel line. I fitted an electric fuel pump then checked it out and guessed it down to rust holes in the top of the pickup. Being welded in i couldnt take out to check it so, being short on funds and ideas, i made a new pickup.

With a 30cm piece of 5/16'th fuel line left over from my landcruiser, i drilled a 8mm hole in the top of the tank, then jammed a split washer over the bend in the pipe, and stuck it in the tank after cutting the extra bit off.

Then put a spare 8mm spanner on top with a self tapper thru the tank and covered it all in silicone. It's worked fine since.

[lneil]

Hey there Rotazuk, is your cousin's Vitara donating a supercharger to your truck?

If so, how did he set it up on the Vitara? I've got a Toyota s/c waiting in the garage to go on my 8v TBi Escudo, but have no idea where to start for things like adapter plates for the mountings. Any suggestions, or better yet, is he looking to get rid of his set-up if it would fit on the Escudo?

[Rotazuk]

It has a amr300 s/c on it ( mine ) which will come off . He has a sc12 he wants on there but its going to be a pain to fit as its so much bigger than a amr300 . SO no help to you as its not mounted yet . Give it a few months , it should be finished this winter .

Chris

[lneil]

Thanks anyway Chris,

I'd love to see some pics when he does the fitting!

Cheers, Leigh

[Rotazuk]

So back on topic .
Got a bit of work done over the last week or so . Hope to have it sorted by easter , otherwise I will miss the last weekend at the beach

I have the deck frame on and the tank mounted in place .



Here it is side on



The tank is now mounted properly and the battery will sit beside it when I get around to it . I spent today making new rear shock mounts . The old shocks were nackered and being factory 413 shocks had a hard time with the weight of the toyota axles and wheels . So I have installed a couple of monroe shocks that came off a Rocky I robbed a few parts off . They are 2 - 3 inches taller than the suzuki shocks but have 1/2 less travel . Still hopefully they will improve things but its the front I really need to do at some stage .

Cheers

Chris

[Rotazuk]

Well its been a good couple of evenings in the shed . I got lots of visual reassembily done .
The seats are back in , the rear deck frame is painted as is the tank . I put it back on its wheels , alas this was not good as the shocks were at full ext . The deck was not on and the tank not in but this was no good . So after looking all over the place I found Rex's GTI springs , these are the same size and number of winds as a vitara rear spring but about a mm less in the dai of the coil . Put these in and it dropped about an inch more It should drop almost 2 inches with these but it has not settled yet so there is hope . If they are still to hard I will get a set out of a normal swift as they may be softer again .

I had lwb vitara springs in teh front and swb in the rear . Since the swb were out I decided to through them in the front , what a pain in the ass that was . Get the springs out , hmm , they have the same paint codes on them . Grrr now I have mixed up which springs were which so I go and get my cousins spare swb springs , they are also marked the same . Oh well throw them in now . Once it was back on its feet it has dropped an inch (as it was meant to ) , so go figure why all the springs have teh same marks .

Got the tow hooks remounted , shortened the exhaust to match the chassis chop . Mate finally remembered to bring in his motorbike inner tube so I could pressure test the tank . I had tried to used a rubber glove but this was not very good .



The tube was cut and hose clamped over the filler and the other vents plumbed to each other with air in the feed line . The idea is the tube will expand as the pressure increases so teh tank does not pop . I tell you now you do not need much pressure to pop the tank . It just started to inflate the tube and the tank flexed with a very loud bang , I nearly needed a change of undies . Anyway no leeks evident , miricales do happen , if you have seen the way I weld you would understand . I cheated on the filler port thou . I cut the one out of the side of the suzuki and welded it in the top of the tank . Unfortunately they had brased on a flange to the tube and it would have cut too much out to grind it all out . So each time I hit a bit of brase it poped and would leak i expect , so I sealed the fill port from the inside .

The tank is about 20ltrs , the old tank was 25 and if I started the day with a full tank I never ran out . Will just have to take a small jerry can on bush trips .
The paint should be dry tomorrow so if I get a chance I will get it all in and see if it runs now , heres hoping .

Chris

[Dr_PC]

The paint should be dry tomorrow so if I get a chance I will get it all in and see if it runs now , heres hoping .
Chris

Ready for the final of the laurie Sanson??

[lilpigzuk]

The paint should be dry tomorrow so if I get a chance I will get it all in and see if it runs now , heres hoping .
Chris

Ready for the final of the laurie Sanson??

I should bloody hope so, bring it out for a hoon this weekend chris

[Rotazuk]

What do you know , its outside and it got there under its own steem . Also its sitting in the drive with the hand brake on and has not rolled into the neighbours



Yes the deck has been photoshopped in , just to give you a better idea of whats happening . About to go out and start cutting up the deck .



It should be sorted for the last of the larrie sanson . Alas it may not have mud guards then . Also thanks for the offers of a test run , if I had more time I would be down pete . I think Rex's missus would castrate him if I turned up at there new pad and did donuts in the paddock before they move in but maybe monday arvo if the weather holds . Knowing my luck it really needs a better run than up and down the road for a test .

Cheers

Chris

[lilpigzuk]

I think Rex's missus would castrate him if I turned up at there new pad and did donuts in the paddock before they move in but maybe monday arvo if the weather holds . Knowing my luck it really needs a better run than up and down the road for a test .

Cheers

Chris

$hit no, come out monday for a skid, may have a track sorted by then
Lookin

[Ryan]

that looks awsome chris!!!!.......making me thing i left way to much on the back of mine
it will be good to see it in action next week!!

[lilpigzuk]

well it came, it started (after another pump fawked out ) and got round the small track
Havent finished unpacking but managed too sort a short track at the back of the property











Thought it be rude if I didnt have a play Lots of trees are covered in blue rollcage paint

[wopass]

very churr