Fuel Cell - Ideas?
 

Gang, after working on a 3rd Gen and a 4th Gen in-tank fuel pump....I'm done with this.

I'd like to run a fuel cell (drag) in my 97 Z and am looking to see if any of you have ideas or have done this before.

Please post back or email me your thoughts, pics, and write-ups if you have any available.

Thanks

Mark, take a look at the cell offered at http://www.ls1speed.com/catagory.cfm?catagory=fuel - it may be a solution for you. I don't know anything about them, I just wish it were a road racing cell. But it's made for drag racing....

Dave

Will do Dave...thanks....

I have a link for you in regards to your needs...a bit pricey...but these guys do seem to do some good work:

http://secure.fuelsafe.net/cgi-bin/fuelsafe/SA114.html

Hmmm... my post vanished!

Thanks Mark. That's a pricey solution, but I suppose it's a good one. I like the idea of replacing the stock tank - keeping all that weight on the car as low as possible (at least for track work) is a good thing...

Dave

Brook, yea I've seen that too before...but can't find anything further on the net about it for a 4th Gen.

Are you in the Corps? I'm a Gunnery Sergeant in the Corps currently stationed with Headquarters Marine Corps in Washington, D.C.

That would not be NHRA legal unless you added a rear firewall. The rulebook says this: All fuel cells must be isolated from the driver's compartment by a firewall, completely sealed to prevent any fuel from entering the driver's compartment.

The easiest/cheapest way to do this is to look in the Jeg's or Summit catalog, they sell a 10-gal fuel cell that has measurements that are like 25"x11"x9" (close to that). This will fit perfectly into the rear trunk well. As for the NHRA firewall requirement, the only thing you'd need to do to accomplish this is to make a trunk flap identical to the stock one, but out of firewall material. Then, just run the fuel lines through the trunk carpet, there's a couple rubber grommets down there they can pass through, mount the external fuel pump (best one to use is an Aeromotive 1000 electric, it's in Summit as well) to the side or underside of the trunk, as long as it's below the actual tank, then over to the fuel filter, and you can even get away with using the stock lines from the filter forward. Be sure to get a good fuel pump though, I made the mistake of trying to do it cheap, and the pump left me stranded a month later. Aeromotive is what was later recommended to me, but you'll need a AFPR too with it.

If you have any questions, e-mail me at kmcbarnes@hcc-nd.edu.

Nice, thanks for the info. ;)

It sounds like you've done this....do you have any pictures that I can get to?

We were also thinking about picking up a fuel cell from Jeg's and installing it in the same location as the factory tank with a cutout on top of the body so that we can fill it from there. You'd obviously have to open your trunk for fuel....but it's not a problem for me seeing how it's not my daily driver. Just to the track or events and back home. We also thought about running an 8AN braided line to the fuel rails but not sure how that's going to work out seeing how we'd be going to the AFPR which isn't setup to handle an AN fitting...unless there's a company that makes this for our cars??

I believe the Aeromotive AFPR is set up for AN fittings, it's on one of the links posted above, as is the fuel pump I mentioned. Unfortunately I don't have any pics of the install, I didn't have a camera available at the time. If you go here there's a pretty good description of the process. My fuel cell is actually "uninstalled" right now, only because of the cheap fuel pump I installed (MSD by the way), and I just never got around to replacing it yet. That was one nice thing about not removing the stock tank right away, I had a backup tank to rely on.

Oh, and as for filling the gas in the trunk, not that big of a deal really, and the stare's you get from people are well worth it. :cool:

Are you saying you had a fuel cell in the cargo area and for a rear firewall you just replaced the stock cargo cover with .024-inch steel or .032-inch aluminium? Were you able to pass tech with this setup? It doesn't seem to me that this would completely seal the drivers compartment.

Actually I never installed the firewall. I was told by a friend that runs a performance shop/race team that it would pass. I don't know if he considered the fact that the side panels are plastic, but I would think it would be doable with good sealing.

Try billingzly racing, they are either doing it now or going to do it, there is a thread about it in the DR section of LS1tech.com, they want to make a whole 'kit'. Also check out his lightweight 12 bolt!!

Great information coming across on this thread and I do appreciate you all chiming in as it is helping many of us think of ways on working a fuel cell in on a LT1.

I look forward to reading more.

Gonzo

David did a nice job on a write-up on his set up. ;)

Thanks for the link.

Just bringing this one back up for chat.

Has anyone else found any sites with a fuel cell set up in a 4th Gen F-Body?

I found some cells in Jeg's and Summit, but not sure on how to go about this at the time.

Gonzo