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Additional fuel tank

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Jimbo:

--- Quote from: nosnibod on January 16, 2009, 22:56:48 ---I own the 110 Ian fitted the larger tanks to  ;)

It's definitely not a dream, but it is a bit of a nightmare to fit and as Ian says the workmanship on the tanks themselves is first class, but the fittings for the balance pipe aren't the best quality. Take my recommendation and replace the supplied fuel pipe with a better quality alternative. We had to drain over 140L out of the tank when I found that the balance pipe started to leak after the first filling - a pack of 10 buckets from Screwfix was speedily obtained by Ian when he found the problem  :-o Keep meaning to get Ian to get some proper braided hoses made up.

Ian also cut a rather nifty 8"x8" hatch in the floor of the 110, allowing fuel pump maintenance/changing without having to drop the tanks.

Together the two tanks provide a capacity of 158L which translates so a range of nearly 1000 miles if you are brave enough to watch the fuel light for about 120 miles. This is all due to the shape of the main tank providing maximum capacity. 

I've been brave enough to get just over 850 miles out of a tankful so far.

One slight annoyance is finding that most fuel pumps have a 100L automatic cut-off. Some petrol stations will hit the override switch but some require you to do a double trip to the till.

--- End quote ---

Ah, excellent - any chance of a few piccies of the new tanks in situ ?

Also - I was going to chop a hole in my floor, to create an access to the fuel pump, could you have a measure up of where the hole needs to go.....otherwise my boot floor will end up looking like a lump of swiss cheese !!

Thanks,
Jim

nosnibod:
A few pics of the tanks installed - sorry it's taken a while - work has been somewhat hectic.

As for the hatch - providing dimensions won't really work, since you need to cut the hatch to coincide with the strengthening ribs that support the floor, and I can tell you that the ribs under my floor aren't parallel to the wheel box edges!

Ian did the work, but on reflection, there's a better way to do it than we did (measure once, twice, three times, and then still drill a hole in the wrong place!).

If you've got the fuel tank out and offer up the Safari Equip one, you'll see where the fuel pump will line up under the floor - it will be a oblong formed by the lengthwise and crosswise ribs. Drill a small hole in each rear corner, through the floor and that will be your datum for measuring from above. Ian used a nibbler and then a cutting disk in the angle grinder to cut the hatch. A replacement 8x8" panel was sprayed up to match the floor and fitted. Because the hatch is supported on three sides you don't need to drill the ribs for screws - 3M double-sided tape is perfectly sufficient and nicely seals the edges. 

Because the Safari Equip tanks drop the pump probably 2" further down than the OEM tank, there is enough room to wiggle the fuel pump in via such a hatch. If you fit an OEM tank you'll need to cut through one of the underfloor ribs to make rooms - not ideal.

nosnibod:
And a couple more...

nosnibod:
One other thing to watch out for. Clearance between the larger main tank and the rear diff is a bit tight if you want to fit a diff guard.

I've got a QT diff guard ready to fit (well, when I can get into Porny's workshop) and I'm pondering if it'll be too close.

That's about an inch of clearance.

Jimbo:
Ta for the piccies, I've only just realised that you replaced the main tank too - I was thinking of keeping the main tank and adding the extra tank under the rear corner. But.......cos I've got the Eberspacher heater fitted, its fuel supply pickup pipe is fitted into the rubber flexy between the filler and the main tank - right where the extra tank would go  :doh:, so I need to have another think  :roll:

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