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West Coast's "fuel cell"
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Hi all, I'm back (of course) :cool: and I'm currently finishing the conversion to Holley EFI in my snake. Whilst removing what West Coast Cobras advertises on their site as a "fuel cell" , I instead discovered what I long suspected: Merely a "Frankensteined" cobbled-together plastic gas can:
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More.. comments? :
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The plastic tank has had an oval hole cut in it and bolts hold the metal plate/sender unit in place, with some sort of epoxy-glue which is cracking and disintegrating. There is no foam or baffling inside the "tank", only a few metal braces:
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Close up of the glue/bolts:
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%/ I am thankful for one thing: My guardian angels who kept me from becoming a BBQ due to this "tank" which seeped gas past the glue/bolts, and caused my trunk to smell horribly of gas.. I could not leave clothing or personal items in there at all...in fact after re-habbing her last year I almost immediately mothballed her out of fear of this thing.. very soon now to be remedied with a custom, real fuel cell and custom-TIG welded aluminum housing from Fuel Safe:
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BinB,
There is a local Atlanta WC owner (Stallion) who went through similar issues. I will point him to your thread. |
BinB,
I just noticed that you have "only" grade 5 bolts holding that tank together. Lucky for you those puppies didn't go flying apart on you. Whew! Dodged the dreaded grade 5 bullet. LOL, Sorry guys, couldn't help it. I am glad you found your POS gas tank before something happened. Steve |
BinB
Where ya been, on a crusade? That's what my Butler's looked like when I pulled it after the gas started leaking, but mine was 20 years old at the time! I then learned from Fuel Safe (in your neck of the woods) and others that these things have to be replaced every 5 years or so. I also learned that alcohol and other chemicals can cause premature failures. Wonder if it's been on the shelf for awhile, or if your local stations have alcohol additives in their gas. In any event, call Fuel Safe, great company and they will build you what you want from careful measurements. |
Heh, heh
To paraphrase SHREK : I've been on a quest to get my cobra back!". :JEKYLHYDE
Already have the fuel cell on order with Fuel Safe, it's supposed to be here very soon.. TIG welded custom one piece housing and full internal bladder.. they gave me a very fair price. I am going with all braided stainless lines and "Endura" AN fittings from "Earls".. a division of Holley) the electrical is all finished and I'm getting into the fuel delivery system now. As soon as I'm done she'll be trucked north to a company that programs such beasties, they will use a chassis dyno .. then it's time for fun in the sun again. :MECOOL: |
Fuel Safe is like David Kee and paper clips...they just work.
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Yes and an added a note of caution to ALL reading this thread that run fuel cells/bladders. Jamo raises a great point that is now resulting in formal safety bulletins (there was one in either a motorcycle or vintage race trade rag I read this month). Old fuel bladders and cells need replacement over time, every 5 years is a good ballpark. Airplane owners get to deal with this as well on a regular basis as they run rubber cells that get brittle over time and start leaking. That stuff does not last forever, and I consider a fuel system the most vital safety compenent in any vehicle.
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Look's exactly like mine did when I pulled IT, except mine was black. Gas fumes from around the joint where metal met plastic made me wonder if I was an explosion looking for a place to happen. I had a custom foam-filled tank built by a local fabricator who builds several items for NASCAR. Glad you caught it before someone got hurt.
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Well, I knew something was wrong but I made sure to leave the trunk open when she was garaged, I never filled the "tank" completely, and I kept a close eye on the area.. but of course you really can't see doodly even with a strong flashlight, with the tank installed.
To refresh everyone's memory, the car was delivered with a loose, unclamped piece of radiator hose laying in there for a filler neck :CRY: The first time I filled it up, I got home to the reek of gasoline from the trunk.. it had spilled over and was getting to the carpets when I then threw the electrical kill switch, ripped the glued-on carpets from the tank, and staunched the gas with some rags.. scary stuff.. keep in mind the battery, a 600 watt stereo amp, and 2 CD players are in there (16 CDS total) .. the amp with exposed connectors is directly beneath the tank! I'm quite serious that my unseen protectors were the reason I'm still here posting, and not buried BBQ. I'm going to persevere and this car is going to be what I wanted..it had better be, since I've virtually had to re-build it!! My buddy who owns the tranny shop and helped me restore that aspect, said that I could now be the technician for this car.. he's right! :eek: |
Back in Black you have PM/E-mail......Thanks, Earl
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See. Big stereo's in Cobra's are unsafe %/ :3DSMILE:
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Touche'!
:D :JEKYLHYDE :D
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BinB - Hope we hear some stories of you ENJOYING your car soon. Best of luck!
How many miles have you been able to put on the beast?" |
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Hi HIQ... I was able to put less than 3k miles on her the first year and a half before everything went completely to $=i+ there were ongoing problems during that time, especially the crappy Demon 850 carb and the TO bearing/tranny (builder errors) and the oh-so-scary fuel tank.
Then last summer I put about 650 miles on her after the rebuild-dyno.. then parked her when fall came..seemed to be running fine except for that horrible carb. Last year I also fixed a bunch of peripheral problems on my "turnkey" :( Hopefully the coming years will be completely different ! |
Hey B & B, Please don't ignore my question, how about an answer?? Thanks, Earl
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Sorry my friend, I have already given it away to a buddy.. (the "tank") he's planning on dissassembling The bolts/top and using the proper sealant when reassembling it, and using it in an open trunk in a drag race track only car)
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Okay, thanks for the answer, i'll keep looking.....Earl
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Anyone besides me curious to know the titles to those 16 CD's?
Call me nosey, and ignore it if you like. Just curious, nothing sinister at all. Always thought I could guess what kind of music different people would listen based on some minimal information about them.. Humor me, if you will. TURK |
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