Another Fuel Cell mounting question...

[3rdgen]

Might have made a mistake mounting with my fuel cell mounting (mounting it prior to referencing rulebook).

The car is a 3rd Gen Camaro and the mounting is in the trunk. Page 93 in the rulebook says on one line that ""Top of fuel tank must be below top of rear tires" then the last sentence in the paragraph reads "All cells or tanks must be mounted below the fender well on full body cars and below the top of the rear tires on all other applications". When measured, my current mounting has the top of the cell approximately 2 inches above the top of the rear tires but well below the top of the fender well's.

Do I need to drop the fuel cell down or am I good? I really don’t want to re-do this if I don’t have to. It came out really good the way it is. I can’t really show the relationship of the tire height to the cell in this photo but you can see the mounting and when measured from the floor the top of the cell is 2 inches above the tops of the tires. The cell is a 5 gallon 12” x 12” square. Thanks for any advice!


Will

[dwl5x18]

Will,
I think your mounting is good, but you do need to make sure that it is isolated from the drivers compartment.... And where your lines/sump goes through the floor it must be sheilded around that area too.

[3rdgen]

Thanks Dwayne,
Isolation plate/shield is one of the “next” things I need to take care of. Fittings should be here this week for the fuel system, one more thing checked off the list. Here is what I have going on for the fuel outlet. If needed I can come up with some sort of shield for the bottom of the fuel outlet fittings. Would this still be needed with them coming out the side and not the bottom? Thanks again!

[semi serious]

My 5 gal aluminum cell is mounted similar but may sit a little lower cause it rests on the bottom of the luggage compartment. Yours almost looks like it may be on a shelf. It also looks like the fuel outlets are pointed forward? Consider pointing them toward the back or the side. Below the fender well and your fine. Mark and Bob had no problem with mine for four years.

[3rdgen]

Thanks for the input. Yes, the fuel cell is on a plate I made with a mount that conforms with the bottom of the trunk. The idea was to get it level as the car sits and not have the fuel sump sticking though the bottom of the trunk exposed needing to be shielded. The fuel outlets are currently facing forward, not a whole lot of work to reverse it by just turning around the cell, making a new outlet hole and patch this one.

If you don’t mind me asking, how did you run your fuel line? I’m trying to keep it out of the transmission tunnel so I won’t need to shield it, running it on the outside of the right sub-frames and frame connector, coming up where the front fender starts on the passenger side and in through the hole that the computer wiring harness use to pass through, into the regulator on the inner fender well and to the carb in the back. This seems like this would work the best avoiding any need to shield it at all (nothing in the inside and nothing in the transmission tunnel). Right now I know the way I have it is not right, chasing the brake line on the driver’s side but ends up having to go through the tunnel, across the firewall to the regulator. Seemed to work fine for the stock (fuel inject lines), but AN-6 needing to get to the right side now, not so good. Thanks for any advice!

Will

[semi serious]

No problem, I ran a -8 braided hose from the tank to the front outside the subframe connectors and then right about where the Camaro has what they call a frame I cut a hole on the passenger side and another up past the transmission in the engine compartment and fed the fuel line through it. This shields the fuel line (and return) in the "frame" rail and is perfectly legit. A little trick I learned from my NHRA outings was that all the folks down here run the fuel line past the carb and then plumb into the regulator with a fuel line coming back to the carb. This is because the pump can easily push the fuel past the carb and then G force helps to push it back to the carb. I plan on making that change this winter. We are bracket racers though and tricks like this don't give an advantage over the competition cause you're just trying to run your number but I do like not making the car work any harder then it has to.

[3rdgen]

Thanks, from looking around this past weekend it became evident that I should be running -8. Ill just take all the -6 stuff I have and use that for the transmission cooler lines so no loss. This project has a ways to go yet but winter is long. With most of the "major" stuff already done I have plenty of time to get all the small "ankle biters" done in time for spring. Thanks, I appreciate the input!

Will

[semi serious]

We're all here to help. Everyone wants you to run well. The better your car runs the more time you have to work on the human side of the race like reaction time, cutting a light and running your number. The more the merrier. Wish I could have ran more before we left.

Don't be afraid to ask questions.

[3rdgen]

Thanks. Met some real good people this past season being a spectator. Looking forward to being a participant next year!

[mike c]

fuel pump location, should it be below the tank?

[3rdgen]

Mine is about even. On the sub frame rail and works perfect so far. What are you building?

Will

[pumpgas540]

Most fuel pump manufactures recommend that the pump not be higher than the tank.