Petrol tank alternatives

[Standardthread]

Anyone had experience of fitting an alternative, preferably plastic, petrol tank in a Dolomite without major modifications please?

If so what was involved?

Usual reason, steel tank, bad configuration of fitting etc., or has someone got a good spare tank who lives local (Leeds area)

Cheers,

Steve

[sprint95m]

The plastic petrol tank from a Fiesta mark 6,
it is smaller at 45 litres and the spare wheel needs relocating
but these tanks are cheap and readily available.





Ian.

[Standardthread]

Hi Ian,

Thanks for your reply. Had a look at them on ebay and they are cheap. How did you overcome sender fitting and fuel to carb supply because I get the impression the Fiesta uses an electric fuel pump?

Regards,

Steve

[RichardHyde]

Only an idea, but how about a tank within a tank eg small modern plastic one in your Dolomite tank ?!

I guess cut out the bottom of the Dolomite tank, install the plastic tank and put your Dolomite tank on top.

Who would ever know ?!

[sprint95m]

Hi Ian,

Thanks for your reply. Had a look at them on ebay and they are cheap. How did you overcome sender fitting and fuel to carb supply because I get the impression the Fiesta uses an electric fuel pump?

Regards,

Steve

Indeed, the Fiesta has an integral fuel pump c/w sender.
I believe that the sender should work independently but haven't tried this.
(I have the tank for use with fuel injection.)

For a fuel outlet I would employ a hosetail in a suitably low location?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BSP-Parallel ... b878c6f39



Ian

[Carledo]

Hi Ian,

Thanks for your reply. Had a look at them on ebay and they are cheap. How did you overcome sender fitting and fuel to carb supply because I get the impression the Fiesta uses an electric fuel pump?

Regards,

Steve

Indeed, the Fiesta has an integral fuel pump c/w sender.
I believe that the sender should work independently but haven't tried this.
(I have the tank for use with fuel injection.)

For a fuel outlet I would employ a hosetail in a suitably low location?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BSP-Parallel ... b878c6f39



Ian

I'm pretty certain that you could just use the pump housing in the tank to draw fuel through (it will do this) just don't bother wiring it up! The guage wiring is independent of the fuel pump wiring, there should be 4 pins on the guage/pump plug, 2 for sender and 2 for pump (1 of each being earth) You can use the redundant fuel return pipe as a tank breather and connect it to the filler neck as the Triumph one is. The Fiesta's electric fuel pump is for fuel injection and far too powerful to run a carburettored car, so that's out!

Steve

[cliftyhanger]

The Fiesta's electric fuel pump is for fuel injection and far too powerful to run a carburettored car, so that's out!

Steve

You can buy a fuel regulator (Malpassi) that will allow an EFI pump to be used with carbs.... £50 but will only go down to 5psi, a bit high so another regulator would be required to get down to 2psi which is about right for most carbs (I ran webers at 1.5 to try to reduce surge, and had no issues with fuelling. As long as there is adequate flow, carbs need almost zero pressure)

https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/2250218603?iid ... 0854.m4779

[Standardthread]

Thanks everyone for directions on outlet and wiring.

I have my tank out, quite a few pin holes mostly where the tank is well hidden where it rests on the boot floor, N/S just behind the wheel arch (to me crap design of fitting). My bung has been in and out for months because I thought that was where the water was trapped, wrong. When I got the tank out I found a pool of water on the boot floor (where the holes in the tank are), it must have been there for months (years?). There is a neoprene strip here, used as sound insulation to stop the tank drumming, it was acting as a partial dam. The tank must have been weeping for a while as well but I put the smell down to the petrol cap venting.

On first impressions from above my tank looked good and sound (a BL date label underneath it showed it to be the cars second tank) so I would suggest everyone take time to take their tank out and breech this 'dam'.

As a first response I'm going to try an epoxy putty repair with tank sealer in the tank as an experiment to preserve a tank on my 60 year old Standard 10 (same fitting principal, tank with in well in the boot floor) and I want to preserve what boot space I have in the Dolomite, but at least I know there is an alternative. I intend to lift my tank slightly when it goes back to prevent future water damage behind the wheel arch. Again, to me crap design, seam sealer on the inside of the car.

Thanks again.

Steve

[tinweevil]

Are you aware of this option from Chris Witor?

[Standardthread]

No,

Thanks tinweevil. Now I know I have a definite back up. I was looking at/thinking of having a basic box, 18" x 23" x 6" fabricated locally to give me a 10 gallon tank that fits in the boot well and retain space for the spare wheel.

The car won't be going to the great scrap pile in the sky after all

[ab1]

I have one of those Chris Witor tanks, i dont know if bought the first one as it didn't fit at all and had to go back for major modification.

The build quality is very good, but i think mine was the prototype, as it came back from being modified and still had issues.

It fits it the car really well and got my car back on the road, which allowed me to enjoy it all last year instead of it being parked up with a boot full of petrol whilst i scoured ebay for a rusty replacement.

The issues with my tank are:-
-- the capacity is about 10 gallons now before it runs out on a flat road.
--the sender unit now has a bent arm to make the gauge read something sensible and make the fuel light come on at 2 gallons left. (my tank isnt as deep as the original tank and the sender unit wouldnt drop far enough)
--my fuel outlet is to high and doesnt line up with the hole in the boot floor, so i now have a rubber hose between the fuel outlet pipe and the pipe under the car.
--the fuel sloshes around a lot as i dont think there are any baffles in there.

I would check with Chris on the current build of the tank so you know what you are getting into, i fed back all my issues last year so he knows.

I am not complaining as it was amazing to be able to get my car back on the road so quickly with a new clean tank that fits into the original location and I am grateful to Chris Witor for taking this project on. Also its aluminium so should be fit and forget.

[SprintV8]

Possibly having one purpose built.
Will sit in between the rear turrets.
Built in swirl pot etc.
Similar to the works Escort ones.

[cleverusername]

My tank went in the same place and I epoxied it. Whether it will last I don't know, I cleaned it up with a wire brush to get rid of the rust but since it was a fuel tank I avoided power tools because of the park risk, so I am not sure I got it all. Any rust left over means the epoxy won't bind.

The other option is to get it solder repair, I saw that done on an episode of Wheeler Dealers and it looks like a more permanent fix than epoxy. I did a quick Google search and there are a few companies that do tank repairs, I can't imagine they would cost more than that £450 tank from Chris Wintor.

[Reg]

I have one of those Chris Witor tanks, i dont know if bought the first one as it didn't fit at all and had to go back for major modification.

The build quality is very good, but i think mine was the prototype, as it came back from being modified and still had issues.

It fits it the car really well and got my car back on the road, which allowed me to enjoy it all last year instead of it being parked up with a boot full of petrol whilst i scoured ebay for a rusty replacement.

The issues with my tank are:-
-- the capacity is about 10 gallons now before it runs out on a flat road.
--the sender unit now has a bent arm to make the gauge read something sensible and make the fuel light come on at 2 gallons left. (my tank isnt as deep as the original tank and the sender unit wouldnt drop far enough)
--my fuel outlet is to high and doesnt line up with the hole in the boot floor, so i now have a rubber hose between the fuel outlet pipe and the pipe under the car.
--the fuel sloshes around a lot as i dont think there are any baffles in there.

I would check with Chris on the current build of the tank so you know what you are getting into, i fed back all my issues last year so he knows.

I am not complaining as it was amazing to be able to get my car back on the road so quickly with a new clean tank that fits into the original location and I am grateful to Chris Witor for taking this project on. Also its aluminium so should be fit and forget.

Thanks for all the info on these. If they act on the customer feedback, it could be a very good option indeed!

[Standardthread]

As a first option I’ve decided to give my old tank another chance and used the epoxy putty to fill some of the pinholes, the biggest was about 3 mm in diameter. This also means that there are no holes for the tank sealant to escape.

My tank was clean and rust free inside after I drained the petrol. I made the mistake of leaving it empty overnight to find the beginnings of a bloom of surface rust so it must have been very clean. Had there been any major rust I suppose I could have shaken a handful of sharp sand around inside, then washed/blown it out.

The fuel tank sealer I used was POR15 (usual disclaimer). Research I made said I needed the larger size tin for the Dolomite 12.5 gal tank, I opted for the 1 US pint (473ml) which should coat a 7.5 gal tank and hoped it would coat a fair way up the tank sides. I was totally wrong. The pint tin has covered the whole of the inside of the tank sides, and probably the majority of the tank top since you are supposed to put the tank upside down to prevent pooling, and a small amount dripping out of the filler neck. I ran some over the putty on the outside as well. The problem with this POR 15 is that you can’t store and use any excess again, if it’s poured back in to a sealed tin it can explode!

Before I used the tank sealer to get rid of any rust inside the tank I converted the steel to ‘black iron’ with Bilt-Hamber hydrate 80 (disclaimer). I poured a small amount in the tank and sloshed it around then left it a few days to dry and turn black. This converts the rust and etches the metal surface. POR 15 says clean, wash, then etch with their solutions, washing out with water.

I now have to wait five days for the sealer to dry and harden. Total cost if it works (watch this space) is about £37.00

Hope this helps someone.