Fuel cells, educate me Options

[Woody]

My fuel level sender isn't very accurate anymore and instead of taking the time to fix it I have been toying with the idea of going with a fuel cell instead. The car is AX mostly with some track days thrown in. I will occasionally drive it the three miles to work but for the most part it is trailered. I was thinking somewhere around an 8 gallon fuel cell. What are you guys running?

[brant]

only bladder'd cells are legal in road racing
most of the cheaper cells do not have a real bladder
so they offer no safety margin over stock... in fact perhaps less safety than stock due to the fact they are not usually mounted in the stock (very safe) location

I run 15 gallons

the rule of thumb for road racing was 10gallon for a 4cylinder
12 gallon for a -6 cylinder
and more gives you more flexibility

I usually go out for a sprint race with 6gallons in my 15 cell.

[Woody]

only bladder'd cells are legal in road racing
most of the cheaper cells do not have a real bladder
so they offer no safety margin over stock... in fact perhaps less safety than stock due to the fact they are not usually mounted in the stock (very safe) location

I run 15 gallons

the rule of thumb for road racing was 10gallon for a 4cylinder
12 gallon for a -6 cylinder
and more gives you more flexibility

I usually go out for a sprint race with 6gallons in my 15 cell.

This car won't be used for road racing, at least not for awhile. I'll have to see if a non bladder type cell is legal for PCA and SCCA autocrossing.

[Woody]

only bladder'd cells are legal in road racing
most of the cheaper cells do not have a real bladder
so they offer no safety margin over stock... in fact perhaps less safety than stock due to the fact they are not usually mounted in the stock (very safe) location

I run 15 gallons

the rule of thumb for road racing was 10gallon for a 4cylinder
12 gallon for a -6 cylinder
and more gives you more flexibility

I usually go out for a sprint race with 6gallons in my 15 cell.

This car won't be used for road racing, at least not for awhile. I'll have to see if a non bladder type cell is legal for PCA and SCCA autocrossing.

[brant]

or buy the safer product once and avoid having to upgrade in the future

[Han Solo]

I'm not sure how safe this would be but here's one on The Samba I've been looking at... http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1479877

[Woody]

Looks like summit has some nice bladder fuel cells for around $300. Not too bad.

[Borderline]

I'm running a 3 gallon cell mounted vertical in place of the stock unit. I fill it up and drive 30 miles to AX, and then do 4 to 10 runs. I carry a 2.5 gallon can to fill it up to go home. Very little weight and the vertical shape picks up all the fuel. And it was only a little over $100 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Matt Romanowski]

So instead of fixing your sender, you're going to spend more money putting in a fuel cell that won't have a sender? Why not just leave it alone?

[Woody]

So instead of fixing your sender, you're going to spend more money putting in a fuel cell that won't have a sender? Why not just leave it alone?

The sender was kind of a joke. I only put 5 gallons in at a time unless I'm doing a track day. A cell would minimize slosh and I would probably mount it low in the car on the floor.

[john914somers]

My fuel level sender isn't very accurate anymore and instead of taking the time to fix it I have been toying with the idea of going with a fuel cell instead. The car is AX mostly with some track days thrown in. I will occasionally drive it the three miles to work but for the most part it is trailered. I was thinking somewhere around an 8 gallon fuel cell. What are you guys running?

I haven't been able to find a bladder type fuel cell (even in summitt) for less than a grand that will fit in a 914. Does someone have a part number? Thanks a ton!

[carr914]

You can buy Fuel Cells Direct from Fuel safe and other Manufactures. I think Patrick & Fuel Safe offer the only Cell that directly replaces a 914 Tank & it is expensive. Summit is good on Price on things, but they can offer Zero Tech Support on any thing. They sell a lot of our Company's Parts (Over $2Mil), but it chafes me when people call me for Tech Support & Buy from Summit when they could buy it from me. Then when Summit Fuchs up there order they complain to me! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/chair.gif)

My Cell

[Seabird]

Is there any reason not to use a ATL well cell? I see a lot of installations with this FIA-FT3 approved cell installed in spare tire wells. The larger of the two is 12 Gals and runs about $500.

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/www.e30m3project.com-16683-1389204492.1.jpg)

[infraredcalvin]

Also remember that bladders and foam inserts have a shelf life before disintegrating and causing issues in filters and pumps, I want to say 5 years or so (someone with more experience with them will need to chime in). Not real cheap to replace the bladders either.

You may want to experiment with foam in your existing tank. I'm not sure if it's a bad idea or not, never heard of anyone ever doing it Ina stock tank before, probably a good reason.

[stugray]

This was only ~$300
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i366.photobucket.com-10819-1389470835.1.jpg)

[MikeSpraggi]

This was only $500 more or less, with a new bladder. Got the used can really cheap and bought the new bladder off of Amazon of all places. it's a 12 gallon ATL. I say if you're going to do a fuel cell, do it right. Safety comes first.

[0396]

Also remember that bladders and foam inserts have a shelf life before disintegrating and causing issues in filters and pumps, I want to say 5 years or so (someone with more experience with them will need to chime in). Not real cheap to replace the bladders either.

You may want to experiment with foam in your existing tank. I'm not sure if it's a bad idea or not, never heard of anyone ever doing it Ina stock tank before, probably a good reason.

You are spot on regarding the shelf life to an extent. I had one made up by an aircraft fuel company about 4 years ago in the factory location.It cost me close to $1900.00 . I inquire of the shelf life and the only thing they wanted me to do was to keep it topped off with fuel to keep the bladder moist so it will not dry up.
For those that have it up front,have you thought of a front in accident and moving the weight to the front? I guess one can say to balance the rear-(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
Good luck.

[Woody]

So does anyone know how much a stock fuel tanks weighs?

[brant]

So does anyone know how much a stock fuel tanks weighs?

not much
I don't know the answer
but my guess would be 8-10lbs?

of course the fuel weight is much more significatn and thus moving it down even 6 inches has an impact on things.