Sitec's 101..

Well, after getting everything done that 'had' to be done done, I got into tank welding for all of half an hour... First I ran out of wire, and then gas!!! In the end I gave up for this weekend!!
Anyway, here's a pic of the one way valve I've settled on to link the tanks. It's a $15 one way water valve. It's brass, and the seals are fibre washers so no issues with petrol or diesel there. It just has a simple swinging brass flap that sits on a machined face. Sat on the bench, it will happily hold brake clean, which is as thin as petrol and a lot thinner than diesel... The mistake I made with my last attempt at this was not mounting the valve vertically. On the previous 101, the valve was nearly horizontal and both tank inlet/outlets were at the bottom.. This time, the RH tank outlet will be at the bottom rear LH corner. There will be a shut off tap just in case of issues, and the hose will run along the x member that sits behind the handbrake drum. It'll then go thru the vertically mounted one way valve and into the rear RH side of the left tank about half way up the tank. I'm using 25mm fittings, so when filling from a normal pump, the LH tank should fill fairly quickly.... or at least that's the plan!! Fuel will happily flow to the left under normal driving, but should struggle to get back especially as the outlet in the left tank will be approx 140mm from the bottom! Still thinking about how I'm going to incorporate Mick's idea of a flap on the RH tank inlet/filler neck to stop fuel surging out under heavy braking or a steep decent..

Here's the first of my two tanks (RH). All that's required now is the air tank fitment at the rear of it (back wheel end), and the front angle mount for the chassis and it can be tested. Final sizes are 690mm long, 290m deep, and 490mm wide. There will be two!!

Here's a pic of the baffle setup in the LH tank. This baffle is 180mm tall and 230 out from the back of the tank. This is where the fuel pick up line will be situated. There will be a small series of holes at the back of the baffle to let the fuel in, but will be seam welded all the way around the base so it retains plenty of fuel for those steep descents... Facing downhill at 40deg decline should still have the pickup pipe submerged in 100mm of fuel. How often I'll be on that sort of angle with a Cummins in the nose remains to be seen... It
L take more than a pair of rear wheels and a hydraulic winch to keep the rear on the ground!! :D

Well, its been a busy week at work, so little has been done, but I got back into it yesterday, and have welded up the second tank, complete with pick up compartment and inlet. I managed to fold the battery tray section which will become part of the tank shortly. Here's a pic of the tank lid from what will be the inside.. The sender, night heater supply and rtn lines all have threaded captive 3mm plates to keep it flat, and the pickup is also removable. I've gone for a larger than STD Land Rover pick up in prep for the Cummins. More to follow later today!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by spongie

Didn't think we could get them over here any more????.

---

Either did I but apparently we're both wrong.

Here's the tank welded up, and the battery tray nearly completed.. Just the lid and mounts to make now!!!

And here is the current location of my engine!!! It's just sailed out of Freo bound for Adelaide!!! So, guessing I'll see it this coming week!!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sitec

Here's the tank welded up, and the battery tray nearly completed.. Just the lid and mounts to make now!!!

---

Yep!!!! I'm liking that.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by spongie

Yep!!!! I'm liking that.

---

I'll get a decent pic of it once done... Seemed logical to me to get the batteries out of the cab and down low to help the center of gravity. Welded the air tank to the RH tank this eve... Should work out quite well when done! Cheers!:)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sitec

Here's the tank welded up, and the battery tray nearly completed.. Just the lid and mounts to make now!!!

---

Hi Simon,

Your tanks look good, particularly the pickup area cell.

When we used to make Series replacement tanks using a 3mm base and fabricating upwards from that in 2mm we would run three parallel 19mm angles V down lengthways and chamfered on the ends (one close to each outer edge and the third in the centre) on the baseplate.

The vehicle could then effectively slide on the tank bases (level with the bottom of the chassis) and the angle pieces added a great deal to the strength of the base.

Is it too late to do this now?

Bob