How to: 620 Fuel Cell

[willz]

 I finished my fuel cell install on my truck and had a few people ask me to do a proper write up, so here it goes.

 

The fuel cell I used was found on summit racing and It features:

 

2" sump

(2) bulk head fittings on the sump (8an fittings)

(1) vent fitting located on the top of the cell (6an)

a 90 ohm fuel sender

and comes with the anti-slosh/aeration foam installed in the tank

 

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-290108/overview/

 

Other parts and materials:

 

(6) ft of fuel line

(2) pieces of 2" wide x 1/8th" thick x 92" (I wanted some extra) flat aluminum bar 

(8) 1/8" grd 8 bolts

(8) nylon lock nuts with a washer and lock washer for each

(4) 1/4" grd 8 bolts with (4) matching nuts and washers

(2) 20" sections of 2" wide 1/8" thick steel square tubing

 

I would recommend that you go with the proper 90 degree AN fittings coupled to the existing fittings on the tank.

It was very time consuming and definitely not worth cutting the corners to go with the home depot brass fittings I chose. They are insignificantly cheaper than the nice aluminum AN fittings (~$12 v.s. ~$17). Look online at Summit, Jeggs or whatever performance shop you like to find the appropriate 90 degree fittings. I recommend the 90's because they will be sticking out the rear of the truck and will help keep the fuel line from kinking.

 

Here is a picture of the tank resting on some boxes in the spare tire area

 

[willz]

If you haven't done so already, the spare tire mount will need to be removed and the remaining material ground down so that you have a nice, clean surface. From there, you will measure the distance between the mount recesses on the tank. This number will be the distance between the mounts that we will weld onto the framing.

 

 

I decided on this mounting system as opposed to bolting directly to the bed so that I could run a fuel filler line to the stock filling location and have full use of the bed for its original purpose and not have to worry about moving things to get to the filler cap.

The downside is that for many of you, the truck may be too low for this tank, (my ground clearance is ~6") and I would recommend finding a shallower tank for your purposes.

 

cut the bottoms of the square tubing off before you weld them to the frame. Its a PITA to cut them after they have been welded on.

If you have access to a hole saw that is the same size as the frame tubing, this will make your life easier when it is time to weld.

 

Double, triple check if you need to that the distances between the square tubing is right. once you've made your adjustments and have a couple tacks keeping them in place, then you're ready to weld them permanently.

 

 

Quick hint of advice: when taking center measurements on the frame tubing, note that the length of each is different.

 

 

 

[willz]

Its a good Idea to do you're etching and primer/sealer/paint/undercoating now. Be sure to wait till your metal is properly cooled or you will develop bubbles and weird textures 

[willz]

Next step is your aluminum bar.

 

I chose aluminum as It is rust free, easy to bend and I will never have to paint it.

Take measurements of the height and length of the tank in the recesses on the fuel cell. They will be different than the supplied dimensions and you will want a fairly snug fit.

 

I chose to make a 4 piece mounting system, 2 pieces of flat bar for each side.

As you can see, I have taped them together so that drilling would be easier.

 

 

 

[willz]

 

make sure you test fit the straps on your tank before you start drilling, Aluminum is rather expensive and you wouldnt want to make another trip to pick up more

 

 

 

You can see that I've chosen a pre-made 45 degree elbow made by JAZ. Even if you dont mind spending $100 on a filler neck, dont buy one.

 

 Either find a cheaper one, or have one made (or make it yourself) preferably as a 90 degree which will allow you more clearance to mount it higher off the ground

 

 

you can see here that I currently have the brass fittings mentioned before, again... buy the proper fittings!

[willz]

Using a jack and a foam block to protect the tank, I raised the tank to fit.

find a good medium, not to far forward, but far enough back so that you have clearance from the axles.

 

 

[willz]

Put a piece of wood under the support bars where you will be drilling to prevent damage to the tank or your shiny new aluminum mounts.

install your hardware and check out your handiwork

 

(this area will be sprayed with etching primer and undercoating)

 

 

 

 

[willz]

Your ground clearance may be different depending on your pre-existing ride height  However, utilizing a 90 degree fill neck and/or using a different tank can give you more than a few extra inches. 

 

 

 and you can see here why I would recommend the 90 degree fittings:

[willz]

A few words of advice:

 

Depending on your tank and exhaust set up, you may need to install a heat shield. I am adding a section of aluminum shielding as well as a down and out turn for my exhaust.

 

the sendign unit in this tank is 90 ohms and will not read correctly on the factory fuel gauge when wired up.

 

BEFORE YOU PUT GAS IN THE TANK!!!!!
 

Find and purchase a gasoline resistant gasket maker/sealant/rtv!

and put this on your filler neck and ALL of your AN fittings and the nylon washers (along with stainless pipe thread) to ENSURE you wont have any leaks.

I found this out the hard way after I realized after putting 5 gallons of fuel in the tank, that the fittings do not come properly tightened or sealed. I would not recommend pipe tape alone.

 

I'll be adding to this section as I remember things

[willz]

As the truck sits right now, I am not 100% completed as I do not have the bed on at the moment. I am having the stock metal fill neck cleaned up and painted before I can install it, which wont happen for a few weeks, but here are some pictures before I threw a tarp over it.

 

 

 

 

Good luck on yours!

[KlassicMotion]

Nice write-up!  Great pics!

I'm in the process of doing something with my rusty old tank.  I've been looking on Summit for a replacement tank.  I was trying to find one to replace the old tank in the stock position, but this is certainly nice!  Do you have any plans to put a beefier bar across the frame rails behind the tank, in case of a rear-end collision?  That would be my only concern with that location. 

[willz]

Thanks! Eventually yes, I will be building a tube cage for the fuel cell to provide some safety.  I ran out of time however due to starting a job this last week that took me from where I keep the truck and will not be able to work on it for a few weeks

[willz]

As soon as I am back to the truck, I will take measurements of everything so that if someone wants to make the exact same setup they won't have to measure anything. I have a pretty good idea of what they are but to be on the safe side, I'll wait and double check before posting. I've also decided that the cage I weld up will be an almost direct bolt in application with only a couple small sections to weld for easy removal. Depending on what it costs to build, I might make a couple for sale

[willz]

Accidentally moved some pictures on photobucket for my truck so I got the pleasure to repost every single one I have

[redskunk]

any updates?

[Anabolic620]

Bump! Nice write up. I thought is try and being this thread back to life. Any updates?

[datson4life]

Cool, ill come back to this when i get to that point

 

Nice write up

[cruznude]

That was certainly a good write up. So easy to read and not so technical. That really looks good. good job!

[5t341tH]

would you have to have an electric fuel pump for this to work? or will the stock mechanical one work

[willz]

Stock mechanical works just fine. I have a brand new mechanical pump installed though for no particularly good reason other than I wanted everything on the truck to be brand new hahahaha