gramercyjam Posted March 1, 2004 Share Posted March 1, 2004 Playing with new camera. There is actually more chassis fab work here than fuel system or electrical, so I'm posting here. Notice the original 31 year old fuel pump and weight saving rubber fuel lines. Sure to please the purists. Drivers side Pass. side Deck - lid off Deck - lid on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Aaron Posted March 1, 2004 Share Posted March 1, 2004 Playing with new camera. Where were you on Tuesday, February 17, 2004? and where did you get that camera? Just kidding, my camera was one of the items taken when my house was violated. BTW, nice work on the Fuel Cell install. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted March 1, 2004 Share Posted March 1, 2004 Interesting battery mount. I like the idea of having it down so low and building off of the cell frame. NICE! Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pop N Wood Posted March 1, 2004 Share Posted March 1, 2004 Man, you do nice work. I have never seen anyone put their battery below the rear deck. I like it. I have never liked the idea of having the battery in the passenger's compartment with me. Did you include a battery lug in the engine bay in case you need to jump start it? Also any chance of water/bleach being kicked up off the tires and corroding the battery terminals? The picture doesn't show any type of wheel well/sheild. Also any worries about a piece of road debris catching that big loop of rubber fuel line? From the picture it is hard to tell how high behind the rear valence it is. Will your exhaust/muffler be next to the fuel pump, or does it come out somewhere else? Sorry, just read my own post. Hope you won't take all the questions as criticisms but as a sign of intense interest!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8ZRACER260Z Posted March 1, 2004 Share Posted March 1, 2004 Looks Good keep it up! Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gramercyjam Posted March 1, 2004 Author Share Posted March 1, 2004 Thanks for the compliments guys. All the fab work was done with inexpensive hand tools. The car is not street driven, so it doesn't see a lot of the environmental abuse a street car gets. The battery terminals have dieletric silicone grease to inhibit corrosion as it does rain some times at autox events. The battery is a computer UPS sealed gel cell so it and I haven't seen battery posts on those corrode yet though. It is down low to try and keep the CG of the car as low as possible. No auxiliary battery terminals up top yet, but that is a good idea. I wasn't entirely sure that the battery would hold up, but I ran all last year with it and it definitely seems to hold a charge/take a charge just as well as any regular car battery I've used. Sometime in the future I plan to move the exhaust from the stock location. Possibly closer to the center line of the car (next to the fuel pump), but I have also been thinking about ways to route it out the passenger side somewhere ahead of the rear wheels to further improve weight distribution and reduce the weight of the exhaust system. Though ground clearance is at a premium, it might be do-able with some custom oval or rectangular exhaust pipe. That big loop of fuel line stands a good chance of getting tagged, it is just about level with the bottom of the rear valence. That will get taken care of when I run the new fuel lines, filter regulator and pump. Next fabrication item is subframe connectors to cure the cracking I'm getting of the frame rails at the firewall. Starting work this week so I should have some pics of that at some point. I know about getting robbed Aaron. Thieves made a hole in the wall in the side of my shop just big enough for them to wiggle through in December. The only thing they managed to find in the dark that would fit through the hole was a brand new Milwalkee circular saw which was a replacement for a saw ripped off from the same shop a few months before. That previous time the shop had big windows they used to get lots of stuff out but the windows were since removed. Now they can't get out except for the way they came in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted March 2, 2004 Share Posted March 2, 2004 Wow John, Your car is really coming along nicely. love the cell and battery mount! what do you plane to make your subframe connectors out of? and how are you going to install them? I would love to make some for my 72T, but I know for a fact that I will not be able to make very pretty welds while on my back on the garage floor I know that nobody else will see them, but I will know whats under there, and that drives me nuts. anywho... -S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gramercyjam Posted March 2, 2004 Author Share Posted March 2, 2004 Sparky, The connectors will be 3"X2"X11 gauge rectangular steel tube. The plan is to attach just under the engine bay rails, just behind the T/C rod attachment point and run them straight back to the rear sub frame. I'll have a better idea once I get them fitted in. There will be more of the rectangle above the floor than below because I have ground clearance issues. I'll have the car up in the air a couple feet and the motor and tranny out for this and the fenders off too since I will be doing some seam welding while I'm at it. I hate welding on my back too since all the sparks fall on you and burn through but it looks like this can be done mostly from above and since I don't want this project to drag out for months, no rotisserie will be used. I'll be removing large sections of the floor and welding new material back after the connectors are in rather than attaching them to the underside of the floor. I have a decent small Lincoln MIG welding setup, sandblaster, large compressor, grinders, sanders, nibblers, shears, cutters, etc and a large garage with attached shop so I'm in good shape for a place to work and tools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z-ya Posted March 4, 2004 Share Posted March 4, 2004 Good idea for the battery tray. I just mounted my battery box in the track car I'm part owner of, but I just bolted it to the rear deck, just to the right of the fuel cell. Still need to make an inside cover. I may hack a hole in the deck and recess it. Here is a pick of the fuel cell. Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gramercyjam Posted March 4, 2004 Author Share Posted March 4, 2004 Although I'm not sure what they are supposed to protect you from, one of those $10 plastic marine battery boxes from autozone will pass tech. I ran 1/2 season last year like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin.pk Posted March 4, 2004 Share Posted March 4, 2004 copycat..... heheh jk yours looks a little more finished than mine though. Kevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mas8230 Posted March 23, 2005 Share Posted March 23, 2005 Gramercyjam, How and where did you run the vent? I'm working on a similar setup. I have to outlets at the sump, one I'm capping like yours, and I have one vent outlet at the top of the cell. Just wondering how you ran the vent lines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted March 23, 2005 Share Posted March 23, 2005 Pass. side Wow, battery helps offset driver's weight by being on pass side in back---I really like this idea. I have not seen a battery mounted so far in back before, although I have seen them sunk down behind the tool boxes into the floor... Great pictures and great info---thanks! Davy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gramercyjam Posted March 23, 2005 Author Share Posted March 23, 2005 Gramercyjam, How and where did you run the vent? I'm working on a similar setup. I have to outlets at the sump, one I'm capping like yours, and I have one vent outlet at the top of the cell. Just wondering how you ran the vent lines. Exactly like you see it. It vents out a hole in the deck to under the car. I suppose you could plumb it to a catch can if your rules require it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim240z Posted March 23, 2005 Share Posted March 23, 2005 John, Are you concerned about the aluminum cracking, esp. at the welds. It appears to be solidly mounted to its frame....are there any isolators or anything, also anything to stop the aluminum from 'chaffing' on the frame and rubbing a hole in the cell? Looks awesome though!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gramercyjam Posted March 23, 2005 Author Share Posted March 23, 2005 No, not concerned about any cracking. Yes, it is mounted solid, and it is very tight in the steel frame, so there is absolutely no movement possible of the tank in the frame. I was a little concerned that there could be abrasion, so I watch for any kind of seepage due to abrasion, but it hasn't happened in the year its been in service and it has been abused a lot. Including some TT/DE days at 145mph on very rough concrete with lots of vibration. I even wrecked once at about 100mph one day and took a hard hit on the rear quarter into a dirt/rock berm that folded the rear quarter panel up under the battery tray and folded up the sheet metal between the frame rail and the quarter panel. No problems with the fuel cell and battery tray at all so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim240z Posted March 23, 2005 Share Posted March 23, 2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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