Vapor canister into a Surge tank

[boakes]

Hi All,

 

I had a welding shop turn a metal vapor canister from a 240z into a "surge tank" for racing (coped from an example I found - see attached, the photo without text is mine), only to find that I can't use it in my wheel-to-wheel class. Turned away by the tech inspectors.

 

Should I post it for sale? Can it be used in other cars?

[proxlamus©]

a surge tank mounted INSIDE the car!? eep.. scary

[MoNkEyT88]

Whats wrong with mounting a surge tank in the car? It is the same as a fuel cell with less capacity.

[Tony D]

Whats wrong with mounting a surge tank in the car? It is the same as a fuel cell with less capacity.

Er.........

 

Does the term 'firewall' have any meaning? I don't know of a single sanctioning body which will allow a single walled fuel ANYTHING inside the passenger compartment. Generally the requirement is secondary encapsulation with sheetmetal of a specific gauge, or construction of a firewall to 'segregate' the fuel section to someplae NOT directly accessible to the driver.

 

What you do on your cobble-job streeters is your business, but in a sanctioned racing series where a tech inspector, or worse yet a track or sanctioning body will be possibly held accountable for someone's bone-headed self-immolation you got to realize they take it kind of seriously.

 

I would say putting it behind a properly segregated firewall would make it acceptable, but with as little details as was given for being 'turned away' it's hard to say what their objection was. I have seen fuel cels in the spare tire area, but they have always had secondary containment (another layer of sheetmetal minimum) to keep any chance of a ruptured cel from splasing willy-nilly into the passenger's compartment.

 

With a surge tank mounted that high, outside of any roll structure, I could see where containment and proper leak segregation would get a non-compliance ruling.

 

I mean, am I the only guy who sees that?

 

For the street, you can do what you want and get away with it until something terribly tragic happens and nobody's the wiser. For a race series...expect to have your logic scrutinized from an impartial level (and in some cases be ready to be viewed with a prejudiced eye...)

[MoNkEyT88]

Yes, that makes sense. Safety should be the number one concern.

 

Perhaps the OP could mount it under the car or in the engine compartment.

 

Is fuel starvation even an issue with the stock fuel tank?

[Tony D]

Is fuel starvation even an issue with the stock fuel tank?

 

Absolutely, it will starve with a stock L24 and SU's given the right circumstances on the track. With EFI it's even more acute as any drop in fuel pressure registers immediately as an 'engine cut'---not what you want on the power exiting a turn!

 

None of the stock S30 tanks are acceptable for serious competition. Even Nissan recommended a surge tank setup for triple mikuinis in their competition preparation manual for the Japan Market racing series. They even had a part number!

[rbpowered280z]

you can have a surge tank and fuel cell mounted inside of the hatch, but the fuel lines cannot run through the cabin, and if you have fuel system inside the hatch, a rear bulkhead must be used.

accord to scca/nasa/formula-d/d1 rules

ie:

note that this system is in the trunk of an s14, with a firewall instead of back seats.

 

Lloyd

Edited January 30, 2011 by rbpowered280z