Might have found EFI fuel tank solution... from strange source

[Swede958]

So saturday night was an amazing boring night at 'teh Zone, so I started browsing through our catalogues that we got laying around in the back. I come upon our oil pan/gastank/fuel sending vendor. Start leafing through.
I found pictures in the back of the fuel tanks and they had sizes listed as well. Long story short, I found a tank that I think can be modded into our cars and have EFI.... and it's out of an E-150 van

Now I haven't completely studied the catalog, but here's what I got so far:

70 Stang tank: 32 5/8"L x 24.5"W x 9.75"D

88-91 E-150 : 33.5:L x 23.5"W x 11 1/8"D
(Behind Rear Axle)

Now... I know it's a lot deeper, but it looks like there's more of the tank above the belt line than the older tank since the sending unit mount above said belt line. If it's not too much, a simple false floor should be able to cover it and give a small area between the tank, floor and rise for the axle that would be perfect for running a bit of fuel line from the sender. Oh yeah, top mounted sender so you don't ahve to pull tank to change fuel pump. And the size is a bit off, but .75" in length and an inch in width seem to be well within the modification range of most of us.... at least as far as not being too much of a hassle.

The bad... there are three holes to be brazed/welded/closed up. Inlet lines on the driver side (fill/vent) and what I can only guess was a vent line on the top. As far as I know brazing some peices into these holes should be fine without damaging the galvanizing. Then's it's just a matter of brazing in a point for the filler neck to tie into with the rubber coupler or brazing the filler neck directly onto it.

And, with the fuel pump book I borrowed too... it looks like the 5.0 mustang pump will fit into the stock van sending unit....

So what do y'all think?

 

[68rustang]

How much does the van tank cost?

 

[monk302]

What are the dimensions for a 1968? Same?

 

[Swede958]

Yes, as far as my catalog is concerned the dimensions (L x W) are the same. When I ran it through the computer, I think it cost about 170$ for a new tank. That was through our vendor though, another vendor or another source may be cheaper.

 

[Tubo(2-bo)]

So This has the baffles built into it?? Yep interesting find.

 

[Tim65GT]

Quote by Swede:

When I ran it through the computer, I think it cost about 170$ for a new tank. That was through our vendor though, another vendor or another source may be cheaper.

Checker/Kragen/Schucks (PartsAmerica.com) lists it for $125.99

http://www.partsamerica.com/ProductDetail.aspx?mfrcode=SPC&mfrpartnumber=F15D&parttype=1296&ptset=A

Good info though!

Might be worth the mods to the trunk area. You wouldn't have to worry about hooking up an external pump, a surge tank, tapping into the old tank for a return... ect, ect.

 

[Tim65GT]

Just found a link to a tank place.

Lots of good info:

http://www.tanks-to-pans.com/site/823208/product/F-F15D

 

[monk302]

Hmmmm. I am doing the EFI swap as we speak. Let me see if my local parts store can get one in for me to try one out. So let me get this right. The fuel pump is an internally mounted right where that hole is right? Where does the filler neck attach to?

 

[Tim65GT]

posted by Monk302:

Hmmmm. I am doing the EFI swap as we speak. Let me see if my local parts store can get one in for me to try one out. So let me get this right. The fuel pump is an internally mounted right where that hole is right? Where does the filler neck attach to?

mmm .... good question.

There's no doubt there will be some fabrication involved. Give 'em a call!
here's info from their site:

From Classic Cars to the newest models of cars and light trucks, we carry it all. If you don't find the fuel tank you are looking for give us a call at 1-800-511-4971 and we will do our best to help you find what you are looking for. New models are being added as they become available.

 

[Swede958]

Yes, as far as I know just about all EFI tanks had some sort of baffling in them from the OEM.... and the replacement tanks should have the same baffling.

The filler pipe will have to welded/brazed/bolted/screwed/etc. into place and the other holes will have to be closed off. As far as I can tell, the pip should go in either right in the middle of, or towards the top of the diagonal slant on the side opposite of the sending unit mount. And yes, the fuel pump will sit in a sending unit which will be lock-ringed into the large hold.

 

[samwe]

I think that is a great find...
When I resume work on mine I think will make an attempt at getting that tank in there.

 

[WORTH]

Gentlemen, a different tank isn't needed, you can get an inline high pressure pump, and add a return line to the sending unit in the stock tank.

 

[Swede958]

Very true Worth, that is normally the cheapest and easiet solution. However, I've read and heard lots of accounts of problems in corners with less than 1/4 tank. Now there are adaptors (I think holley makes one) that spreads out like 3 pick up points into the tank of the sending unit. But personally I like the idea of having everything basically self contained within the tank... that's just my .02

 

[WORTH]

Very true Worth, that is normally the cheapest and easiet solution. However, I've read and heard lots of accounts of problems in corners with less than 1/4 tank. Now there are adaptors (I think holley makes one) that spreads out like 3 pick up points into the tank of the sending unit. But personally I like the idea of having everything basically self contained within the tank... that's just my .02

Most of the factory efi tanks do have baffles to keep fuel near the pickup, but I did myown in my 90 econoline, it was propane when i bought and I had a new tank and sender from a carbed van, so I bought an inline pump from napa and put a return in the sender. I've been driving it for about 5 years now and haven't had a problem. Ofcourse I don't drive the van as hard as I do the stangs, so not sure if you'd have a problem with pedal to the metal turns. In normal driving the pump is supplying about 3 times the fuel the engine needs so a slight miss in the delivery shouldn't effect the engine.
Tough call.

 

[ForceFed70]

I'm pretty sure the older econoline vans had an external fuel pump. Just because it's factory EFI doesn't mean the pump is in the tank.

I guess this all depends on the amount of work involved. To me it seems like a surge tank would be a much easier install and you wouldn't have to modify your trunk floor at all...

 

[Swede958]

before '88, the econos had the two pump system. low pressure in the tank ( leading me to believe that it would have no/less baffling for the low pressure) and a high pressure pump on a rail. from 88 to 91 they had an integral high pressure pump in the tank to feed the 5.0 and 5.8

 

[Rusty67]

The main reason I see for an in tank pump is reliability. The gas in the tank keeps the fuel pump cool. People who complain about their electric pumps dying every 2 years and them being noisy to boot could eliminate these problems by having a fuel pump mounted in the gas tank. More reliable and much quieter ? Sounds like a win/win situation to me.

 

[Tim65GT]

Posted by Rusty67:

The main reason I see for an in tank pump is reliability. The gas in the tank keeps the fuel pump cool. People who complain about their electric pumps dying every 2 years and them being noisy to boot could eliminate these problems by having a fuel pump mounted in the gas tank. More reliable and much quieter ? Sounds like a win/win situation to me.

So when ya gonna do it and let us all know how it goes?

 

[ForceFed70]

The main reason I see for an in tank pump is reliability. The gas in the tank keeps the fuel pump cool. People who complain about their electric pumps dying every 2 years and them being noisy to boot could eliminate these problems by having a fuel pump mounted in the gas tank. More reliable and much quieter ? Sounds like a win/win situation to me.

The fuel flowing through the pump is plenty to cool it. Don't forget that at below 1/4 tank the pump is no-longer submerged anyway....just the pickup.(although the pump will probably get "splashed" during driving anyway).

But I do agree with the noise comment... it's quieter inside a tank.

The reason they put the pumps in the tank is because high pressure pumps don't like to "suck" fuel...only push. The shorter the distance the fuel has to travel before reaching the pump the better.

 

[mtbdoc]

I am installing a fuel cell in the 'vert, and will need a good bit of pump as the car is blown. In tank works well, and even swapping to a bigger pump isn't that tough. Given what I'm doing, we are going to try to work with a surge tank and go from there. What a pain! Carbs sure are a LOT easier to deal with...sigh!

BTW, why in the world is a drop-in Fuel Safe so darned expensive? With my rear frame mods, we were forced to buy a $200 fuel cell from Jegs!!!