Fuel weight.

[Lucky]

OK ladies, working on mounting my fuel cell in the Hellraiser, and got to wondering, HOW strong do I have to build the support brackets? I have a tendancy to "over engineer" things, but I really don't wanna add any unneccasry weight either. So......

According to the U.S. Dept. of Energy:
1 gallon of water equals 8.33 lbs.
1 gallon of gasoline equals 5.8 to 6.5 lbs.
1 gallon of ethanol equals 6.59 lbs.

So if I'm installing a 12 gallon fuel cell, I should build brackets to support approx. 90 lbs. Assuming a FULL tank is gonna weigh 78 lbs just in fuel, and the other 12 is for the cell itself and associated brackets.

Then I get to thinking about picturing my son holding a sack of potatoes (around 90 punds) sitting in my trunk when I'm heading down the track. Well, what if I had Johnny get rid of the potatoes? Am I faster? 10 lbs ain't hard to loose, just over a gallon of fuel fellas!!! I went through WEEKS of work to get rid of 7 pounds of wire!

I was "accused" of running race gas this summer, due to my constant draining of fuel, refilling, etc etc etc. I WAS running race fuel at certain times, but I ASSURE you, I drove that car from here to Thompson, ran an 11.06, drove it home on 93 octane, all motor. MOST of the time the draining/refilling BS was about weight. Keep in mind, I had no fuel level gauge, so I'd fill her up, drive to the track, drain it empty, and put about 2 gallons back in. (It used 1 gallon per pass, including staging, warming up, etc etc.)

Just thought you guys would like to know the kinda scary shit that goes through my head on a regular basis. Trueblue is just as bad, if not worse.

Woo Hoo, I love this shit!!! :chair:

[Little Z28]

Hmm...why would you even think about that stuff, haha? Build the brackets, fill the tank, and see if it falls..if so whoops! They're tryin' to teach me engineering down here and even I wouldn't mess with that. There's only one way to find out, try it and see if it fails. How would you know what weight a set of brackets would hold without tryin it anyways?? You'd need to know the exact material, cross-sectional area, stress, strain, load, wow they're killin' me here...yadayada...haha

[stuckerado]

I have a tendancy to "over engineer" things,

still doing it bro.

[Z28]

I think that would be a good assignment for you an your roomate Lil-Z, when ya have some spare time tomorrow figure out the material(A36 flat steel) for Lucky to use an how wide(3/4") an how thick it should be(.090-.125) then let him know so he can strap it in. There gave ya a few clues so it ain't to hard, no theory though, just common sense used.

Lucky, sometimes the shit that goes on in yer head scares me too!!!

[Little Z28]

See, I understand the material that is probably gonna be used like you say dad, but I'd like to know how Lucky thinks he can change how much it will hold? If he's gonna use that anyways, what in the world is gonna do to make it stronger, and will changing them a little save that much weight. He better reconsider this fuel cell if he's worried about weight. The 10 ounce brackets aren't anything compared to his 90 lb cell and fuel.

Lucky, you're scaring me too...haha...

:fordpower = :poop:

[Z28]

A piece of steel strap .125 thick x 3/4" wide x 48" long weighs 1.2 lbs. If ya need to know the weight of a particular size strap Lucky just ask. Heres the formula for the density of steel to calculate the weight- thickness x length x width x .2836 will give ya the weight of any size steel. If ya need to know other shape my cad program figures it out automatically. Just ask Lucky, we're here for ya Baby!!!

The plastic cell will be what fails, the bottom could fall out when its filled up if exposed to UV light for any amount of time!

[Little Z28]

After a few calculations and tweaking the measurements a bit...

We figured it out ....






LUCKY'S CRAZY AND NEEDS A SMALLER CELL...!! JK

[Lucky]

LMAO You guys are nutz. The way the trunk in the Hellraiser is layed out, from the factory, the top of the fuel tank IS the trunk floor. That's now gone, so I'm left with a 32" X 36" hole.

I'm planning on running angle iron (here's my dilema) of a certain size (???) across my trunk hole. Can you say trunk hole on here??? hehehehe

Anyways, 2 pices of angle to support the cell, cover the "whole hole" (that's just funny) with .040" aluminum set the cell in, strap her down through the aluminum to the angle iron underneath.

Make sense??? My main concern was the angle iron being able to support the 90 lbs. but thanks to a few PM's from Mr. Z, we got that shizzle figured out too!!

If you think this is scary, you should sit around a campfire with me and Trueblue. Have a few cold ones, and we start talking about Quantam Physics. For real!

:fordpower = d-Con for your Mouse!

[slowstang]

lucky,if your worried about the weight and strength i can make you aluminum brackets,ive got 2x3 aluminum angle,send me your specs of what you want and ide be happy to build ya somthing!!!it would be light weight and 90lbs would be nothing to hold.

[70MC]

I think you need a heavier car, if you have to worry about a few #s here or there! lol Look at the bright side, at least any extra over kill weight is going to be in the right place. What am i gunna do if i ever get that big block i want, thats extra weight in the wrong place, and will put me over 4000#s, :blink:

[Lucky]

I think you need a heavier car, if you have to worry about a few #s here or there! lol Look at the bright side, at least any extra over kill weight is going to be in the right place. What am i gunna do if i ever get that big block i want, thats extra weight in the wrong place, and will put me over 4000#s, :blink:

I hear ya JC!! Don't get me wrong, I'm not putting Nadine on a diet already, I just don't want to ADD weight that I don't need to.

Keep in mind, she's already 350# LIGHTER than the Stang was. :angel:

[10secvega]

Something leads me to beleive that the Gas tank is a semi structural part of the unibody on a Fairlane?I like my sump on the stock tank.Did you give up on that idea?

[Lucky]

Yeppers! Already BUILT the sump for the stock tank.
http://www.knights-rule.com/images/sump1.jpg

But the problem back there, is that there is NOWHERE to mount my fuel pump and filter. Yank the tank out, and presto! All kinds of room.

The tank itself isn't really a structural part of the unibody system, but the flange that the tank mounts to really isn't that strong. That's my concern here with this whole thread.

Can I hang 90# on a sheet metal flange? I think I can, and I'm gonna try. But like I said, I don't wanna "over engineer" stuff back there and end up adding 50# that I don't need to.

Kinda confusing, you'd really have to stop over and take a peek to see what I'm up to. I really do think I have it figured out with Mr. Z's help.

[Z28]

Lucky, hang the angle you were talking about over the proverbial "Trunk Hole", let it go over the sheet metal trunk hole floor a few inches if ya can an cover with Luminum, an use the straping I'm bringin ya an you'll be good. The strapping has a breaking point of 2400#, Mrs Z looked it up for me. The angle I'm not sure of the grade of steel or strengh you got but it is plenty of muscle prolly. You've got it strong nuff to pour molten lead in it.

[Z28]

What am i gunna do if i ever get that big block i want, thats extra weight in the wrong place, and will put me over 4000#s, :blink:

Stop up one day Jimmy an I'll show ya how its done, mine will be lighter than it was with the small block, on either end.hahaa!!

[70MC]

Stop up one day Jimmy an I'll show ya how its done, mine will be lighter than it was with the small block, on either end.hahaa!!
May have to take you up on that! Thats an area i have never coverd, shoot, i still have my AC condencer hanging behind my grill. And besides, i'm running out of horsepower ideas.

[Z28]

i'm running out of horsepower ideas.
Now I don't believe that Jimmy!!!

[Lucky]

Jimmy with a BIG block, SCARES me!!!!

[silverfox]

If you really want to save weight , use Supper Glue.No straps, welding, or any of that heavy stuff. How about velcro?

[Lucky]

I tried the super glue, but it didn't hold, not clean enough. Velcro didn't work either.

So here's what I came up with. Only added 8 lbs. of angle iron so far, but I want a couple more supports in there, even though me and my son were BOTH standing on it. It flexed a little, so I gotta add more bracing. There's that overengineering BS again.....

Here's the pic: YES! There's still room for a few bottles back there! (and a couple of bodies too!)