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I'm looking into the fuel cell size, placement and eventually building out the car's rear end.
I'm looking at Kinetic pictures, and I have noticed that the vertical tank is installed at an angle.
That is OK? What is the maximum angle that it can be installed at?
The 72 degree, or 18 (as the rear end angle of the car) would be OK?
If this is OK, that would be great news for me.
This way, the car will be longer at the back end, by roughly 5"-is, which I think it is still acceptable.
What do you guys think?

Tibor

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Tibor


'20 Alfa Romeo Stelvio daily
Locost/442E in progress

The extra length looks fine to me. I made mine slightly longer in the boot to comfortably accommodate that same JAZ tank you mentioned plus give a little empty "crush space" behind it. In fact, Jack ordered my tank for me last week.

I'll defer to jack on the angle question. My build has a ledge intended be level at ride height for the tank to sit on. It also provides some more impact resistance for the rear.

Cheers,

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Damn! That front slip angle is way too large and the Ackerman is just a muddle.

Build Log: viewtopic.php?f=35&t=5886

If I would install it straight, then the car would be even longer at the end by a few more inches. That would look ugly, imho.

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Tibor


'20 Alfa Romeo Stelvio daily
Locost/442E in progress

The tip angle doesn't matter if the pick up is at or near the lowest point. Also, having it tipped forward (toward the front of the car) means that under acceleration, the tip angle is offset by the acceleration. Regardless, a small header tank is always a good idea, to remove bubbles from the fuel.

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Midlana book: Build this mid-engine Locost!, http://midlana.com/stuff/book/
Kimini book: Designing mid-engine cars using FWD drivetrains, http://www.kimini.com/book_info/

My tank has a tilt to it, but the top leans forward.

I do wish I had more of a "crumple zone" before the tubes hit the tank. But it fits right against the rear tubes. I hope the jeep wrangler spare tire mount would take a bit of the impact 1st. I do like the fact that my RCI aluminum tank is a 15 gal version. Makes for a decent range between fill ups.

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Thom

Ok? Yes. Is it all good? No, but it is minor. Don't ever completely fill any of these as-is. The tank is just one part of the system. Slosh from cornering and expansion space need to be considered and you can still do that when the time comes with a 18 degree forward tilted tank.

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Miata UBJ: ES-2074R('70s maz pickup)
Ford IFS cheap viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13225&p=134742
Simple Spring select viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11815
Frame LxcockpitWxengbayH
Lotus 7:115x39x7.25
Tiger Avon:114x40x13.3-12.6
Champion/Book:114x42x11
Gibbs/Haynes:122x42x14
VoDou:113x44x14
McSorley 442:122x46x14
Collins 241:127x46x12

Thanks guys, that is a great news.
I will have a spare wheel on the back as well( I have purchased 5 of those wheels). That should help some in case a of a crash.
I was hoping to use an in tank pump, from the MX5, but I guess an external one should work as well, but it will be noisier.
How did you mount that wheel?

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Tibor


'20 Alfa Romeo Stelvio daily
Locost/442E in progress

I have a Ford rear end & Mustang II front uprights & hubs. Jeep wheel patterns are the same.

So, I purchased a Jeep spare mount with the 3rd brake light. I really wanted a 3rd brake light since these cars are so low. Had to shorten the brake light stand so it was not so high above the low-profile tire. It is a bolt on mount as well- all plastic.

I welded two horizontal steel flat bars to align with the mounting bolts on the spare carrier. You could us the same mount for your car and simply redrill the wheel bolts for your pattern.



the frame is upside down in this photo
the flat bar in the upper rt side is the mount for my license plate. I welded a tube off the lower frame and a flat bar to that.

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Thom

Wow, that is a great idea. I did not think about that. I have seen people make like a bent tube under the tire, that also holds the licence plate. I'm not a fan of that look, but this one is a very elegant solution.
Thanks for that.
My wheel pattern is 5x114.3(4.5").

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Tibor


'20 Alfa Romeo Stelvio daily
Locost/442E in progress

BostonWill, you are using the tank as is, no baffles and no foam?
For street use is really needed?

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Tibor


'20 Alfa Romeo Stelvio daily
Locost/442E in progress

I am building the car for street use. No baffles or foam needed. Your tank in your car or truck does not have them either. If I wanted to add it later, I can add foam I have been told.

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Thom

A factory Caterham tank is sloped on the bottom. See picture below. As KB mentioned it's fine as long as the pick-up is near the low point.


A fuel injected car should have some form of entrapment. There are many ways to go about it, swirl pots, header tanks, baffling, etc. Unless foams have changed, I don't believe foam by itself has ever been sufficient (though foam is great to control sloshing). Otherwise you'll get fueling 'hiccups' in corners as the pump picks up air when the tank is less than full.

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Regards, Ron

Thank you guys. Most likely I will go with the RCI tank myself as well.

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Tibor


'20 Alfa Romeo Stelvio daily
Locost/442E in progress