LocostUSA.com

I've got really good hearing, ha! If there's no mechanical reason that it would be a problem having rivet bits in there, I guess that's probably the way to go, again, I'm not sure I'd ever need to take it off.

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"It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble, it’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so."
"Sometimes I sits and thinks, sometimes I just sits." - Satchel Paige

I got the steel pipe for my "stub flanges" and successfully turned them into shape. It went surprisingly well on my mini lathe. I'm hoping I can weld them to the stub axles. I should be able to weld them from both inside and out. Any tips? Pro tip: Next time get the axles, diff and hubs that all fit together first!

Also on the floor board, there's really only 1 section where my feet will need support. I was thinking a piece of plywood would help distribute the load. Or should I not rely on the floorboard for temporary standing? I could put a sheet of aluminum on that section on the top sides of the bottom frame.

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"It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble, it’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so."
"Sometimes I sits and thinks, sometimes I just sits." - Satchel Paige

Those look great! I would have suggested full overlap minus a ½ inch for the ID weld area by cutting less off the adapter and cutting the adapter ID under size, so you could put the stub in the freezer and the adapter in the oven for assembly with a few pins or plug welds around the outside but that is probably overkill.

After tacking, use heat sink putty, wet rags, or submerge the splined end in water while welding an inch at a time in a star pattern until it is fully welded, letting it cool between welds. Square up/skim the mating flange in a lathe after welding.

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Miata UBJ: ES-2074R('70s maz pickup)
Ford IFS viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13225&p=134742
Simple Spring select viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11815
LxWxHt
360LA 442E: 134.5x46x15
Lotus7:115x39x7.25
Tiger Avon:114x40x13.3-12.6
Champion/Book:114x42x11
Gibbs/Haynes:122x42x14
VoDou:113x44x14
McSorley 442:122x46x14
Collins 241:127x46x12

What kind of mini-lathe do you have? I've found the depth of cut I can take with my Harbor Freight unit to be frustratingly small, but I don't do enough work on a lathe to justify a larger, more powerful one (or have the space either).

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

Lonnie, I bet we have the same one. Mines probably 15 years old, the smallest one Harbor Freight had. On rings this big it only had the torque to take about .002" per pass. Luckily the pipe I found was very close to the right size.

_________________
"It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble, it’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so."
"Sometimes I sits and thinks, sometimes I just sits." - Satchel Paige

That went better than expected.

_________________
"It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble, it’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so."
"Sometimes I sits and thinks, sometimes I just sits." - Satchel Paige

I finally found a reasonably priced fuel tank. It's more or less the design I wanted to fit nicely behind the seat. It's a 4 gallon with the angled corner.

I'll have a low pressure external pump and inline filter, pumping to my swirl tank that has a "044" type high pressure pump. I guess I should get a "pre-filter sock thing" for the 044 pump and then have a final inline filter before the engine?

The fuel line is going to have to go through the firewall in the rear. I think I'm going to try to only have one an-6 bulkhead and mount the pressure regulator just in front of the firewall.

I probably should have asked this before, but what are the general safety guide lines for a fuel tank behind the seat? Both the fuel tank and swirl tank are welded aluminum. Should I have another "firewall" between the tanks and the seat/cockpit area?

I want to use some kind of heat/fiber/fire resistant blanket/cloth on the engine side of the firewall. The exhaust will be roughly 4" from the firewall. I should probably wrap the exhaust with a heat wrap shield to I would think.

_________________
"It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble, it’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so."
"Sometimes I sits and thinks, sometimes I just sits." - Satchel Paige

Not that simple in this case. This bike uses a returnless fuel system with the regulator as part of the pump assy. I don’t have information on the volume and pressure needed or if the pump volts are controlled by the ecu.
If you knew everything (service manual for the bike?), you could make a system using auto application bits and no damper. Mixing up regulators and pumps in a returnless system is generally a bad idea.

I suggest you get a complete rebuild kit for the oem pump system and a bad used pump for the hardware off ebay, then duplicate the oem system in your four gallon tank. Machine a mounting flange to accept the oem pump assy flange and weld it to the bottom of your universal tank.

FYI, all gerotor “44” pumps need a pre-filter as an in-tank or external mount.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/360300869661?e ... SwTepfOs8l

The oem pump assy looks like this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/334007741098?f ... ondition=4

It may be cheaper overall to buy the kit and fab the rest with no oem parts but you won’t have the damper and will have to make a sealing isolator bushing for bringing the positive lead through the tank to the pump.

I’ve made them out of uhmw and ¼ inch machine screws.


Pipe wraps damage/overheat the pipe. Consider a solid sheet of stainless or regular steel (.050” or thinner) with silica mat on the passenger side and an air gap to the heat source.

If the tank is basically under your seat back, about the most practical thing is just to add a silica blanket to fully cover the seat back and bottom. Cover the blanket with a tight weave fabric so the particles do not end up in your lungs forever. Can’t easily isolate the tank when you need access to fill directly unless there were a steel door over it with a metal latch. Consider tank foam compatible with your fuel type, an easy access extinguisher, inertia switch to shut off the pump in a collision and a roll over check valve (like an ‘80s pcv valve) in the vent line.

_________________
Miata UBJ: ES-2074R('70s maz pickup)
Ford IFS viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13225&p=134742
Simple Spring select viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11815
LxWxHt
360LA 442E: 134.5x46x15
Lotus7:115x39x7.25
Tiger Avon:114x40x13.3-12.6
Champion/Book:114x42x11
Gibbs/Haynes:122x42x14
VoDou:113x44x14
McSorley 442:122x46x14
Collins 241:127x46x12

Oh crap. I do have the manual in PDF, the pressure should be around 50psi, I forget what it ways for flow. Also, the stock system is run from a relay.

What the heck is a "damper" in regards to a fuel system. Is it something that smooths out pressure?

The regulator I have does "return" the excess fuel if that's what you mean.

So 1/8" aluminum is not acceptable as a firewall? I was going to put the insulation on the engine side.

_________________
"It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble, it’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so."
"Sometimes I sits and thinks, sometimes I just sits." - Satchel Paige

_________________
Miata UBJ: ES-2074R('70s maz pickup)
Ford IFS viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13225&p=134742
Simple Spring select viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11815
LxWxHt
360LA 442E: 134.5x46x15
Lotus7:115x39x7.25
Tiger Avon:114x40x13.3-12.6
Champion/Book:114x42x11
Gibbs/Haynes:122x42x14
VoDou:113x44x14
McSorley 442:122x46x14
Collins 241:127x46x12

Thanks for the help. Here's a pic of the regulator, surge tank and the 044 pump is hiding in there somewhere.

I assume the bottom line in the regulator is for overpressure/return. I was going to just have a single line (the left port) going through the firewall.

The black line is going to be the low pressure supply from the main tank, it's just Ace hardware fuel line. I figure I only need "the good stuff" for the high pressure side. Somewhere in this thread you described a system like this, I'll go back and look for it.

_________________
"It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble, it’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so."
"Sometimes I sits and thinks, sometimes I just sits." - Satchel Paige

I've talking about the oem regulator versus a typical, older automotive regulator on the fuel rail with a full length return system. What you are doing will work.

The 44 pump in the swirl tank should have a "sock" filter slipped on the bottom that rests on the bottom of the tank.

Here it is: viewtopic.php?f=27&t=18006

_________________
Miata UBJ: ES-2074R('70s maz pickup)
Ford IFS viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13225&p=134742
Simple Spring select viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11815
LxWxHt
360LA 442E: 134.5x46x15
Lotus7:115x39x7.25
Tiger Avon:114x40x13.3-12.6
Champion/Book:114x42x11
Gibbs/Haynes:122x42x14
VoDou:113x44x14
McSorley 442:122x46x14
Collins 241:127x46x12

I decided to make a weld-on steel adapter to go from the stock Honda fuel banjo tube to an an-6 hose. I thought I'd butt it up to that flange and weld it on.

I think it'll work great after I make another one with 18 TPI instead of 14, ugh. Apparently, on the mini lathe, if you accidentally install the 40T gear where the 45T goes and vice versa, you get 14 instead of 18.

_________________
"It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble, it’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so."
"Sometimes I sits and thinks, sometimes I just sits." - Satchel Paige

Nicely made whatever the thread is. That would be a great candidate for brazing instead of welding. If you've never brazed, don't learn on the needed part. Find an hvac guy if you want to outsource.

There may be some special epoxies you could use that can handle the pressure x2 for the surface area of the slip joint and not degrade in alcohol/ethanol or anything else that might be lurking at the pump. No silver-soldering please.

You might consider an off the shelf banjo AN adapter like this for around $10:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/384121181934?h ... SwxndXTmlM

_________________
Miata UBJ: ES-2074R('70s maz pickup)
Ford IFS viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13225&p=134742
Simple Spring select viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11815
LxWxHt
360LA 442E: 134.5x46x15
Lotus7:115x39x7.25
Tiger Avon:114x40x13.3-12.6
Champion/Book:114x42x11
Gibbs/Haynes:122x42x14
VoDou:113x44x14
McSorley 442:122x46x14
Collins 241:127x46x12

Hopefully this will work, at least I got the threads right this time.

The stock banjo part originally goes on flipped and that tang is to locate the angle, I'll probably cut it off.

_________________
"It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble, it’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so."
"Sometimes I sits and thinks, sometimes I just sits." - Satchel Paige