Factory fuel tanks and exhaust systems? Whats a good exhaust setup?

Hey guys,

I just ran into a major glitch with my car re-assembly, my fuel cell foam has decided to start disintegrating into little chunks. I went to drain my tank of the fuel that has been sitting in it for 3 years and found that while siphoning it there was lots of disintegrated fuel cell foam coming out. I figure I have 2 options...replace the Fuel cell with a factory tank or replace the fuel cell foam. The problem is where my cell is mounted...it is in the spare tire well which is higher and further back then original. Therefore there is an advantage to going back to a factory fuel tank. The only problem with that is that when I fabricated my exhaust system it basically runs straight through where a fuel tank would normally be. So therefore I will have to replace my exh system. I don't think I'm going to have enough time to fab up a new system so I will likely need to buy a pre-made system. Any suggestions on what is good? Also any comments on my situation with the fuel cell/factory tank thing?

Any advice is greatly appreciated, thanks in advance,

Replace the foam and call it a day?

http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/fsafe7.htm

40 bucks for new foam.

Foam has a limited life so its degradation is completely normal.

For exhausts--I use the cut and paste method (welded cut-up U-Bends and straight lengths, so that would not be of much help to you.

Just fix the cell (i.e., replace the foam)

Thank you so very much guys!!! :happy204: :happy204:

The cheapest I had found foam before you posted this was $109 US. The site you posted is much cheaper.


Next question...any tips on removing all the chunks in the cell still? I have siphoned off most of the fuel and will obviously take out what is left of the blocks...but what about the little bits? The only thing I can think of is to let the bladder dry and then vacuum out as much as I can...but I don't want to use a good shop vac for that.

I would let it dry and vent for a few days and then just vacuum it. Its not going to ruin a shop vac (even cleaning out the sediment in my stock tank didnt do that. Just remove the filter or replace it after this job.

Be very carefull with the shop vac. It will have unshielded brushes and gas vapors (not liquid) is very flamable. I was lucky but my shop vac "poped" with a big noise.

Be sure that you are in a well ventilated area and air out the shop vac container several times .

Maurice

That was my key point on not only allowing it to dry but vent. When I hit mine with the vac there was barely a hint of gas smell left after 48 hours of venting it with fresh air.

Yeah..the BOOM factor was my main concern.

I guess I could get all the foam out I can and let it air out for a while.

Can anyone see any harm if by the first event I cannot get the foam in just running it without foam? I am concerned becuase I essentially have 1 month to get the car back together and race worthy but I keep running into little glitches. The other issue is being in Canada shipping from the US can sometimes be delayed....just trying to plan for the worst case scenario.

Last question is in regards to the above posted web link for the foam. Does anyone know if this will fit all sizes of cells? I believe mine is a FuelSafe PC115 and the link shows 6.5 gallons?

Without the foam the fuel will slosh so it depends on your pickup and surge tank.

As for size, I would e-mail or call them that company is great about getting back with people.

Without the foam, you have only the non rigid bladder...different from a stock tank...that contains the sloshing fuel, and that is dangerous and unsafe in any number of ways.

I don't mean to hijack the tread but he did ask about exhaust systems and I am intrested in seeing what some of you have come up with. I plan on trying my hand at it for the CRX but would like to have a base plan first.

Thanks a TON!

~Brian

Still interested in exhaust for the factory tank as well as I still think that handling wise I would be better off to put a factory tank in and get rid of the cell that is mounted higher and further rearward than factory. Keeping the center of gravity low and inside the wheels. To do this would mean havign to either refab my exhaust or buy a pre-made one. I am running out of time and may just opt to get the foam and deal with the tank issue later.

Here is one exhaust system I have found that appears tempting....anyone know anything about it?

CRX Exhaust

Since I haven't seen it mentioned yet, why not the "IT-Spec" exhaust. Simple, light, cheap, easy to fab. Here's a pic of mine on my CRX.

http://www.geocities.com/stscxr/crx_exhaust.jpg

yes, the gas tank is actually not in this pic. But it fits. Believe me.

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Since I haven't seen it mentioned yet, why not the "IT-Spec" exhaust. Simple, light, cheap, easy to fab. Here's a pic of mine on my CRX.

http://www.geocities.com/stscxr/crx_exhaust.jpg

yes, the gas tank is actually not in this pic. But it fits. Believe me.
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I like it a TON!

Any concerns with exhaust fumes in the car running that setup? It would be easy to convert to that kind of set up but I'm not sure if exhaust fumes inside the car would be an issue?

A comment if you are running this exhaust and a stock gas tank. Even if there is a turndown at the end of the exhaust, turbulent flow will cause exhaust to impinge on the gas tank. If you are seeing "leakage" from your gas cap with your crx, your exhaust may be heating and pressurizing your fuel tank. You may want to look into putting a second deflector behind the downturn. I put such a deflector between my exhaust and my fuel cell. Of course I work in the HVAC business and think about gas flow a lot.

A couple years I ran against a CRX who had a "black flag" leaks fuel from filler call after about 5 minutes in every session. He added a second deflector and and the problem went away. Lesson learned, just because the exhaust is turned down, don't assume it stays down. If your exhaust ends a foot in front of your gas tank or cell, think about putting a bit of metal between your exhast and your cell or tank.

Adding a heat sheild/deflector isn't a bad idea at all. But I wonder if there wasn't a problem with his pressure check valve that was also causing the tank to pressurize.

If you sat and idled for a long time, then you probably would get some fumes in the car. But the exhaust exits behind the driver as the rules require and you typically are moving at a decent clip so I don't think it's any more to worry about then as an exhaust that exits at the rear. All the changes made to the cars and the couple of grommets that most of us have missing here and there could already suck in fumes from behind or under the car anyway.

In this case, I can affirm, putting a deflector eliminated the problem on an exhaust that looked just like this.

I am not suggesting that its needed all the time. But when you have a turn down, 14 inches ahead of the fuel tank, its best not to assume that 800 f. exhaust gas will necessarially will stay down. In this case, it was a problem solved. As for the check valve, I haven't seen that problem.

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In this case, I can affirm, putting a deflector eliminated the problem on an exhaust that looked just like this.

I am not suggesting that its needed all the time. But when you have a turn down, 14 inches ahead of the fuel tank, its best not to assume that 800 f. exhaust gas will necessarially will stay down. In this case, it was a problem solved. As for the check valve, I haven't seen that problem.
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Just running the stock exhaust shield in front of the gas tank will go a loooong way towards keeping exhaust gasses from heating up the tank. This can be a VERY real problem.

Christian, who ran supertrap style exhaust under his car for 4 laps before the exhaust gases melted the wiring going to hi fuel pump... added back the exhaust shield and no problems since.