The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 12,000 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 20 years to get that many views.
I made this fuel tank in aluminium for the local Further Education College when they started a Motorsports course. One of the first cars they purchased for race and testing was a formula ford with 1600cc engine.
The race car itself had been stripped down and various improvements made to it to improve all aspects of the car by students and lecturers .
Original tank with new sender flange hole cut in
The fuel tank itself was originally made with fuel pickup fuel filler neck and breather and foam filled, no facility had been required for a sender unit. Upon strip and rebuild it was decided this year that they wanted to upgrade the tank to include a fuel level sender.
Sender unit & machined flange
A new sender unit was sourced and a new alloy flange to mount the sender was machined and collected with the tank for mods and fitting.
Now with a tank that has been foam filled to prevent fuel slosh is not as easy to modify as a tank with baffles. Typically you can never get all of the foam out of the tank. As this foam has been soaked in fuel it is very difficult to prevent ignition of the fuel vapours when electric arc welding.
CAUTION !! – DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME
So to modify this tank I needed to mark and hole saw the new aperture for the new fuel sender mounting flange, upside down to any swarf falls out and not into the tank. I cannot just start welding – I had to fill the tank with an inert gas (argon) to remove all the oxygen in the tank.
Filling with argon gas
Argon – an “inert” gas
Argon gas is an inert gas (non-reactive) and is also heavier than air. I f we completely fill the tank with argon gas – even if there is still tank foam and fuel vapours in it the fuel vapours will not explode. I would not recommend anyone try this at home as it can be dangerous and I have seen a tank “blow” and send the welder across the workshop (he was lucky not to be hurt) and the tank ended up ripped apart due to the explosion when the fuel vapours ignited.
Fuel tank foam clearly visible through new hole
I could not remove all of the foam and hence filling the tank with argon. I prefer to completely empty the tank, wask it out / steam clean it inside and then fill with argon before welding new fittings to a used tank.
Having had experience of welding aluminium tanks that have been used I know that I can get away with filling foam filled ones with argon before attempting welding of new fittings etc.
tacked up sender flange
See above the sender flange in position tacked up and level in the tank, note also the argon gas is still being fed into the tank by the black hose. Please also note that the bottom hose stub (fuel take off stub) has been taped up to prevent heavier argon gas escaping from the bottom of the tank.
New Flange welded in position
New flange welded into position, once this has cooled down its ready for blanking off and pressure testing again just to make sure that there are no pinholes in the weld and potential leaks.
If it is leak free then we need to fit the sender and squash the foam blocks and push back into the tank through the filler neck.
Fit the sender 1st and then push foam back in thro filler neck
AGAIN I NEED TO REITERATE – PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS AT HOME !!
Hopefully the college will be happy – and now they can see how much fuel is in the car without using a stick.
Hope the students take care of it and plumb back in neatly 🙂
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Do Induction Kits or High Flow Air Filters really increase engine power.
To understand the principle of filters we can compare an intake system on a normally aspirated 4 stroke engine to our own air intake system. Humans have very High Flow Air intake system with minimal restrictions slowing the air intake. We have hairs in our nostrils and we have mucus lining our air nasal system to trap or capture dirt and dust, this dirt and dust is removed by Cilia (tiny hairs in the lining of the nasal cavity and trachea) which move these “contaminants” back up to throat, which is then coughed up or mechanically blown out through the nose. Still our lungs are susceptible to dust ingress which long term could damage the lungs efficiency.
In exactly the same way an engines intake system must have some method of “filtering” the air intake to remove dirt and dust. This is even more critical to an automotive engine as it has no way of removing any damaging dirt particles that may reach the combustion chamber and damage the internal parts of the engine and cause premature wear. If the air is not filtered to a high level before the air charge enters the combustion chamber there could be the opportunity for these particles to damage, pistons, cylinder bores, combustion chamber, spark plug electrodes, injector nozzles, piston rings and so on. This could all lead to premature wear or imminent failure of the engine.
Typical “element” air filter
Shown above is a typical “element” style air filter used in most cars. These are adequate at filtering out dirt and dust but by no means the most efficient when it come down to air flow and performance.
What are we trying to achieve with an after market Induction Kit ?
Many claim to improve air flow, many claim to improve BHP or engine power or torque or all of these.
Mmmmm lets think for a moment !
A bit of science first. Cold air is more dense that Hot air so common sense tells us that cold air will have a higher concentration of oxygen particles in the same volume of air when compared to hot air ! FACT.
Therefore forgetting about Performance Filters and spending wads of dosh – consider getting a cold air supply to your intake. If you want to get more “BANG FOR YOUR BUCKS” you need to be feeding COLD AIR into your intake system. If your intake system draws air from under your bonnet you may well be sucking hot air (engine heat, manifold heat, turbo heat etc etc) into your intake a BIG NO NO straight away. Now we have a cold air feed or an intake pipe that is drawing cooler air from outside of the engine bay we can consider filters, filter boxes, etc.
There are many differing types of after market filters available, do a bit of research and take time to make a “judged” decision. Panel, cone, paper element, wire gauze, cotton, sponge are all types that could be found to fit your car or bike or truck or whatever vehicle you are looking for ! So now we have considered air supply, lets look at the filters available – 
Above are a selection of filters you might come across when searching for intake filters By methods of research and testing FLASH CUSTOMS can say from experience that lightly oiled cotton filters offer the best flow rates of any. This is ok but many applications are not covered by these types of specialist filter.
We would recommend for average FAST ROAD use that a modern gauze type filter or sponge filter (panel, cone etc) be used with impregnated dirt re tentative spray, both far better than a standard paper element filter. Only a very slight coating of oil spray will aid filtration. If excess oil is coating the filter this may actually reduce the flow and even worse clog up your MAF sensor (Mass Air Flow) and confuse your ECU, simply making matters worse. Make sure you clean the MAF sensor regularly if this is the sort of intake system you have.
Whatever after market filter you fit, remember one rule of thumb:- the larger the surface area of the filter, the better the air flow.Most after market filters allow for complete removal of the original air box, good and bad arises from this.
So as you can see there are positives and negatives to after market filter kits, getting the right one for your car, keeping intake charges “cool”, fitting in a designated “air box” or open is all things that need to be considered.
Filter with cold air feed pipe
Filter positioned at back of engine where lots of heat will accumulate
A shielded Filter set up, reducing the impact of under bonnet temperatures
Simple aluminium ducting that can be used to direct cool air into the filter
At FLASH CUSTOMS we still recommend a specially built induction box to fully surround the after market high flow filter with a cold air feed into the box. This must be sealed to stop hot under bonnet air entering the box and in some instances I have seen customers insulate this box as well!
I have personally seen many young drivers add a simple after market induction kit mounted totally in the wrong place, open to hot air temperatures with no cool air supply and wonder why it makes no difference what so ever to the performance of their car. But, it makes lots of induction roar so it must be going faster ?
With a little bit of thought and not always a lot of money these sometimes quite expensive induction kits can be made to work a lot better and actually give your car some extra performance.
Another “myth” that some kits promote is “RAM AIR” where simply a feed pipe is mounted in the front grill or under the bumper in the flow of air hitting the front of the car. Ram air systems really don’t work up until you reach approx 100mph (so absolutely no use what so ever in normal road driving conditions. Secondly many performance filters tend only to really work at higher engine revs and will in fact be detrimental to the lower end power band.
So personal conclusions to this blog on after market filters is that:- if you have a smaller engined car go with a high flow panel filter to simply replace the original and make sure that you have a nice cool air feed to the intake. For larger engines if you can go with a cotton gauze filter with a cold air feed and an enclosure to prevent hot air getting into the intake.
A final take on this subject, no matter what you do to your intake system to improve it if the intake manifold is rough, and edges and lumps and bumps in it, has mis-matched joins that do not allow “smooth” air flow you will be wasting your time trying to improve your intake system. Get the manifold “gas flowed” and the make sure that every piece of pipework and join is smooth as can be to help air flow.
Here at FLASH CUSTOMS we tend to prefer smooth bore thin wall aluminium tube to make up an induction pipe run, this is much more efficient at allowing air to flow smoothly compared to other types of pipework such as concertina type aluminium or plastic air hosing.
Smooth bore mandrel bent aluminium tube
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Recommended Reading
This work is aimed at the enthusiast engine tuner and race engine builder. Founded on the author’s many years of experience in building, tuning and modifying high-performance engines, it sets out the principles involved in forced induction, supported by tables and numerous illustrations. From basic theory through to building a rugged engine, all the important aspects of supercharging and turbocharging are explained and analysed.
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“Wrapping” is becoming ever more popular in the automotive industry. Many effects, colours and designs can be achieved using vinyl wrap. This can be used to change the body colour of a car, or other vehicle, or used in business advertising for company vans, cars and vehicles.
Not only can you change the appearance of your vehicle but a vinyl wrap also helps to protect your vehicle from day to day scuffs and scrapes, swirls and scratching.
Heat activated adhesives backing the wrap material leave no real residue should the wrap ever be peeled off the vehicle and if applied correctly a stunning effect can be achieved for a lot less than a respray and or airbrushed artwork.
We came across a very good company for wrapping vehicles and parts, they have wrapped a simple alloy catch tank for us to showcase their skills in wrapping smaller items.
The wrapping on this tank is a carbon effect wrap and is an excellent and effective finish. We simply wanted something different and this sure is, I think you`ll agree it looks absolutely awesome.
The beauty of this is that heat should not affect the wrapped finish, should the Oil Catch Tank get hot vapours through it.
John our wrapper gives a few bullet point tips for wrapping parts
If you would like help in getting your car, vehicle or parts wrapped you need to contact John email – carbonwrap999@hotmail.co.uk
Don`t forget to email or call us for all your custom made 1 off bespoke items.
Thanks for reading our blog – we hope this has been of use to you.
Recommended sites
MK3 VW GOLF ALLOY HEADER TANK FABRICATION
A new job this week was to make an alloy header tank for a GOLF MK3.
This was made to customer specification for fitting by the customer. The tank itself is to be mounted where the coil pack normally resides and so this needs to be relocated.
Initially I considered making the tank form 2mm thick NS4 Aluminium however upon measuring out some sizes soon realised this was a baby tank and could easily be manufactured from 1.5mm thick NS4 Aluminium.
Image below shows sketch I was working to –
The header tank was to include a CNC machined pressure cap and weld in neck, 15mm bottom outlet and return 6mm stub.
Return Pipe stub was machined on a CNC lathe and is a standard item we keep on the shelf.
The 15mm outlet pipe stub was machined by hand on a manual lathe with a ridge around the end, this is to reduce the chance of the pipe slipping off the stub and is a standard method we use instead of just a straight piece of tube. No one likes pipes blowing off stubs – there is always someone to take the proverbial when things go wrong.
Below is all the parts and sheet pressings ready for tacking up.
Set up on this job is critical, with the tank being so small and made from aluminium heat transfer through the material will quickly saturate through the job, this will lead to welds “flooding” out as the material becomes so hot that it has the effect of welding with too high an amperage. Heat input and heat “management” then is critical to even, regular welds.
If joints are misaligned then a nice even fillet will not be achieved easily, this could mean the weld fillet will be lopsided and penetration in the joint may be affected.
Weld joint set up above is good and literally the inside corners of the material are tacked up touching each other, this is ideal for this type of tank made from thin aluminium material. Even a gap in the joint in material this thin is going to make welding this difficult as if not careful the material will melt away before filler can be added. I like to weld thin gauge aluminium outside corner joints with no gap so that as the welding arc heats up the material a small “tear-drop” appears, I then know that a good penetration bead will be achieved. This in turn helps me achieve a good “sealing” weld. I used TIG welding to complete this tank for looks and neatness.
So once all panels are tacked up I will proceed to fully TIG weld the main body, again ensuring that I manage the heat input to reduce the chance of the material becoming saturated with heat and the weld “growing” in width. We want all welds to be the same fillet profile thus ensuring a nice even looking job. On this one I actually had one joint with a gap in as I had mistakenly taken off a mm when allowing for bending allowance, I should have added it on (DOH). So I had to really turn down my welding plant, concentrate my welding arc to ensure that both edges melt evenly and add filler wire as soon as possible before the edges “blew” away.
When the main body was completely welded, after inspection; I continued to tack in place all fittings, ensuring alignment and welded them in one at a time.
The resulting tank is shown below
You will notice that the pictures show flat mounting brackets either side of the tank, these will be drilled by customer upon fitting to allow the tank to be fixed in position using 3 bolts. The tank needed to be pressure tested before and after these mounting brackets were welded on. This ensured that the tank is leak free before adding these mountings and also after welding them in position. With a clean and using a bit of “chrome” polish the tank is ready to pack up and despatch to the customer.
We only generally offer custom made 1 off jobs but, welcome any enquiry and would willingly help and advise any customer with any project.
Our next article will be about suspension joint improvements, SIGN UP to ensure you are notified of new articles
Thanks for reading 🙂
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www.flashcustoms.co.uk 