Builds Fly By Night (3 Viewers)

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Are you going all the way around the bottom of the tank to box the bottom?

Are you meaning with aluminum? I wasn’t planning on it. The only thing I was thinking in that regard was building a flatstock steel clamp/support to run from the bottom of the mounts, all the way around the bottom of the tank. I think Doomer runs something along those lines on his.
 
Yes, I run 2 straps below. The weight of the gas is 100% supported by them and not the bottom of the tank.
I really think you should explore alternative pickup locations. Gas is thin and will exit your sump quickly. The harder you make it for it to leave, the harder it is to come back.
 
The pickup is going to include a 3” x 8” hydramat. The location will be accessible through the sending unit inspection door. That is something I’m completely stuck on.
The pump hat is big enough to get my arm through and an angle-head drill if it’s concluded that there needs to be more holes.
Under a 1/4 tank on level ground, fuel should be mostly concentrated in the sump area. On an incline, the main baffle should help hold fuel in the pickup area. There’s some small 1/2” holes near the crux with the main plate close to the bottom to help aid in flow from chamber to chamber. Beyond that, I don’t know. This is all fun new territory. Hard to find anything definitive online because every tank build I’ve found is for some other type of application.

Another thing is that in-tank pumps, ideally want more than 1/4 tank to keep cool. If you’re regularly running your tank level below 1/4, you’re not doing your pump any favors. On my longest excursions from civilization, I never had to use more than a tank (hitting the gas station on fumes). This tank is basically double that capacity.

Maybe someone can find me a Fisher-Price sticker to put on the side of “My First Fuel Tank”.
 
Are you meaning with aluminum?
I built an angle iron frame to box the entire bottom of my tank then cut a ½” or 3/8” skid plate from UHMW and bolted that to the frame. Your tank is a bit thicker than mine but a skid plate still wouldn’t hurt.

This is the only picture I have but you get the idea.

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Yes, want to build a UHMW skid plate too. What does the angle frame mount to? Just the bottom of your frame?
Did you place anything between the steel and aluminum to act as a softener or no?
 
Another thing is that in-tank pumps, ideally want more than 1/4 tank to keep cool. If you’re regularly running your tank level below 1/4, you’re not doing your pump any favors.
This is why I like the stock GM pump and sender. I has the pump in a cup for cooling and that cup is the dumping ground for the return line. So as long as you are pumping fuel it is filling the cup. You have to figure that is designed regular joes that DO hit the station on fumes.
 
Yes, want to build a UHMW skid plate too. What does the angle frame mount to? Just the bottom of your frame?
Did you place anything between the steel and aluminum to act as a softener or no?
The frame does a few things IMHO, it supports the tank around the perimeter and protects the corner welds from impact, it gave me something to bolt the skid plate to and any impact to the skid plate would transfer to the mounts and not through the tank. My mounts go from the angle iron frame to the frame of the pig and use existing bolt holes that I believe held the factory tank in.

I welded 8ea 2”X2”X1/4” pads on the bottom of my tank to elevate it off the bottom of my frame and act as wear pads to hopefully keep from rubbing holes in the tank itself.

If I had to do it over I would reuse this mounting system and skid plate but I would build a 3/16” thick tank like you are doing.
 
That Bosch 044 pump is way more robust than a factory GM in-tank pump and can and has been used as an external pump and will last a very long time without any cooling from the fuel, mounting it in the tank will give you the benefit of extra cooling for most of the time you’ll be running it but I wouldn’t have any concern running that pump on ¼ tank or less.
 
Maybe someone can find me a Fisher-Price sticker to put on the side of “My First Fuel Tank”.
:rofl:

Dude, looking good, so many great ideas coming out in here...what a great group!
 
Almost there fellas. Worked on this all day - cut out the hole for the pump hat plate, cut out and welded together the mounts, got the mounts tacked. All day long.
Been great to work and spend for a month to cross one item off the list.
And now for some pics since page 91 here has been pretty “wordy”.

*please excuse the garage clutter
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