I need to build a sump for my fuel pump to sit in inside my fuel cell. The bottom of a 5-quart jug of Mobil 1 oil is the perfect size and shape for what I need. Is that type of plastic safe to use in fuel for an extended period of time? It would definitely be the Easy Button if it is.
From online research it looks like the bottles themselves will hold up to gas for years, but the seal in the bottlecap will deform and start to leak quickly (not an issue here). Personally I know of used motor oil and other fuel-containing wastes being stored in those jugs for years.
In reply to GameboyRMH :
Thank you sir. My quick Googling showed similar results but I wanted to check with folks that were way smarter than me. Is there any reason not to use a 5 quart oil jug cut down?
How about a dollar store bread pan? I'd much rather use metal in this application, and you already have one in the firewall
In reply to Patrick :
I was originally going to make an aluminum sump. While trying to figure out the size and shape, i test fitted a full jug of synthetic. It fit perfect. Hece the thread.
The cell is plastic, the top plate is aluminum, and the hard lines are steel.
I think they're polyethylene, which is the same material as the plastic gas tank on many modern cars. You can always cut off a piece, leave it in some gas for a week, then inspect.
Whether you do plastic or AL how are you going to keep the sump from moving around too much?
L5wolvesf said:Whether you do plastic or AL how are you going to keep the sump from moving around too much?
Plastic magnets!
Why not a cheap fuel filter swirl pot / surge tank instead? Should work better and only mild more difficult to install.
That's what we have done on our champcar for 10 years. Runs down til the last drop!
L5wolvesf said:Whether you do plastic or AL how are you going to keep the sump from moving around too much?
That is the great part. I don't!
In al seriousness, itll be fastened to this to keep it secure. Additionally, this plate mounts the pump, return fittings, vent And fill.
I guess I'm a little slow, but can you give a reason for why you want to have a sump in the cell? I'm assuming that you want it to sit in the sump, but it can't be physically lower than tank level to facilitate it holding fuel. You'd have to add some sort of trap door system to make sure that you let new fuel enter the sump that's not pouring in through the return above.
What about something like the holley hydramat? in non foam cells it works great to get almost every drop of fuel from a non sumped cell.
In reply to Paul_VR6 (Forum Supporter) :
In all honesty it's probably a case of belt and suspenders. Since it's a non baffled 25 gallon sell I'm worried about fuel slosh to an extent. However I'm more worried about pump starvation with the in tank pump. All the factory EFI gas tanks I have taken apart have a sump around the pump to keep a supply of fuel there. In fuel injection retrofits I have used the attached tanks ink fuel pump module and those pumps never starve. So my plan is to essentially build a larger clone of the tanks Inc sump setup to prevent any future issues
Yeah a box around the bottom of the fuel pump with small holes is a simple baffle setup you often see on production cars. It takes a few seconds for the box to drain out, so if all the fuel sloshes to one side of the tank it won't immediately suck air.
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