Round 2: Keepin' up with the Joneses, Mud Devils and Tony Woody

LTBs
 
Picked up my fuel cell mounting plates from the crew at Ujoint Off Road here in Fletcher.
Fuel cell mount fab is done and the cross braces are welded in. I painted the cell Ford blue and sprayed a coat of textured Hammered on the mounts.
Wrapped up the cooler mount too. Tomorrow the UPS truck will be dropping off a load of AN fittings and new fuel hose.
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Pretty much done for now. Wrapped up the fuel cell install today by reinstalling the bed sides, shortening the trans cooler lines and tidying up the lines, hoses and wiring.
Went to work under the hood replacing the leaking fuel rail. Removed the distributor to access the rail and found the teeth nearly chewed off. Replaced the dizzy and rail with spares and fired her up
I still have a radiator to install. If I decide to go to Harlan with CTB, I'll hold off on the radiator swap so I'm not working late all week
All in all, I'm super happy with how it all turned out. I *can* do some metal fabrication, but not to the point where @mcutler should lose any sleep at night :D
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Went to Harlan, ran some great trails and enjoyed @77GreenMachine riding shotgun both days. Dude had a blast and is fan of woopow on demand! We rode a day and a half totally trouble free and made stuff look easy. F'real though.
However...we were at the top of Grapevine and turned it nearly vertical and lifted the driver's driver's side tire about 4' in the air. Right before I could downshift to 1st and feed the pig, it stalled. Fuel pump sounded funny, it apparently sucked a little air in the cell.
No big deal.
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2 hours went by trying to get the pump to bleed. Yes, 2 hours. I'll spare the boring details about every trick I tried to get it to prime. We ended up using a CO2 tank to pressurize the cell and the pump primed right away and ran great the rest of the day.
When I had the fuel system open last week replacing the rail, filter, cell and hoses, I was able to bleed it in like 5 seconds. Loosened the inlet line to the rail, cycle the pump, air escapes, pump primed and fired up. Weird.
Either way, my frame mounted pump is going away and Wednesday I'm retrofitting a Fox body 255 LPH in tank pump. No more of this stalling crap allowed.
 
Spent the afternoon getting my fuel system all buttoned up. I bought a Walbro 255 intended for use in a Fox body Mustang. But, it is just a replacement pump, no mounts or anything.
Enter some light fabrication...
I removed the hat from the cell and welded a piece of 1/4" round stock to the hat and bent it to support the pump and line. Measured up everything and set the pickup 1/4" off the floor of the cell.
She good to go
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Jody Treadway said:
Spent the afternoon getting my fuel system all buttoned up. I bought a Walbro 255 intended for use in a Fox body Mustang. But, it is just a replacement pump, no mounts or anything.
Enter some light fabrication...
I removed the hat from the cell and welded a piece of 1/4" round stock to the hat and bent it to support the pump and line. Measured up everything and set the pickup 1/4" off the floor of the cell.
She good to go
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Like an old buddy of mine used to say, "there's the right way and the way that works".
 
Pennsylvaniaboy said:
So i have only messed with external pumps, very happy with me e8248 pump. But with the internal pump, are there spark/ignition concerns with having electric connections at the pump, that is sitting in fuel/vapors?
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Ask every OEM manufacturer out there the same question. My setup isn't any different from an OEM setup in regards to wiring. Submersible wiring, submersible hose, fuel proof bulkhead, etc.
 
Jody Treadway said:
Ask every OEM manufacturer out there the same question. My setup isn't any different from an OEM setup in regards to wiring. Submersible wiring, submersible hose, fuel proof bulkhead, etc.
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Oh im not doubting you, just asking what makes the wiring/connections diff when its in the tank. I figured since yours wasnt OEM, it might not have the fancy plugs and such....
 
The connection at the pump is an OEM style one that came with the pump. At the bulkhead, the wires are separated so they can't touch. Same inside, the way I routed them, they can't contact each other or anything else.
It's not a rocket science sort of thing I came up with, just what I had laying around the shop!
 
Liquid form of gas isn’t volatile, like stuntman said until the correct air/gasoline vapor mixture is achieved it isn’t very entertaining. When you dump 5gal on a dozen pallets and it forms a big vapor cloud it’s a different story.
 
shawn said:
I thought the same thing the first time I replaced an in-tank pump: "How the fuck does this not blow up?"
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Jody Treadway said:
If it makes you wonder, I don't feel so bad for not knowing myself.
Black magic I guess?
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No spark. Motor is self contained, sealed against fuel getting into the electrical motor portion. Also the insulation keeps the pixies contained in the copper wire from escaping. Also, the atmosphere in the tank is probably beyond the parameters necessary to support combustion.
 
DannyH said:
Liquid form of gas isn’t volatile, like stuntman said until the correct air/gasoline vapor mixture is achieved it isn’t very entertaining. When you dump 5gal on a dozen pallets and it forms a big vapor cloud it’s a different story.
Click to expand...

That’s when you need a good bottle rocket with a section of straw taped to it and a string. Just saying...
 
Time for an update I suppose. Truck has been continuing to work very well...right up until a 5/8"Grade 8 upper 3 link bolt breaks way, way back in the woods at Windrock.
I stopped by @Barnes 4wd and grabbed a new frame mount and burned it on to the frame. While it was apart, I inspected all the joints, links, etc. All appears to be good.
Since I had the 125# (seriously) skid down, I went ahead and snugged up the tranny pan bolts and serviced my Atlas. Slung some grease in the @Oliver's driveshafts and called the undercarriage good.
Last order of business was to replace the fuel filter housing. The one I had been running was intended for use with low pressure pump and/or be mounted before the pump. Once I went with my in tank setup, it would leak a little past a copper washer. So an appropriate Russell Performance filter went on it's place. Secured with good zip ties of course. Not those cheap ones from HF paupers like @McCracken use but the good overpriced stuff from the electrical isle at Lowe's.
I hope to hit Gulches here soon and see how the upgrades work.
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Edit: Overspray on purpose since I gave @1stgenxxx grief over his lack of attentiveness
 
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