The Ferry Tank

Date:  10-24-2019

Number of Hours:  4

Manual Reference:  no ref

Time to look at this ferry tank fitting. How in the world am I going to make it work?

I finally have the basic components for pumps and hoses fitted.

I put everything together with the armrests and so on. Now its crunch time.

I filled the tank in place with air from a blow up bed pump and it looks like I should get at least 200 liters into the tank. Its maximum is 250 litres (66 gallons).

Immediate problems are that I can’t close the canopy with that hose there and the tank is pushing on the canopy latch fittings. I may have to make some sort of substantial cover so the tank is not pinched or pierced.

To my surprise this looks like the better option. I will still have to cut the filler hose shorted but now its not pointing at my head! The down side is that the tank outlet is not at the lowest point so I will have to have a look at that. I might look at a fitting on the passengers headrest that when fitted holds the filler hose end in place.  Another job is to make the outlet hose longer now it is around the other way!

I need to ensure that in turbulence the filler head doesn’t impact the canopy AND I need to get it closing without hindrance. I may need a frame over the fuel pumps to ensure the tank exit is at the lowest point.

There is some more work to do on this later…

Date:  10-15-2019

Number of Hours:  25

Manual Reference:  no ref

Yes its time to get the ferry tank sorted out. Or at least make a good start with the fitting.

After a lot of fiddling around I got a bunch of ‘Speedflow’ fittings together on a piece of firewall plywood. You get the idea? Two pumps that start and end up in the same places. I have the Adel clamps as well which should allow for the vibrations that pumps seem to have.

I tried fitting the ferry tank in place and soon realised that I’d put the back seat heat outlet in the wrong place. Doh!

Its pointing inwardly and would rub against the tank. Not a good idea.

After a LOT of work I have removed the internal pipe, re-positioned it backwards and made a new hole for the outlet, I had to fill in the old hole of course. I’m very happy with the result because it will now work a lot better for the person in the back seat (GIB) and also be clear of the ferry tank when it is installed.

Back to the pump install. I needed hardpoints in the floor.

A few processes later the new fittings are secured with 2 ply of BID and with a bit of peel ply and yet another overnight cure.

The pump base is now secured to the floor with 4 X AN3  bolts and is rock solid. I have gone for Speed Flow 100 rubber pipes with the SS braid. Teflon has issues with bending and these hoses will get plenty. You might also notice a fitting which is a ‘dry break’. This allows me to disconnect the hose without getting any left over fuel leaking out.

The curve in the bottom hose will go to the bottom of the ferry tank. The other hose goes to the right hand side main tank as a top up.

Here’s the RHS hose entry from the ferry set up. The fitting above allows for a GEMS liquid sensor to tell me if the ferry tank pump is delivering fuel. I think this will work. If it doesn’t I’ll go to a pressure sensor instead.