Fuel tank

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mechanical horse
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Fuel tank

Post by mechanical horse »

Gidday all,
Has anyone made a copy of a Haffie fuel tank for their vehicle, rather than try and locate and buy one?
Regards Rick.
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heinkeljb
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Re: Fuel tank

Post by heinkeljb »

You can buy "new" reproduction fuel tanks from the various suppliers in Europe, they are just very expensive due to small production and based on current labour rates.

Second hand ones do come up for sale every once in a while, but it would probably be quicker to make a basic copy of the original - could be made from flat sheet with out all the strengthening ribs and flutes being copied.

John
Haflinger 703AP LWB 1973 - (Once owned by Lady Sutherland & Sons.) Now called "Lurch" !

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Vampyr
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Re: Fuel tank

Post by Vampyr »

G'day Rick, I had the same problem, took the rusted out one, to an Aluminium Fabricator and had a great polished copy made. Extremely happy with the tank. 2 issue's that I found, I needed a breather put in, and you need to have the correct tap put in for the fuel sender. Any questions just PM me. Danny
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heinkeljb
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Re: Fuel tank

Post by heinkeljb »

Breather is part of the cap design, so really shouldn't need a special one added. Still if it works, then no harm done to either party!

Have you coated the inside of the tank? Aluminium produces an oxide if left to the elements. I take it you polish the outside every week? :lol:

John
Haflinger 703AP LWB 1973 - (Once owned by Lady Sutherland & Sons.) Now called "Lurch" !

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mechanical horse
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Re: Fuel tank

Post by mechanical horse »

Gidday all,
In reference to the sender unit in the fuel tank, for the low fuel light, does any one know how this sender unit works? Given that the tank is earthed, and the light on the dash has got power through it to the terminal on the sender unit, then what makes the contact inside the sender unit. The tube on the sender unit has 4 holes in it which allows fuel inside the tube, but what makes the contact. I would cut mine open but I haven't got a spare. Yes Danny I noticed the thread for the sender unit as I have taken the fittings out of the old tank and checked and cleaned them will put them in the new tank. Great day here today for work on the Haffie, sunny and 25C, which is a bit different to the last few days, temp below 20C and non stop rain which totaled 248 ml in a bit less than 2 days. That's a bit shy of 10 inches in the old Her Majesty's measurement.
Regards Rick.
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heinkeljb
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Re: Fuel tank

Post by heinkeljb »

I am guessing here, because Lurch has a fuel gauge rather than the low fuel warning light. From you description of a tube with 4 holes and the bulb needing 12 volts, the assumption is there is a diaphragm inside the tube which "makes" electrical contact when there is no fuel to push the connection "open". i.e. the switch contacts are normally closed, but with fuel pressure in the tube it holds the contacts open.

BUT

This is all guess work on my part - if I ever find a sender in a pile of spares, I might take it apart to find out for sure!

John

(how "pile" became "pipe" I have no idea, still corrected now!
Last edited by heinkeljb on Tue Jun 21, 2016 7:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Haflinger 703AP LWB 1973 - (Once owned by Lady Sutherland & Sons.) Now called "Lurch" !

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m wehrman
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Re: Fuel tank

Post by m wehrman »

Has anyone "retrofitted" a low fuel light to a truck w/o one. Neither my '62 or '68 have one.... :cry:
Mark
62 haffy
68 haffy
TGB 1317 Volvo
Dnepr M/C
FG140 Fuso
3 other boring cars!
and 2 more motorcycles
Oh yea! my John Deer lawnmower
leaf blower and a Weed Wacker!
Just poking fun at sigs! ( ) smiley face goes between the brackets....
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heinkeljb
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Re: Fuel tank

Post by heinkeljb »

Shouldn't be to hard to do that, obviously you need the sender and a suitable boss which you would braze in to the side of the tank.

Maybe someone could give some measurements as to how far up the tank you need to fit it?

Then the electrical side would be running a wire from the sender up to the back of the dash panel and fitting a suitable panel light. Connecting the wire from the sender to one side of the panel light and the other side of the panel light to a fused power connection.

John
Haflinger 703AP LWB 1973 - (Once owned by Lady Sutherland & Sons.) Now called "Lurch" !

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Vampyr
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Re: Fuel tank

Post by Vampyr »

IMG_0199.JPG
IMG_0198.JPG
IMG_0196.JPG
G'day Rick, these are some photo's of my replacement tank. The sender unit is a spare I got off Tony in Melbourne. The thread on the sender unit required a M12 x 1.0 Tap as seen in the photo. On a lighter note, being an ex Roma Boy, GO THE MAROONS. Danny
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Julian B
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Re: Fuel tank

Post by Julian B »

heinkeljb wrote:I am guessing here, because Lurch has a fuel gauge rather than the low fuel warning light.
#MontyPythonModeON
Luxury - mine has neither (by design) :shock:

:)
Julian B
W Sussex, UK

| '62 Early Series I SWB | '72 Series II LWB |
| '56 Citroën Traction Avant |
mechanical horse
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Re: Fuel tank

Post by mechanical horse »

Gidday Danny,
I see now why you had to put another breather in, because you haven't used an original cap which has a breather in it. It looks like a good result. I test bent a small tank today. The correct sized end on profile to see if I am able to put the curved side and then bend the other bottom, side and top to see if it all fits and goes through the bender that I get to use. The strip that I bent up is only 200 mm wide and it all fitted so now I will do it again with a strip 500 mm wide which is the length of the tank. I will put a couple of baffles inside and ends on it and I will use the fittings off the original tank. I will splash a sealer around on the inside like I do with the old motor cycle tanks and it should work OK. GO THE MAROONS !!!!!!!
Regards Rick.
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heinkeljb
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Re: Fuel tank

Post by heinkeljb »

No doubt you have seen pictures of the original tank which has folds / pressed ribs in both the end wall and the other surfaces.

Also worth noting for those that find this thread at some other point in time, there are at least 3 variations of petrol tank fitted to different variations of Haflingers!

The photo's above show the sort fitted to later models, Early models had the petrol tank part way down the platform on the other side of the vehicle and filler access through a flap in the bed rather than under the seat. There is also a variation which has the tank at the front behind the wheel but with a different filler system, a pipe with a neck and filler cap basically in the side board.

More details can be found on Constantin's web site, a link for which is provided at the bottom of the index page of this web site.

John
Haflinger 703AP LWB 1973 - (Once owned by Lady Sutherland & Sons.) Now called "Lurch" !

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