greg Posted May 20, 2001 Share Posted May 20, 2001 Dear All I am decidedly depressed, my 1990 Xflows sitting outside a garage with a split in the fuel tank - I had a small trip planed this weekend, that I'd been looking forward to all week... Anyway I want to replace the tank (1990 LiveAxle Xflow) and was thinking of the race tank, as long as it: a) Will Fit (without lossing what pathetic boot space I have) b) Has a sender c) Is not much more expensive Is it worth fitting the Honeycomb Protection (as theres not much else between me and the back of the car !) And what does it consist of ? Thanks for any ideas. Greg, who's pretty pissed off ! Greg, Q 880 RAE (Green/Ali XF) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Walker Posted May 21, 2001 Share Posted May 21, 2001 Greg, I fitted the honeycomb thing under the petrol tank because I had the same problem on my 89 liveaxle car. The tank was just supported at either end and over time the weight started the crack the seams. Now the honeycomb supports the full length of the tank and I've had no problem since. Plus I guess that it's probably safer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg Posted May 21, 2001 Author Share Posted May 21, 2001 Thanks for that. I've decided against the race bag as its over 500 quid .... compared to 100 quid. I may go for the protection thou, as I feel a little exposed. I've had one moment, when a Boy racer was following me. I had to slow down from 60 to 10 for some cyclist, his Renault 5's brakes where not as good and he ended up on the otherside of the road (so far in front that I could read his rear plate!). If he'd not gone on to the otherside of the road I doubt I would still have an intact caterham and back ! If this helps with tank fatigue then great. Hints in fitting ? I.e how ? Thanks, Greg, Q 880 RAE (Green/Ali XF) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony pashley Posted May 21, 2001 Share Posted May 21, 2001 Greg, I fitted some of the honeycomb kit for same reason as Andrew (above). Had several leaks where welds holding baffles and pick-up pipe are. This helped, although it still happened once more. Once tank has a chance to flex I guess the battle's lost. Fixing the leaks is one thing, but eventually the insides start rattling - so I swapped the tank. I wanted to fit a bag tank, but if you want a proper sender and guage (rather than just low-level warning) it gets costly. Don't remember just how much, but £700-plus sounds familiar... Honeycomb kit gives you baseboard (I think you can get this on its own...), three bits to go between tank and back panel (with cut-outs for foglamps) and a piece to stick on each end (a bit crude and you need to tape exposed cells on edges). As far as I'm aware there is not room to fit a panel on the forward facing side of the tank. Most people seem to rivet the bottom bit in, but since I expected to need the tank out again, and was was primarily after tank-support (over crash worthiness) I used small countersunk setscrews and nylocs. Favourite for the back bits seems to be silicone. An emergency, get-you-home fix for a small leak is: 1, one stick of Wrigley's Doublemint (green pack), chewed for two or three minutes. 2, a large band-aid (waterproof for preference) 3, strip of tank (duct) tape sounds daft - but I've done this on the base of a half full tank and it works quite well. Just don't pretend it's permanent and don't do it if you have other means available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony pashley Posted May 21, 2001 Share Posted May 21, 2001 re: Items 1, 2, 3, I mean all of them, in that order. I didn't mean pick any one of three... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg Posted May 21, 2001 Author Share Posted May 21, 2001 Duck tape was tried, but failed. In the end, to move the car, we lowered the level of fuel, below the leak. The bag tank is not cheap is it ? Out of interest to what did you self-tap / nylock the bottom bit to - the tank ? or the top or bottom? of the Chasis rails under the tank ? I'm thinking of the kit, but will have to explain to a local garage (not Caterham specialists) how to fit it. Thanks Greg, Q 880 RAE (Green/Ali XF) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony pashley Posted May 21, 2001 Share Posted May 21, 2001 The honeycomb base sits on top of the two channels that the tank sits on. Flat side uppermost. I drilled and countersunk from above. M4 or M5, I forget which. Rivets would go in from above too. I know of several people who have just laid the panel in and when the tank straps are tightened up it is sandwiched between tank and chassis. This obviously supports the tank more than it does improve crush resistance in an impact, but the back of the car is largely non-structural anyway...This is possible without taking the tank out if you've already replaced it. I think the kit comes with a rudimentary shhet of instructions. I should think it's safer to muddle through yourself with a bit of help than trust a non-Seven garage. Is that your only option? Where abouts are you? Tony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg Posted May 21, 2001 Author Share Posted May 21, 2001 In Brighton, the tank has a nasty split and I do not think the car is that safe to drive. Thinking about it I am go and fit the stuff - A bit of duct tape / bolts / silicone should do the trick. Thanks for the pointers Greg, Q 880 RAE (Green/Ali XF) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EFA Posted May 21, 2001 Share Posted May 21, 2001 As I have no spare wheel on the back, I got a big sheet of honeycomb from Arch and fitted it across the full rear width of the car between the rear panel and the tank. This picked up a small bend whgen i got rear ended by another Seven a couple of years ago, but I replaced it. The way I have it installed is it is siliconed to the two vertical tubes that the roll bar attaches to, and not fixed to the tank. I think that in a typical road rear end this would be more effective than having the honeycomb attached to the tank. Despite this, I am still very nervous about running in traffic on Motorways - the most likely place to get a hard thump up the rear. The prospect of sufffering Ford Pinto syndrome is much higher in a Seven with no spare wheel - you don't neeed Ralph Nader to tell you that. A bag tank is the best way, but my understanding is that you lose the fuel sender - no good on a road car. Arnie Webb The Fat Bloke blush.gif in a Fast Temporarily Indisposed Vauxhall wink.gif See the R500 eater here See the Le Mans Trip Website here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony pashley Posted May 21, 2001 Share Posted May 21, 2001 Good point, Arnie. I didn't mean to imply that one should stick the rear bits to the tank. If you do that, getting the thing out in future will be fiddlier than ever. I've seen a probe-type sender and dedicated guage for a bag tank. The probe is trimmed to length to fit - but I don't know if the guage calibration can cope with the non-constant section of the 7 tank; don't know how sophisticated the system is. About £150 (?) when I enquired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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