(Update 04/02/24 Combing everything into one post as it wsa getting tedious)

Fitting the new fuel tank to the Fury is the gift that keeps on giving.

The original tank had both mounting holes and a pipe on the top to connect the fuel hose to. The new larger tank has no mounting holes. I made some brackets to the profile of the new tank and drilled mounting holes using the top pipe centre as a reference point.

Fitting the first bracket looks like this, all dandy.

Front of bracket under car

Unfortunately the rear is a sorry picture.

Rear of bracket fouling rear bodywork

The extra length of the bracket so that I can run a tie rod to squeeze it together fouls the bodywork.

Two options:

  1. Move the brackets forward, there is sufficient space behind the rear axle to do this. However, I’d have to drill a new hole in the boot floor for the filler pipe and I wouldn’t have a straight path in which may cause filling problems.

  2. Change the brackets so that they hold the tank across the width rather than fore-aft. This would make stopping the tank shifting fore-aft trickier.

Cunning Plan

Bending the tail of the rear of the bracket let me bolt it in place, but there isn’t room behind it for a nut for the threaded rod.

Instead, I’m going to use 3mm wire rope, and some bit and pieces to provide something the rod can screw into without having to reach the bracket. I’m also going to do the lateral tie rod brackets as well so that the tank is held in a cage fore/aft and left/right.

Wire rope connecting a eye to the M8 threaded rod

Trussed Up

I orginally wanted the cross bracket to go across the top of the tank, but the fuel gauge sender is in the way if I want to use the mounting bolts to hold it in place, so instead I’ve got some right angles to go between the tank and the fore-aft brackets. It looks pretty good.

Fuel tank contained within the brackets

I’ll probably have to slide some fuel hose on the cross rod so it doesn’t rattle against the bottom of the tank.

I’m not fitting the tank to the car yet. I want to remake the fore-aft brackets as a couple of holes are now too big which weakens them and I got the paint prep wrong so I’m treating them as prototypes for the final ones.