bmf5150

So what the next cheapest option to the spectra??ricks??

bozzhawg

That is always the best option....lol

I know we can get caught up in the 1/4th tank or less issue but in reality, none of us should run the tank low anyways, never a good practice. I tell my wife that all the time....lol

Well I guess for track days, but most diehard track guys run fuel cells so....

You are right, just keep it above 1/2 a tank....lol But that won't stop the sloshing...

At one time when I did my swap, I thought about using the donor car 06 gto tank, and fabricate and mount it in the trunk on the shelf under the speakers but I would have to move my filler tube to the passenger side of the fender and cut a hole. It sounded good ater the 3rd beer, but I opted not to.

The 06 GTO's is behind the back seat and has metal bars protecting it. I guess the concept is partialy like a fuel cell


Bozz

tsnow678

iTrader: (3)

Bozzhawg- man to be that pissed and you are out no money! I understand and you are right about the high prices. That is the reason I purchased the Spectra to begin with. I originally was going carb to avoid this problem. I have a brand new tank in my car for a carb with the best sending unit available. I hate the fact that it is going to be removed and just sit there until it sells. The Spectra was supposed to be fixed of the starvation problem when I bought mine as they were supposed to fix the tub the whole unit sits in. After the fact here we are the more I read the worse it gets. I have no choice but to either take it back, modify it or go carb. I am not going carb! I will not benefit from sending it back and waiting Lord knows how long to receive a revised edition! So that leaves me with the last but not least, fix it and go on. If the sending units are bad then I will get the appropriate one and attach it accordingly. If baffles are all that stops me from moving forward then I will do what it takes to fix the problem. The only way to bring prices down is to have competition or just avoid buying the expensive items. I am not going to bash Spectra because and only because they are making an effort to fix the problem and they did offer a tank which will bring the price of Ricks down once they get it fixed. Should they have done some homework, yes. About everything in a swap needs some sort of adjustment. I am glad you are looking for alternate means to a solution. Your right the tank you have is ugly but it works and for $50 you didnt go wrong. Unfortunately my tank hangs out the *** of my car and is visible to the naked eye. I will call the radiator shop tomorrow and get a qoute on rewelding the tank back up after I work a little magic on it. I may just opt for the foam and be done. We will have to see whats what tomorrow. I purchased my tank for $327 plus shipping of $16 so its not a deal breaker for me. Who knows mine might work just fine as I have seen people on here that have used them with great success. And then there is the majority and they are having issues with them. I just wonder out of all the people that have had issues is it for sure the tank or is it something else??? I will have to go with the majority and fix mine before I lay on my back and put it in. It will be easier to fix it now while it is fuel free than to wait until I have issues and blow this mother up.

bozzhawg

Nall bro, I am not mad, thats just how i talk...lol I do this for the love of the hobby and the cars..... So basically its like keeping abreast of all LSX parts involved. "I fight for main street not wall st"...lol as Obama would say it..ha ha...

But what does **** me off is that they know your fuel gauge won't be accurate, and instead of replacing the sender, their going to keep producing the off senders until they run out, then replace them with new ones..... To further the fiasco some more.

Goodluck with whatever you decide to do..

Bozz

tsnow678

iTrader: (3)

You sound a lot like me. Nothing I hate worse than someone trying to take advantage of an already bad situation. I could see a couple hundred dollars of difference in tanks but $850-900. Damn I think I might be able to buy a used tig welder, take a course on how to tig and make the damn thing for that. Maybe I could hire a fabricator and have him build an entire tank for a fraction of the cost. I will have to sleep on this one and decide tomorrow. Looking at another option, I am looking at fuel sending units for other cars and they have a slosh can built in to the entire assembly. I am going tomorrow and check some dimensions and see if I can find one that will fit through my existing hole and have the clearance up and down. With the tub in the tank already all I need is something to keep fuel on the pump. If it works out I will post some part numbers. Most of the whole units are spring loaded to allow up and down adjustment. Long shot but how great would it be to find a unit that works. Not too worried about the sending unit right now as I am going to change out my gauges and will get one to work. Thanks for that information.

magntik

I'm in this boat since I already have this tank, no fuel in it yet. The sending unit I'm ok with since I went with Dakota Digital gauges.

But the baffle issue has me concerned.

If a guy was to follow your route and cut his brand new tank open, what kind of mods to the baffle/can would be needed?

The fabbing and welding isn't a problem for me, so if I'm gonna cut this up to "fix" it, I only want to do this once.

I'm just not 100% sure I know/understand what the right fix would be.

tsnow678

iTrader: (3)

Here is a thought. Excuse the rough I mean rough draft.

rp0029

iTrader: (1)

http://www.camaros.net/forums/showthread.php?t=186401
Here is a thread on another forum where Spectra reps answer questions on this topic. I just received GM32AFI in the mail, which is the Spectra tank for the 68. I bought it before I read all of this. I emailed the guy and he said that the tank I bought three weeks ago, while it doesn't have the baffling, has the bowl which eliminated the problem. He said "The old one didn't had the baffle in it, but the main issue people were talking about should also be fixed on the one you have since it's only with the first production we made a long time ago that had this particular issue. The baffle is just an improvment to make sure issue with low fuel stall won't ever happen again." [sic]

First, if you have over 400 hp you pretty much need the walbro pump. I'm going to install that pump, and keep the old pump on the side. If it is too shitty to drive above 1/2 tank, then I'll just make a surge tank, and move the walbro pump to the surge tank and feed it with the stock pump. I know, I know, crazy, but it will work and it will be cheap.

tsnow678

iTrader: (3)

According to the article I read the pumps that come in the tanks are good to the 500 or less hp. It was what sparked my interest in the tank to begin with. Dec. 2010 Camaro Performers magazine page 30 I believe. Keep us posted on what you come up with. Pics would be great.

chuckd71

iTrader: (23)

It's pretty shitty that for it to work you need to stay above a half tank but since the sender is garbage you never know when you are getting close. How hard can it be to make a decent tank? Seems like it would be easy to adapt the simply technology used in hundreds of millions of cars into a 40 year old tank design.

tsnow678

iTrader: (3)

I am thinking for sure that the pan is sufficient it might be the small holes that feed this pan that is the culprit. If it runs good to the halfway mark, that tends me to believe that the gas was spilling over the top and when gas can't spill over the top it starves. So a baffle won't fix ****. So what do you think about just enlarging the feeder holes on the bottom of the pan?

Steele33

I have this tank too, got it from Rock a month ago. It seems like the foam method would be the easiest way to get this tank working correctly. Im really just considering paying a shop to cut it open and narrow it before i install it and kill two birds with one stone. I cant weld for **** so? I mean how expensive could it be to have someone do this? even if i drop 300 more im still 600 dollars cheaper than ricks. Thats half the price of my minitub kit

People are getting tanks narrowed for the minitub kits right? or is everyone just biting the bullet or ricks??

cdoggy81

iTrader: (6)

Before I got my Spectra Tank I was going to mod my stock tank with a Tanks Inc unit with the Walbro pump (IIRC)...

tsnow678

iTrader: (3)

Has anyone heard of complaints using the Tanks Inc. setup? If not I know for sure its not the baffle causing the issues. Its the feed to the pan that is the issue. There is no way the Tanks Inc baffling is better than the larger pan in the Spectra. If all it takes is the small little pan to keep the pump wet then I can do that without modifying the tank. I see people have changed out their pumps in the Spectra. Do any of you have the part number that you used? As there are several to choose from. I know the most famous is the Walbro but there a few variations of the 255 pump.

rockytopper

Ok this is some what off topic but from reading the 2 current active threads on here the so called EFI tanks to date aren't perfroming any better than my stock tank with an external walbro pump. My question is why not just install an external surge tank with the inline pump and keep the stock tank? What are the issues or concerns with this approach.

tsnow678

iTrader: (3)

Ilooked into the surge tank setup and it seems to be the best solution. The only hang up with that setup is the plumbing. There will be a pressure line from the tank to the surge, a return back to the tank for overfill, a line to the external pump, one from the pump to the filter/regulator, and a return line from the filter regulator to the surge tank. I would rather have an all in one unit and minimize the plumbing. Its a great idea and would work flawlessly just alot of connections just to get fuel to my rails.

Just got off the phone with the radiator shop and to tig my tank back together and put some sort of liner in it to prevent rust where it was cut and rewelded I am looking at $125. Sounds like my only option except for the foam deal. I am now leaning towards cutting and fixing it right. I will open the holes in the bottom of the pan and add in baffles. I may even cut the pan towards the front to allow fuel to spill over into the pan which will not affect the slosh under power or while turning. I really hate this situation but I am in no position to get a Ricks right now. If and when I decide to cut the tank I will refer back to this thread and post some pictures. Any suggestions on how the baffle should look? I will still go by and check on the drop in units from standard production vehicles today that incorporate the slosh baffle.

futureuser

iTrader: (1)

What a can of worms. Assuming a surge tank is used, could the second return line just be T'ed into the return at the tank? And how big is the surge tank? Does it need to go in the trunk? Could my ecm and wiring harness power 2 pumps?

futureuser

iTrader: (1)

I'm confused about how a foam insert could work without cutting the tank open. Would it be a cylindrical shape to surround the pick up? A horse shoe would just keep it from sloshing away from the pick up in one direction, right?

If we're going to cut it open, wouldn't we want to use this big foam block and cut it to fit?:

http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/p...Fuel_Cell_Foam


Edit: After more searching, turns out this foam has a limited life span that is less than the tank, maybe 3-6 years.

69-er

Anybody chime in if I'm off base here:

I still haven't used this tank yet, but I looked at my old design Spectra tank a while back and the sump has two small holes at the bottom, right? Besides the gas going over the sump wall wall to fill the sump, these two holes are what supply the pump with fuel from the rest of the tank. Correct so far?

These holes are pretty small from what I remember. Maybe 1/4"? (I wish I had my pics to refer to) I can't see how these holes drain the sump fast enough at 1/4 tank to starve the pump. With the level at an inch or so, then I can see this happening.

Instead of enlarging the holes, maybe they should reduced. This would keep the fuel in the sump longer when the fuel tries to flow away from the pump. We need to SLOW the draining of fuel from the sump. The longer it stays in the sump, the longer we can keep the car in a tight turn, longer acceleration, etc.

Of couse, the holes still have to be large enough allow an adequate supply of fuel to keep up with the pump's demands.

I think what needs to be done is to bench test this tank and see how fluids react with the pump with various forces and fuel levels.

69-er

Right, the foam would need to fill the entire tank except inside the sump, unless it could be cut exactly to clear the float.

I can't remember how close to the top of the tank the sump is, but the foam can be squeezed pretty good to fit through the hole in a typical fuel cell. Don't know how well it could be done in this case without cutting open the tank.