Thread: Bad Ast Astro Van Build

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Last week was pretty busy for the van. Lots of things coming together. The fuel tank is all tacked up (and it looks pretty cool...). I wish I could take some pictures but cameras are not allowed in the fab shop.
I brought the bottom home to add some holes for the fuel pickup sump and build the inner baffles for the fuel sump and fuel level sender.
We bent the sump up using pieces of scrap leftover from cutting out the tank. Lots of aluminum to play with.
We cut an angle on the front side of the sump. We had to clamp some steel angles to the bent sides to support them during cutting.
http://images53.fotki.com/v666/photo...MVC002F-vi.jpg
Here is the hole pattern laid out and I have drilled one hole. You can see the internal baffles mocked into position. These will be welded inside the bottom of the tank.
http://images112.fotki.com/v681/phot...MVC009F-vi.jpg
And all of the holes drilled and deburred. I used one of those step drills. I should have waited for the Rotobroaches I ordered last week to come in but I wanted to get this done.
http://images109.fotki.com/v786/phot...MVC004F-vi.jpg
What you see here is the pick up sump set on the bottom of the tank. This will collect fuel thru all of those drain holes I drilled and should be very effective as an anti-starvation device. The pick up fittings will be welded into the left hand verticle wall of the sump. This will be at the very rear of the van.
http://images16.fotki.com/v368/photo...MVC005F-vi.jpg
Another angle. This is the "front" of the sump looking at the angled face we cut in the bandsaw pic.
http://images55.fotki.com/v586/photo...MVC006F-vi.jpg
This pic shows the sump and tank bottom mocked up as they will be in the van. The two small holes are where the weld bungs will be. I'll drill those out after I get the bungs I ordered from Summit this morning.
http://images109.fotki.com/v786/phot...MVC006F-vi.jpg
With this stuff done I will haul it all into work tomorrow and let the fab shop have their way with it. The tank is going to look very nice. I just hope it works...
Mark