Wrisley's Buggy

[Leatherneck]

Hard to say but if your running foam inside it should be fairly wet unless your close to empty anyway.

[59Bisquik]

Depending on the bowl or side hill you are on, quite a bit could slosh to the side. Even with 15 gallons, once it starts getting in the 1/4 tank range, you could start having issues. Since it isnt ordered yet, I would make sure it has a sump. Im pretty sure the fuel cells can have one or you could have one added by somebody else. Outfront Motorsports did my original sump on my old tank I had and Pacific Customs made me a brand new one recently.

You should pull the fuel return line off and see how much fuel circulates through that system while running. Might give you an idea about the importance of the sump.

[cwrisley]

Problem solved. I talked with Wayne who owns RCI and he is gonna have his guys build me a custom cell including sump. Best part is, he beat Jegs "off the shelf" price. Good people out there in Texas!!

[Devastator]

I run a small, (1 cup), external sump on mine with a spun alum. tank. It works well enough as long as I keep the tank above 1/4. It works below 1/4 as long as I don't get too "bouncy".
Artec makes some nice stuff. They are about 2 miles from my house and I know the guys working there. Do you think they'd make you an aluminum mount if you called and asked?

[cwrisley]

Aluminum would look super cool, but I am going to use the mounts to secure the cell to the car. Welding on tabs and the like. And, it gives me some bitchin real estate to tack on the mount for the fuel pump.

Frame fab for the radiator begins this week. Competitive Metals, here I come.....

[rickosuave1987]

My 2 cents on which side to put the fill neck on... Put it on the side that matches your tow rig if you tow on an open trailer... Can't count the times I have had to fill the truck and then make a loop around to fill the baja because the filler neck is on the passenger side...

[Ol'fogasaurus]

My 2 cents on which side to put the fill neck on... Put it on the side that matches your tow rig if you tow on an open trailer... Can't count the times I have had to fill the truck and then make a loop around to fill the baja because the filler neck is on the passenger side...

What a great idea!!!!! I tow with the toy facing backwards so that needs to be taken into consideration also.

I run center mounted fuel inlets because I like to side hill. If you end up with an end fill tank and like to side hill, figure out which side of your buggy usually ends on the up hill side and have your fill there. My old tank, a stock VW tank would leak through the cap when the nose any lower than flat. when side hilling or when sitting and it was warm out (expansion).



(this was taken from the bottom of the hill so the hill looks flatter than it really is)

I have a tendency, opposite when I sailed, to have the passenger side up as I am more comfortable that way for some reason. In a sail boat I did not like to steer from the low side A-toll.

if you stall or stop on a hill, when side hilling, it is harder to get out on the upper side but on a steep dune, getting out on the lower side you can find yourself motating down the hill quickly one way or another w/o meaning to. Also, it is harder to fill the tank from the low side of the toy and get much in; very awkward to say the least.

Lee

[Devastator]

It's been ages since I got stuck on the side of a dune.

[Ol'fogasaurus]

The one time I was talking about stopping on the face of a dune sideways to it was done on purpose. It was to know what to do if something happened for real. It allowed me to chose a spot that I was comfortable with so I would be in a position where I was in control if it happened for real. I had been told about it and what to do but actually doing it and feeling what is was like was a lot different than just being told about it and what it felt like. I was also checking the new sump to see if the problems of oil starvation at an angle had been solved; it was.

When facing a dune: the hitting the negative part of a sine of the dune is so weird: instead of being thrown into the hill/dune like when riding in a bowl and gravity throwing you against the face of the bowl on the sine part of the dune face you have to lift some on the loud pedal otherwise you get light weight and gravity pulls you down the face of the hill facing the direction you were traveling in farther down and faster than normal. If there happens to be an Aw $#it area of the dune below you and you start heading very quickly towards it sideways it can make your other cheeks pucker big time (this is how brown diamonds are created). Leaning to read all this can be daunting/intimidating (stretching the meaning of the words a bit) at times.

Doing some of those things for practice... that you think never will happen to you does come in handy once-in-a-while. I got into one of those situations where I got towards the top of a dune then someone drove across the top in front of me and I had to back off so I wouldn't hit him/her and started to dig in down to the pan. The dune face and crown was soft after a big wind and I had to hit the turning brakes, floor the throttle and feather it at the same time while having a choke hold on the turning brake which allowed me to ride with the sand down the face of the dune sideways finally getting out when the sand stopped flowing and not buried. My youngest stepson was behind me and saw it happen. He thought I was going over sideways but staying with it and kind of knowing what the feeling was like (from practice) sure helped.

Lee

[jt1967]

Come on Wrisley we need updates

[cwrisley]

Haha, I know! Not much has happened lately. Collecting parts and working OT like the slut that I am. Plus, the holidays have really slowed me down. I enjoy the season but it hampers my garage time!!

[Ol'fogasaurus]

"When facing a dune: the hitting the negative part of a sine of the dune is so weird..."

I'm not sure if this was clear as usually the negative part of a sine wave would be thought of as below level but in this case it is just the opposite. As I said, in a bowl situation centrifugal forces press you into the side compressing the suspension but on a curve that turns into the hill you get light weight which allows gravity to pull you down the hill. If you ever do it, especially if it is a big change at more than too much of a crawl the sensation has a very strange feeling and if there is an obstacle anywhere below you, you are probably going to drift down to it or so it seems.

If you get to the southern Oregon dunes and face Saunders hill there is such a place on the left face of it (based on facing towards the northern face of the dune. There is also a slope angle change at the same time.

Lee

[cwrisley]

So, what are the real pitfalls of having a 90 degree bend AN fitting in your fuel system? I've read a lot about avoiding the 90 AN fitting for turbulence reasons (in theory), but is there any evidence or experience out there? It sure would be slick if I put a 90 on my new fuel cell...

[Devastator]

I run a few 90 deg AN fittings on mine without any problems at all.

[cwrisley]

Thanks Devastator. I had a feeling it was mostly FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt).