OK - please tell me if I am missing something obvious - would it not be safe to assume (!) that the foam that comes in fuel cells does not come apart when exposed to gas? Granted, our tank is ~ 20 years old - but who would have thought? It was fine for the first 10 years - car has sat for about 10 years (heated garage). We tried to start it up - and we had fuel starvation problems - I put my hand in the fuel cell (foam looked fine); but it totally turned to mush in my hand - and boy was that fun to clean out of everything. I guess you learn something everyday...
It does happen. I remember last year on the HRPT there was a guy with a fuel cell and an in tank pump. half way through the tour his pump went out. he had no pre pump filter which is a pretty good idea with the in tank pumps. foam killed the pump, and this was in a less than 1 yr old cell.
the gas around our area goofs up all kinds of stuff....and eats that foam up pretty bad......a pre filter is the only way to go....another small one before the carb probably isn't a bad idea either....brandon
I don't think it is meant to last 20 or even 10 yrs. I assume you put new gas in it, and that is probably the real culprit. I put a old f/glass flat track tank on my m/c and this new gas, with mtbe and who knows what other additives, actually turned the f/glass soft.
we got some coming back from the hot rod reunion in 05 that softened up the supply line in the tank of my anglia .....swelled it up enough to let me fall off a barbed fitting....and it stunk like something nasty..... brandon
My experience from my roundy round days is that it should be replaced after two or three years, max. It does deteriorate. One year seems pretty quick though.
I believe there is a difference between foam for methanol and foam for gas also, and they aren't compatible.
In a road race car you have to replace the foam every few years in a cell. I do not remember how long it is good for. I would call the cell manufacture and ask them.
Man! I know your car, its been a long time since ive seen it at Back to the 50's, i watched Big Daddy Ed Roth Paint the Rat fink on the Decklid. That was awesome.
No, it's any blend of gas. Alky is even worse (even with the correct foam). When I was roadracing for a living it was common practice to replace it twice a season. My .02, if I was gonna run a cell on the street, I'd ditch the foam and just run a duck foot pickup. The only purpose the foam serves is to reduce sloshing.
First thing to do when you get a new fuel cell is pull out the foam!! All of the foam will turn to mush sooner or later. Save a lot of headaches by ditching it. I've seen some very expensive motors destroyed by rotten foam. Clogged pumps, carbs and injectors are not good. It does however make nice packing material!
Old foam and today's gas (if ya' wanta' call it that) don't mix. Race teams periodically change the foam in their cells. After the fuel has been drained out and the foam smells sour, time to replace. Seems like leaded racing fuel has less of an effect on the foam than pump gas. Also, for what it's worth. At the end of this NASCAR Racing season, there will be a BUNCH of 22 gallon fuel cells on the market. Next year they'll be using an 18 gallon cell. These 22 gallon cells will probably show up on Ebay and other auctions for sale.
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