Thinking of making my own fuel block...

I'm thinking of getting a chunk of the B stuff and drilling some holes into it so i can run mulitiple fuel lines. On the after market ones the body seems to be hollowed out more than just the size of the inlet thread size. Does it matter if the body isnt hollowed out and you just have the one size all the way though?

 

you can run the same size all the way thru the unit. won't cause any problems. just remember that most fittings are tapered pipe thread and you need to use the proper tap.


jerry

 

I used hex aluminum bar stock. All the same size holes.

Mutt

 

Tapered Pipe Thread can be a Pain in the Ass.
I usually drill the holes 1 size larger than what the chart specifies.
Or drill the hole to half depth,one size larger,then drill through with the "prpoer" size.

 

Thanks for the info guys.. I didnt even snap to needing a pipe thread tap..I like your set up Mutt i might have to steal your idea it would clean up the engine bay a whole bunch.

 

[ QUOTE ]

Tapered Pipe Thread can be a Pain in the Ass.
I usually drill the holes 1 size larger than what the chart specifies.
Or drill the hole to half depth,one size larger,then drill through with the "prpoer" size.


[/ QUOTE ]

Cool one Unkl Ian . . . that's one I never thought of.
Course that don't mean much - the thinking part that is....

I've made them from hex, round and square ranging from two to six carbs.
All of those drilled and the tap started in the lathe.
If you were careful you could drill the long center hole in an accurate drill press and some careful centering etc.
I wouldn't try to go any farther than say three carb outlets though. Unless you had lots of aluminum and were willing to take a couple of shots at it.

Do yourself a favor and drill the long hole almost all the way through.
Stop short so there is sufficient material for a 1/8-NPT thread at the far end.
Drill and tap that for 1/8-NPT and tap your fuel pressure gauge off that. Install a pressure isolater so you don't have a pressurized line full of fuel in the passenger compt.

The long style fuel logs are pretty self explanatory.
If you do a firewall mount fuel block, use some rectangular stock and drill it for hold down screws - 10-24 and the like.

You can also do a fuel block out of round stock similar to what's shown on the bench in the pic below.
It has two #6 inlets and one #8 outlet.
Done that way cuz the fuel cell in use had #6 outlets at each end of the cell and we figured the #6 didn't have the fuel flow capacity we wanted.
The block pictured mounts with three 10-32 machine screws into tapped holes on the underside of a flat crossmember.

Taking this design a little farther, you could bandsaw it out of 3/4" or so flat stock, have one inlet and two outlets branching off into a "Y" for dual carbs and have a centrally drilled hole for mounting.

A little perusal in the Weatherhead fittings section of your favorite parts store will show several pieces that will allow you to bolt together a fuel block.
Take that a little farther and you can set up a polished stainless line, brass T fuel block setup.

You're only limited by your imagination.

 

Hey C9 i'm running a fuel cell too with i beleive the #6 ends. I ran the braided hose all the way up to the firewall. but after that i have a bunch of 3/8 rubber fuel line. way to much rubber fuel line..I had an offy fuel block with my pressure gauge on the last hole but somehow it got stripped out during assembly and it leaks pretty bad.
I have a friend who is a metal shop teacher so i was going to try and get in there to drill the holes i'll have to see if he can do the lathe tapping trick i was just going to wrestle with it on the bench.
Man i'm glad there is a bunch of brains to pick here i would of already messed up a few things.

 

You might be able to drill and tap the Offy block for 1/4" NPT,
fill the hole with a 1/4" pipe hex plug,
then drill and tap the plug for 1/8 NPT to fit the gauge.

 

Jay, If you look carefully at mine, you'll see a T at the rear and a fuel pressure gauge. The regulator is below the gauge in the line. The front is also tapped so that I could pump fuel if someone ran out while we were out for a ride. I connect to the carbs with rubber hose just long enough to let the fittings touch inside, to relieve the strain on the hose, and eliminate vibration.


Mutt