7 replies to this topic

[runkthepunk]

Hello

Myself and my girlfriend are planning a few long drives next year (whether they'll come to pass or not is another matter) but the range of the standard fuel tank is troublesome and I was wondering how easy it is to install a second tank/

I do not want it to be a 'twin tank' mini as in i do not want two fuel caps visible but still have the second tank inside the boot has anyone else done this?

Obviously I know I will lose boot space but lets be honest its not a huge amount to begin with, I guess converting will be the same as a twin tank set-up minus cutting holes in the body and then removing the tank neck etc.

If anyone has any advice or links to any good instructions that would be great

Rob

Edited by runkthepunk, 25 December 2008 - 06:39 PM.

[Dan]

The two tanks are connected by a 1/4" pipe, it takes ages to fill both through one filler neck. If you fit a standard right hand tank with the filler removed and have to fill it through the left hand neck every time you'll be cursing your choice when you're standing at the pump.

How much range are you getting? It should be about 300 - 350 miles to a tank.

[runkthepunk]

The two tanks are connected by a 1/4" pipe, it takes ages to fill both through one filler neck. If you fit a standard right hand tank with the filler removed and have to fill it through the left hand neck every time you'll be cursing your choice when you're standing at the pump.

How much range are you getting? It should be about 300 - 350 miles to a tank.

Thanks for the reply

Well its no where near 300 - 350 I swear its more like 200 max its really very poor. I am going to have the car rolling roaded at mini Sport at some point so hopefully that will help a lot.

I guess I could still have a filler neck but it would have to be inside the boot with the tank itself which could be a bit tricky. I will have to have the tank fabricated anyway and I suppose they could do whatever I ask for within reason but pouring fuel directly into the boot seem like a recipe for disaster at some stage

Anyone got any other ideas for larger fuel capacity? how about fitting a van tank? did they have larger capacity?

Rob

Edited by runkthepunk, 26 December 2008 - 11:40 AM.

[Dan]

The van tank is smaller than your late model saloon tank, it's 6 gallons and yours is 7.5 (32-ish litres available space). There's nowhere in a saloon to fit a van tank anyway, it lives under the longer van floor. How much can you usually fill up with? Many people just fill up when the fuel gauge gets near the bottom and don't actually realise how much fuel can fit into the tank. If you are filling up with less than 30 litres, leave it a bit longer next time before you go to the pump.

Edited by Dan, 26 December 2008 - 11:47 AM.

[runkthepunk]

The van tank is smaller than your late model saloon tank, it's 6 gallons and yours is 7.5 (32-ish litres available space). There's nowhere in a saloon to fit a van tank anyway, it lives under the longer van floor. How much can you usually fill up with? Many people just fill up when the fuel gauge gets near the bottom and don't actually realise how much fuel can fit into the tank. If you are filling up with less than 30 litres, leave it a bit longer next time before you go to the pump.

Its hard to tell as I have not filled it right up very often but I do go off the fuel gauge reading, I put in 18 litres the other day and the fuel gauge was right down hovering above the red line then when I filled it up the gauge was right to the very top. The tank is a modern tank with the funny metal slot thing inside it so you don't put the nozzle all the way inside the tank (like my old mini!)

Maybe my fuel gauge is wrong as well as all my other dials!

Rob

[mk1leg]

Why not have a special tank made from alloy if your not worried about boot space..............

[runkthepunk]

Why not have a special tank made from alloy if your not worried about boot space..............

This is something I am going to look into, I think it should be relatively straight forward for someone with the skills to add some kind of filler hole/neck that is easily accessible without being dangerous so I can fill the tank rather than wait for it to self level. I just wonder if someone else has done all this before? I bet someone has nearly everything has been done to a mini!

[Dan]

The problem seems to be that you are only using a little over half your fuel before filling up, that is usually the issue when people ask this question which comes up fairly often. The gauge probably isn't wrong, you just need to learn how it reads. The needle can go a lot lower than you think. I don't know of any car of any make that has a completely accurate fuel gauge, measuring the remaining available quanitity in a tank is actually fairly hard. All car fuel gauges have sections that seem to read badly and you just have to get used to how yours works. If the gauge is broken it is usually caused by a broken sender unit track and often shows up as a dead spot on the gauge. The sender is easily replaced if that's the case but you'll want to run the fuel very low first.