The tank came from tiger unpainted, so a coat of paint was applied. Then came the awkward job of bolting it to the chassis. The manual is a bit vague on positioning, I decided to fit it as close to the parcel shelf upright as I could to give maximum room to play with between the filler neck and the body work. To prevent vibration and chaffing with the chassis I stuck plenty of rubbery strips on the chassis rails to cushion the tank. Then came the tricky bit, how to make the tank straps work. I think the diagram explains the construction:
- Tank strap diagram
- Tank picture 1 shows tank and strap from above
- Tank picture 2 show bracket underneath and position of fuel pump
The tank strap worked OK. But wasn't brilliant…. I might re-work it eventually.
Pump/Filter/Regulator: As I have used a Zetec engine I needed an electric fuel pump (The Pinto engine comes with a mechanical one). The set-up is as follows:
Luckily my dad had a pump lying around in his garage
(as you do) that I could have, after a bit of research I finally got hold of the specification and found it was adequate for the job (bonus). An in-line filter is needed to keep the crap from the fuel tank out of the system. Some people fit a second in-line filter at the carburettor end as well. The regulator is needed because the carburettors would not cope properly with the pressure form the pump on their own.Routing the copper fuel line was done pretty much as the brake lines were (except down the opposite side of the chassis tunnel). I used a length of unused copper brake pipe to model the shape needed then bent the actual fuel line on the bench. I didn't flare the ends, partly because I didn't have the 1/4 inch adapter for the tool and partly because the carburettor pump isn't very high pressure (unlike an injection pump) so I could get away without flaring.
I mounted the filter on the chassis rail below the tank outlet, and the pump is mounted just to the rear of this on the cross rail. The regulator is mounted on the rail below the brake master cylinder.
Hose Tip: A lot of people know this already, but there is always someone in the dark: To fit rubberised hoses that are a tight fit; get a jar or glass, fill it with boiling water, leave the end of the hose to be fitted in the water for 30 seconds or so, put a bit of washing-up liquid on the union to be fitted then push the 2 together…it should go on a lot easier.
Hose Tip II: Screwfix do a section pack of hose clips for about a tenner… you get through a lot on the build
Induction & ignition: This was a big decision, I had decided on a carburettor system as I had a pre 1995 Zetec engine (1995 on has stricter emissions limits for the SVA test). But which system to go with. The options were:
- Alpha / Webber kit
- Omex EMU
Which side draft carbs to go with was pretty straight forward as Tiger do a pair of Webber 45 DCOE's at a very good price (£395+VAT). The Engine Management decision was a trickier one. Alpha do a full kit (carbs+manifold+EMU+sensors) at a good price but the reputation that they have for customer support leaves a lot to be desired so I was put off by that route. I have heard good things about the Omex EMU and heard that the customer support was OK, I nearly went down this road. The Emerald option was a bit of an unknown, I hadn't heard very much about the system or what the support was like so didn't go in that direction.
I had ordered my twin DCOE 45's from Tiger and was looking for a manifold (Tiger wanted £140+VAT !!). I had already used Dunnell Engines for some parts and have been impressed by their quality and service so I contacted them. Talking to Dunnell he persuaded me to look at their Clubman kit. The kit comprised the EMU, inlet manifold, Webber mounting kit, manual (which is very good and well written) and exhaust manifold plate, exhaust and inlet gaskets for a price of £550+VAT. Having seen the quality of their kit before with my sump and flywheel and been pleased with their service I took the plunge and ordered.
To Be Continued….
