OK, so this has been an ongoing battle for many of us. Dealing with the Mickey Mouse fuel delivery system on these cars. I WAS PRETTY SURE I had it handled by stuffing the saddle with fuel cell foam, it worked fine until I went to Roebling Rd. In the relatively long left hander it started acting up. I dumped some fuel in it and sure enough, the problem stopped.
When I got home I pulled out the fuel pump/ sender stuff and sure enough the foam had migrated into the passenger side tank.
I pulled the transfer tube out and pre mounted the foam in the saddle " hoop" tie wrapping it down. Using a large tie wrap, I guided the tube back over the saddle and put it all back together. When I filled the tank, the gage slowly responded which tells me the saddle is now plugged with foam.
This is about the last time for this, I would change it to a cell, but I wanted to use a gauge and all the fuel cells only accommodate GM style gauges.

blacksheep-1 said:

OK, so this has been an ongoing battle for many of us. Dealing with the Mickey Mouse fuel delivery system on these cars. I WAS PRETTY SURE I had it handled by stuffing the saddle with fuel cell foam, it worked fine until I went to Roebling Rd. In the relatively long left hander it started acting up. I dumped some fuel in it and sure enough, the problem stopped.
When I got home I pulled out the fuel pump/ sender stuff and sure enough the foam had migrated into the passenger side tank.
I pulled the transfer tube out and pre mounted the foam in the saddle " hoop" tie wrapping it down. Using a large tie wrap, I guided the tube back over the saddle and put it all back together. When I filled the tank, the gage slowly responded which tells me the saddle is now plugged with foam.
This is about the last time for this, I would change it to a cell, but I wanted to use a gauge and all the fuel cells only accommodate GM style gauges.


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**double post**

Order your cell with a dipstick.
I filled mine carefully 5 gal at a time and filed a groove in the dipstick in 5 gal increments so its easy to see how much fuel I have.

For track days on gasoline you don't need much fuel, you can get one of those round ones that fit in a spare tire well.

Or..or.. I could rip its guts out, put in a fiberglass dash and use analog gauges, maybe along with a 348 pushrod motor

blacksheep-1 said:

Or..or.. I could rip its guts out, put in a fiberglass dash and use analog gauges, maybe along with a 348 pushrod motor

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Let me know, I'll send you a center dash replacement panel if you do.

life's better analog anyways

EDIT, post deleted, sorry, I see you have an S197, so my proposed solution is of no use.

Is there a good (technical) reason nobody has made a stock location fuel cell for these cars?

I would think the issue is the "saddle bags" tank design and being able to use all the fuel in each side without starvation issues in long corners. It seems simpler (and cheaper) to just use a standard "spare tire well" fuel cell, or cut the trunk floor and drop in a regular cell, as many other cars do. I'm sure Fuel Safe, ATL, etc., would be willing to take your money if you wanted them to make a custom cell that fits the stock tank location, but you still have the fuel use/feed problem from each side. Maybe treating each saddle bag as a separate cell with a low-pressure pump, with both pumps feeding a central surge tank would work; but the economics of that total package are really bad vs. using an off-the-shelf cell in the trunk.

i'm not sure how different the s550 is vs the s197 but i added a cheap fuel pump on the passenger side and plumbed it into the crossover port on the fuel bucket and added a toggle switch to turn it on. i used to fuel starve after ~2-3 laps on left handers but this seems to have resolved that

ccnncc99 said:

i'm not sure how different the s550 is vs the s197 but i added a cheap fuel pump on the passenger side and plumbed it into the crossover port on the fuel bucket and added a toggle switch to turn it on. i used to fuel starve after ~2-3 laps on left handers but this seems to have resolved that

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For the S550 and S650, the KPM fuel pump solves this issue, too. The Ford Racing driving school cars all have them now. I don't think they have one for black sheep-1's car, though.

I'm sort of looking at the 2011 or so plastic tank, apparently it has a higher "fence" around the fuel pump.. We'll see, I'm going to drop tit to 1/4 of a tank and try it again in a few weeks, then I'll make a move.
It's kind of like, if this works, awesome, if it doesn't just go total mongo, get a cell, pushrod motor and fiberglass dash, not really wanting to do that..maybe..kinda.. but it's definitely on the radar.
I've built a ton of 348s with Gt40 heads and alphabet cams that are good for 325-350HP all day long. I use a GM HEI for the distributor. a Holley 780, and get rid of all the star wars stuff you can't easily fix at the track.

Dave_W said:

I would think the issue is the "saddle bags" tank design and being able to use all the fuel in each side without starvation issues in long corners. It seems simpler (and cheaper) to just use a standard "spare tire well" fuel cell, or cut the trunk floor and drop in a regular cell, as many other cars do. I'm sure Fuel Safe, ATL, etc., would be willing to take your money if you wanted them to make a custom cell that fits the stock tank location, but you still have the fuel use/feed problem from each side. Maybe treating each saddle bag as a separate cell with a low-pressure pump, with both pumps feeding a central surge tank would work; but the economics of that total package are really bad vs. using an off-the-shelf cell in the trunk.

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Keeping fuel out of the car is a big benefit for dual use cars. I have a surge tank in my RTR and I need a firewall because if it (and unfortunately Watson quit making them).

Bouncing Soul said:

Keeping fuel out of the car is a big benefit for dual use cars. I have a surge tank in my RTR and I need a firewall because if it (and unfortunately Watson quit making them).

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This guy makes them so cheap I quit making them: https://scottrodfab.com/20-interior

Good stuff! Anyone know how close a S197 and S550 are back there? I’d sure like to find an easy button!

Bouncing Soul said:

Good stuff! Anyone know how close a S197 and S550 are back there? I’d sure like to find an easy button!

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The easy button is to purchase a premade close out panel. That Scott Rod one is super cheap and fancy, but aimed at drag racers so its very thin material. (.040)
I have been making them out of thicker aluminum (.060) with a much nicer fit, meant for the rigors of road racing but bay area prices for CNC bending and laser cutting these days has driven the cost up so much that I don't bother marketing them.
I just include one with every cage that I build and I'm too old to do cages any more so if you want one PM me. It would be the last one ever. (s197 only)

Radium surge to compensate.

Did you make those lines to the radium surge yourself?

Yes and no, actually I mounted and welded.
Norms Tuning ( ex Hennessy employee) is extremely fluent in high HP designs and since I have to the use stock saddle tank I assumed low fueling in turns would be an issue. So I asked him about surge tank for drifting. Hosing and fitting you can obtain from Radium or any racing supplier. BTW this surge tank has a pump also.So main pump on then dash switch for Radion