Was checking some things today & noticed a couple of the fuel pump wires were loose. When I went to tighten them, the rubber insulators were very soft. Upon further inspection, this is what I found... Todd used well nuts as insulators where the fuel pump & sender wires go through the tank & looks like the fuel has deteriorated the rubber. You can't see it in the picture, but 2 of the 3 have literally dripped down inside the tank leaving black gooey rubber on the side & bottom of the tank.
There has to be a better way to pass the wires through; any suggestions?
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Are these pass through holes on the side or bottom of the tank such that they spend part of their life submerged in gas? If so I would stay away from that. Mine are in the top of my tank and the way I did it was weld a boss to the tank that is tapped for a 3/8 pipe thread. I then drilled a brass pipe pulg large enough to pass my wires trough with some clearance and filled the hole in the plug with epoxy. The length of the wires on the external end of the plug are short and terminated with a connector and the internal wires are the length they need to be to reach the fuel pump. I have had this in place for at least 10 years without problems. I don't know if the epoxy and wire insulation interface would hold up if it were submerged.
Here are some pictures of the first one I made. I was wrong in my first post in that I used a 1/2 inch pipe and not 3/8. In this one I also had a two wire connector on the fuel side of the plug. I don't recall why I changed but I now just have two wires with an individual terminal on each wire. The external connector is the same as the one I use now. The first picture shows the epoxy fill. I drilled a large hole through and then two cross holes for the two wires.
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I like that a lot better Dale. The well nuts are on the side of the tank so submerged if full and definitely getting sloshed most of the time. There is an access panel on the top that I could do something similar to what you did but it'll be submerged some too because the filler tube is the highest point.
How's your car coming?
Rob, have you contacted Todd for any instructions or fix?
Jacques
called and left him a message yesterday. Will see if he calls back or has a solution already. I'm really interested to see if the ones Brian is selling have been updated.
I have the same fill tube situation that you do and I am not having any problems. I actually think it would be OK even if it were submerged.
I had the car on the drag strip for about 6 weeks. A week ago I started getting it ready to finish the body work and paint it. Still a lot of work to do.
There's always a lot of work Dale but glad you had it back out on the strip.
What would you do to fill the existing holes? There are 3 holes about 1/2" each. I can't weld aluminum; can the bungs be soldered in?
Rob, You would have to weld them in if the tank is aluminum. My tank is aluminum and I had them welded in at a welding shop that does good work for me.
Thanks for the info Dale. Todd replied on the MG Experience board. Apparently I'm not the only one who's had this well nut failure issue. Looks like he came up with a fix yesterday using a Teflon bolt set up. No pics but says he'll have the parts in this week and will mail the fix kit to those who've had the failure. Looking forward to seeing what he came up with.
Teflon would be a pretty good choice because it will squish out and conform to the hole. It's less than ideal because... it will squish out and loosen up. For long term durability it has to be contained mechanically, meaning it isn't great for spacers and washers. In my opinion UHMW would be a better choice, possibly even polyurethane, but teflon does have very good durability. You might want to check it a couple times a year for leakage, and not tighten it down too tight.
JB