Real Fiero Tech

ericjon262 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 19, 2022 9:55 pm Browsing ballenger motorsports for some relays, I saw this:

https://www.bmotorsports.com/shop/produ ... ts_id/5098

https://www.bmotorsports.com/shop/produ ... 7B50%7D248

https://www.bmotorsports.com/shop/produ ... ts_id/5163

The terminals in the kit are about 3x larger than the racetronix part with a total of 6 positions! I'm ordering one and if it fits on the sender, may use it instead of the racetronix part.

Snazzy!

It looks like it needs a specialty bung that's either weld-in or bolt-in... Doesn't look like there's an option to just install it into a hole in the tank like there is with the production version you already have.

that is a downside for sure, I may be able to work with it though, I have a few tricks up my sleeve I'm considering with this.

I have both connectors in hand, the ballenger part definitely won't be easy to make work on the car, I think I'll stick with the Racetronix part for now, and have the ballenger part on hand for other shenanigans.

Any pics installed yet?

Shaun41178(2) wrote: ↑Tue Aug 16, 2022 12:03 am Any pics installed yet?

Not yet. I'm waiting on Rodney's new fuel tanks to be available, then I'll install a new sender in the tank and put it in the car.

Nice find on that connector, looks to be basically plug and play. Bookmarked the store page

I too thought of contacting Rodney for a tank, but I might just modify mine. I'd like a good backup though in case I screw my tank up.

Any idea on availability from Rodney? I checked his website long ago about it but haven't lately

Anyone have an idea how much clearance there is above the gas tank when installed?

Shaun41178(2) wrote: ↑Tue Aug 16, 2022 8:07 pm Anyone have an idea how much clearance there is above the gas tank when installed?

Probably not much, The tanks have those 2 thin rubber strips that push against the bottom of the center tunnel.

I guess I'll have to buy some Play-Doh or something. I want to install a 90 degree an fitting in the fuel hat

Shaun41178(2) wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 9:05 am I guess I'll have to buy some Play-Doh or something. I want to install a 90 degree an fitting in the fuel hat

https://aeromotiveinc.com/product/phant ... el-system/

Shaun41178(2) wrote: ↑Tue Aug 16, 2022 6:14 pm I too thought of contacting Rodney for a tank, but I might just modify mine. I'd like a good backup though in case I screw my tank up.

Any idea on availability from Rodney? I checked his website long ago about it but haven't lately

they've been delayed over and over, he was hoping to have them ready about now, but he also said he would be out of town, so it would have to wait until he got back. I'm really hoping to get my hands on one soon, I'd like to make some permanent fixes to my fuel system.

I just looked and Rodney made zero changes to design. . I understand his business model is to make replica parts for many things but the fuel tank he could have changed to allow for the pump location to be further back

The factory location doesn't allow for a larger hole to be drilled to fit dual pumps. I would have done it differently but then again I'm not interested in going through the process since I'm not in the fiero business.

Maybe we could talk about the internal baffling in the stock tank and how it works. I am assuming it's to keep all the fuel from rushing to the back under hard acceleration? But at the same time allows equilibrium to the whole tank with small holes in the baffling?

Then the stock pump hanger/module wouldn't fit. Not only would Rodney then be on the hook for the updated pump hanger, he'd also have to listen to 95% of tank buyers bitch about why he "couldn't just make stuff that fits". You can always get a custom tank or fuel cell made... it's been done.

As far as internal baffling goes, it's just like an oil sump. The fluid needs to make it to the pickup at the rate of consumption, but must be prevented from flowing away from the pickup so fast that horizontal acceleration uncovers the pickup

This is a bad shot of the very basic "swirl chamber"/"fuel sump" in an E30 tank:

The Dark Side of Will wrote: ↑Sun Jun 23, 2013 3:43 am End of return line in swirl chamber with my brake line and hose nipple:

Fiero tank has plastic baffling. At least mine does. When I pull my tank my baffling moves around. I can put my hand down the hole and move it back and forth a bit and one small part near the top broke off long ago.

I have maxed out my in tank pump system. At least with my current factory wiring and running e85.

I thought of sumping it, but the sumps hang 3 inches lower than the factory tank. I'd have no ground clearance so I have about ruled that out.

I could try upgrading all my factory wiring with new wiring from links in this thread thanks to Eric, and see if that maybe gives an extra volt or two to the pump, but I have no idea how much the pump is getting as that's hard to measure while putting a load on it.

I could drop my ethanol content down to 60 or 70% which would give me some more head room.

I could try to install a 90 degree AN fitting on the top of the factory hat, run a tube down into the tank as a sump, and run an external pump. But don't know how much clearance I have at the top of the tank. But I suppose I might be able to not push the tank up all the way to give me my needed clearance.

My sender had a bottleneck right at the pump discharge, I cut it out and swaged the tube a bit. I'm not sure it helped anything, but it's not impossible.

ericjon262 wrote: ↑Sat Jun 27, 2020 1:42 am
here's a shot of the part of the fuel sender I cut off. you can see it's super tiny...

The Dark Side of Will wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 9:42 am

Shaun41178(2) wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 9:05 am I guess I'll have to buy some Play-Doh or something. I want to install a 90 degree an fitting in the fuel hat

https://aeromotiveinc.com/product/phant ... el-system/

$600+ and not provisions for a level sensor... I think we can do better.

Yea mine had that too. It's designed for 3/8th hose. Pump output uses same size hose. I left mine as is

I also thought of drilling a hole around this location on the tank where it angles from the vertical to horizontal, and welding a steel bung and of course using an external pump at that point, and use the factory feed line as the return at that point

Some dude on Old Europe used a remote sump with the pressure pump in it, relegating the in-tank pump to duty as a lift pump to keep the remote sump full.

How much current does your fuel pump pull? IE, what size fuse will run it? You may have some voltage drop across old crappy bulkhead connectors, but I'd have to run actual numbers to see if running bigger wire would help you out

Yea, I looked at those fuel surge tank setups from Radium engineering. They aren't cheap, and I would need a dual pump in it, plus find a place to mount it.

Walbro claims I am pulling around 16 amps or so at the fuel pressure I am running. I believe I have a 20 amp fuse for the pump. I was running a 10, when I first installed it, but it blew that fuse under a 5th gear pull on the highway but was fine for months before that and even Dyno time was fine with a 10 amp. But obviously if my voltage is not at 13 volts, then that means I am probably pulling more amps. When voltage goes down amps go up right? Ohms law right?

I am using all the stock wiring from the c203. So I have a 30 amp relay keyed off the ignition with a 14 gauge running to the battery terminal c500 location. The relay is behind my driver's seat, and the wire to the pump is spliced into just before the c203, where the aldl connector was at to hotwire test the pump for diagnosis.

So I am running through the c203, running through the bulkhead, going through the pump connector just inside the engine compartment, and then all the factory wiring to the pump hat, and factory wiring inside the tank itself.

So I was doing work on my buddies 240sx grm $2000 car as it was running bad normal driving. I was able to hook up a vom and his pump was only getting 10.8 volts through old factory wiring. I did the hotwire eliminating all the factory wiring and it's running great now.

I just don't know where my voltage is at for the fiero. There are so many connectors for it to drop voltage at, us the old factory wiring that is maybe 16 gauge? Or is it 18? I don't know