Mini restoration project, the fuel system

PART 2/ THE FUEL SYSTEM

Here she is....

Read - Diary of a Mini Restoration with Performance Upgrade - PART 1

Following on from Part 1, about the body shell, suspension and brakes -

I made the decision to go for an aluminium fuel tank that fits into the spare wheel well in the boot of the car. This allowed the tank to be mounted more centrally in the car for better weight distribution. The tank is foam filled to stop fuel surge (info here about the fuel tank foam cubes). This positioning of the fuel tank also makes it easier to remove if need be and allows easy fitment of Goodridge 236 -6JIC fuel fittings and the VDO range of Dip-Type fuel level sensors.

The tank was custom made by Concept Racing. At Merlin we do supply Forge and OBP fuel tanks along with all the accessories, however for my own needs Concept Racing had just the right shape and size to fit.

Below - VDO dip-type fuel level sensor, the fuel lines which were made using the Goodridge 236 -6JIC Black Series plus the Goodridge 210 Series Black Hose (the aim was to make it all look as neat as possible).

The fuel pump I chose is a Walbro fuel injection pump along with the nice aluminium fuel pump mounting bracket. I also used a Sytec 'Bullet' fuel filter prior to the fuel pump.

The bullet fuel filter is pretty simple but effective. Its a billet aluminium bodied fuel filter fitted in line before the fuel pump. The filter element inside is replaceable and so are the seals so whilst it's not an inexpensive item it is not a 'throw-away' item, it can be used again and again. Plus it was the only filter I could really find with -6JIC fittings on to fit straight into the fuel lines. It was a simpler solution to fit than me messing around with other brands that I am not familiar with.

The fuel tank needed to be filled from inside the boot which is rather messy and a little bit of a pain to do in a rush so I used a Smarty Flush Fitting Fuel Cap that fitted really neatly to the exterior bodywork, I used some of our 51mm aluminium tube and our universal aluminium bends to make up a fuel filler neck.

I then joined the fuel cap to the neck and the neck to the tank using the new Samco Pro-Fuel silicone hoses and clamped this all up with our Norma GBS stainless steel pipe clamps.