Fuel bladders?

[jahillsr]

Hi, I have a Protoform P2 and am looking for a fuel bladder for my can. 4-5 gal. I would appreciate any suggestions of where to get one.

TIA!

[EricP]

I don’t know if that would be a pre-made deal but if you need custom, I couldn’t be happier with the service from Eagle.

http://www.eaglefuelcells.com/

[jahillsr]

Thank you for your referral. Did you have a new one made or a repair of an existing bladder?

I don’t know if that would be a pre-made deal but if you need custom, I couldn’t be happier with the service from Eagle.

http://www.eaglefuelcells.com/

[Bobsy SR 6]

+1 on Eagle. They made mine, sent them my old one. Fit perfectly and priced fairly

[veeten]

Fred Clark Racing is Pyrotech dealer.
I have bought several Protoform Cells
from him .
A added benefit is they can reuse the old hardware
at a savings.
Fred Clark 904 234 5603 cell#

[Garey Guzman]

Thank you for your referral. Did you have a new one made or a repair of an existing bladder?

Eagle has done 3 for me. I sent them all in for hardware reuse but one was custom to a drawing, the other two were to fit in existing aluminum covers. Seemed like a great price for the work and end product.

[99sh]

I went with Eagle as well. The fit and finish was perfect and comparable to the ATL bladders I have bought in the past. FYI - ATL charges $1500 NRE for any custom tank off the bat. Way too pricey if you ask me, and I've heard their fit is not good on custom units.



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[S Lathrop]

I recommend Eagle as well they have done a lot of cells for my various cars. They are top quality.

I do not recommend ATL because of very bad experience I have had with their products and staff on several occasions.

I had customers thinking about compromising structural members to make cells fit even when ATL had drawings from me for the cells. What they built did not meet the dimensions on the drawings.

Their standard wedge type formula car cells do not fit in any Zink or Citation chassis and to fit one compromises driver safety.

Also we have had to replace many ATL cells because of poor fits, well be fore the cell made the replacement time limit.

[Hardingfv32]

I had good luck last year with Harmon. Competitive price and made to specification using old hardware. Also good communication.

I think at the time Eagle was not taking new custom orders.

Brian

[Craig71188]

On the off chance they would happen to work. Fuel Safe has a couple of wedge cells/bladders on their clearance page currently.

[EricP]

Thank you for your referral. Did you have a new one made or a repair of an existing bladder?

New build. Not a repair.

[FVRacer21]

I just had a cell done by Harmon and the price was reasonable, but I had a choice of two cell types and I a chose the simpler one.

People can chime in here":

Citations seems to have two styles - original and "wing" style

Caracal B & C - one style?
Caracal D one style?

Mysterian - there must be several styles as one I lent a competitor one that was off just a bit - can anyone confirm this? Might just be the placement of a bottom rail on the chassis.

Protoform I know David Green is on the forum - could he say how many designs there were and is there one that fits all cars?

Others????

Talk to your fuel cell builder - there are some changes to current methods that might mean a change to your existing design or a simple change to a corner or edge might save a lot of money.

If you are looking to rebuild a car and have it down the chassis, you might want to look at the "stock" cells put out by the major companies. Just remember they may affect seating position. Some FV frame rails are too narrow to take a "std" cell.

ChrisZ

PS - most fuel cell manufacturers are considered essential and therefore have been open, but that does not mean they are at full capacity. Be prepared for longer deliveries.

[jahillsr]

Thanks everyone for the input!

I just had a cell done by Harmon and the price was reasonable, but I had a choice of two cell types and I a chose the simpler one.

People can chime in here":

Citations seems to have two styles - original and "wing" style

Caracal B & C - one style?
Caracal D one style?

Mysterian - there must be several styles as one I lent a competitor one that was off just a bit - can anyone confirm this? Might just be the placement of a bottom rail on the chassis.

Protoform I know David Green is on the forum - could he say how many designs there were and is there one that fits all cars?

Others????

Talk to your fuel cell builder - there are some changes to current methods that might mean a change to your existing design or a simple change to a corner or edge might save a lot of money.

If you are looking to rebuild a car and have it down the chassis, you might want to look at the "stock" cells put out by the major companies. Just remember they may affect seating position. Some FV frame rails are too narrow to take a "std" cell.

ChrisZ

PS - most fuel cell manufacturers are considered essential and therefore have been open, but that does not mean they are at full capacity. Be prepared for longer deliveries.

[nhJohn]

Citation / Speedsport
Fuel Safe Mike Torvik 541-923-6005 #232 About $1,000
*Needed it asap, and he had it built that week.

Womer
ATL Purchased from Summit Racing Part # ABT-FC140 $572
ATL was quoting a 3 to 4 month lead time. And about $400 more??
I call Summit, they tell me it is a special order, but I can talk to another person. I tell the person 4 gallon and some dimensions. He says: "Let me guess, you either have a FF or an FV with a fuel cell made about 2002 - 2004 and it has multiple cracks and it leaks"

" I keep them in stock and it can go out today" ......nice

Fuel Test Port (required by SCCA)
Bret Moyer bret@theraceplacepa.com
The Race Place
2139 State Route 18
Wampum, PA 16157
tel: 724.535.6112

[Ed Womer]

All Womer vee's use the standard 5 gallon wedge cell unless someone changed the layout. It fits between the back of the driver and firewall/floor of the car and when the kit was purchased it included the aluminum panels to surround the cell with the floor of the chassis the bottom which was minimum 18 gauge steel welded to the chassis.

Ed

[nhJohn]

All Womer vee's use the standard 5 gallon wedge cell unless someone changed the layout. It fits between the back of the driver and firewall/floor of the car and when the kit was purchased it included the aluminum panels to surround the cell with the floor of the chassis the bottom which was minimum 18 gauge steel welded to the chassis.

Ed

Ed,
Which manufacturer and if you have it the part number?
All the ones I looked at that were 5 gal were too big.

Thanks,
John

[Chuck301]

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/abt-fc140

[TimH]

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/abt-fc140

4 gallons.

[Jerry Kehoe]

Just thought I would toss this out. SCCA 2020 GCR regs on page 79, Section 9.3.26 titled Fuel Cell Specifications has the following parts in the paragraph " Cells must be made to FIA FT-3 or higher specs or SFI 28.3, tested, etc " and says "Fuel Cells do not time out and have no expiration date". I believe this has been in the GCR for a number of years along with the container, foam, etc specs. Obviously leaking cells must either be repaired or replaced along with normal common sense.

[jahillsr]

Yes, Mine was leaking when we went to reinstall it after rebuilding the motor. First time I needed to replace one. Thank you all for the information shared.

Just thought I would toss this out. SCCA 2020 GCR regs on page 79, Section 9.3.26 titled Fuel Cell Specifications has the following parts in the paragraph " Cells must be made to FIA FT-3 or higher specs or SFI 28.3, tested, etc " and says "Fuel Cells do not time out and have no expiration date". I believe this has been in the GCR for a number of years along with the container, foam, etc specs. Obviously leaking cells must either be repaired or replaced along with normal common sense.

[Ed Womer]

Hi John,

Both ATL and FuelSafe both companies have merged, have a standard 5 gallon formula cell. Off the top of my head I don't know the measurements. I do have a ATL cell sitting in the shop and when I get a chance I will look for any part numbers.


I designed the car for that size as well as the side panels and seat out of .060 aluminum which meet the enclosure rule of the CGR along with the firewall and floor of the car.

Ed

[jtaphorn]

In 2018 , I had a custom 5.6 gal cell made for my Reynard FC through Fuel Safe. Cost $1,125 delivered.

It was a positive experience and we communicated back and forth with them providing me technical drawings several times in return for confirmation of my pencil diagrams that I was sending them. Required a few weeks and fit like a glove. I spoke directly with the fabricator.

Two thumbs up.

[mmi16]

In 2018 , I had a custom 5.6 gal cell made for my Reynard FC through Fuel Safe. Cost $1,125 delivered.

It was a positive experience and we communicated back and forth with them providing me technical drawings several times in return for confirmation of my pencil diagrams that I was sending them. Required a few weeks and fit like a glove. I spoke directly with the fabricator.

Two thumbs up.

Fuel Cells have a normal life span of approximately 10 years +/'- Then the poly cover starts cracking and leaking. JB Weld can stop some small leaks - however, over time the cracks will appear in other location and expand. When a cell starts to leak, get a replacement QUICK.

[TimH]

Fuel Cells have a normal life span of approximately 10 years +/'- Then the poly cover starts cracking and leaking. JB Weld can stop some small leaks - however, over time the cracks will appear in other location and expand. When a cell starts to leak, get a replacement QUICK.

Not true of the old rubber stuff, but modern spec for puncture resistance has required materials that just don't last as well.

[Ed Womer]

Ok, I hope that I can attach the photo of two formula cells that I have. The one on the right is what I call a standard formula cell and is what I designed my FV around in the 80's. It is 14.5" deep, 16" wide and 11" high to the top of the filler neck. There is a templare # 10-5217. The other one is out of a Lynx/Caracal car I bought for parts to complete my Formula First car. It is 17" deep, 14" wide and 11" high. This one has a part number of FB152. They both have a top that is I think 4" deep.

John F the one on the right will fit in your Womer vee so if what you ordered didn't then it wasn't what I would call the standard wedge formula cell. FuelSafe makes the same size as well and I used their cells since they are kinda clear and you can see the fuel level in the cell.

Ed

[mmi16]

Not true of the old rubber stuff, but modern spec for puncture resistance has required materials that just don't last as well.

I have had to replace fuel cells at some point in time on each of the cars I have raced since 1988. They all failed in the approximation of 10 years from their stenciled manufacture date. One only lasted 8 years.