Sometimes I hate it..........

[prezoom]

.......when I spend too much time over thinking things.

Recently there have been some discussions on the chances we take when we drive in heavy traffic, loaded with vehicles, whose doors are larger than our cars.

While relocating the electric fuel pump from the engine compartment to the trunk/boot, and adding an inertia switch, along with modifying the outlet to the fuel tank to accommodate a 5/16" fuel line, it bothered me some that the fuel outlet on the Plus2 is on the bottom of the tank. One little incident, and a breakage or rupture and the entire tank will empty, which could result in Lotus flambe'. Thought about constructing another tank where it might siphon under the right circumstances, but would not empty itself. But, I need another project like a dropped crankshaft on my toe.

The simplest solution to me, is to install an electrical operated solenoid, that is in the closed positon with the key off, and opened in conjunction with fuel pump through the inertia switch. Last night I found one on ebay, equipped with Viton seals, that appears to fit the need. It should arrive in a day or two. Another step backwards, but maybe, safer steps forward.

[rgh0]

This absolutely required in the plus 2 as the fuel line and carbs are all below the fuel level in the tank so a problem anywhere in the system can lead to an uncontrolled fuel leak. In the Elan the tank is at the low point and everything is above it so a failure still leaves the fuel in the tank ( unless you roll the car over !)

I had exactly this happen to me a few years ago when a clutch hose burst and sprayed on the exhaust which caught fire and then burned the fuel hose which then continued to leak even after the fire was put out until I could disconnect and plug the fuel line in the boot. Luckily it happened on the track and a fire crew got to the car in 30 seconds so I suffered burnt paint and melted plastic but no structural damage. If it had happened on the road I would have had the whole car burn as the 1kg car extinguisher was no good at putting out the fire and it need a couple of 15kg extinguishers by the fire crew.

Incidentally My S1 Esprit has a power on solenoid valve to isolate the fuel system and the fuel tanks fuel level are similarly above the rest of the system so perhaps Lotus figured out the problem by then

cheers
Rohan

[mbell]

This is an area I am over thinking too.... I want to fit a Solenoid, filter and pump when I do a chassis swap.

I'd like just to buy a nice small unit with everything combined and fit it under the tank. But have only found units like that for high pressure system, so expect I have to combine three separate devices to do it. Then it'll probably not fit under the car and have to be moved to the boot....

Would be interested in more info on the solenoid you found...

I also run my fuel line from the gearbox area up inside a heat shield trunking in the hope it'll give me a little more time to detect and put out a none fuel fire should the worse happen.

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The solenoid arrived this afternoon. It was purchased on eBay from EHCOTech International, 350 W. Ash St Unit 102, San Diego 92101. No phone number given. I chose the 3/8" version, equipped with Viton seals. The part number appears to be B20V-3/8-CS-12VDC. The price was $26.95 with free shipping. It was one of the early listings on eBay after I entered a search for a 12VDC solenoid that was fuel compatible.

I chose the 3/8 version because I was looking for something with a large enough valve area to support the fuel needs of the Zetec with 45 Webers and a 5/16" fuel line. It is non polarized and the only restriction on the installation was to not install with the solenoid pointing down.

When doing the previous plumbing, I used 5/16/8mm fuel injection hose, as I have had good luck with it not deteriorating with our ethanol laced fuel. The base has 2 threaded holes, size yet to be determined, for mounting. Looks like I will need to make a mounting bracket to orientate it in the correct direction. It is rather heavy.

[Bud English]

Thanks for hunting that down, Rob. Pretty painless, price-wise as well. Should be easy to include it in the inertia switch circuit to shut down along with the fuel pump. That's another thing checked off the "to do" list. Of course whenever one thing is checked off another two appear as if magic.

[mbell]

Yes thanks for sharing the info on the solenoid.