Fuel tank by Andy Wiltshire does not fit

[RichardHawkins]

I bought my tank from Andy about 10 years ago. Beautifully made, a work of art. My car is a1968 S4.

My restoration is taking longer than I thought or hoped. Today I thought I should check that the boot floor (supplied by Sue Miller) fitted. The tank supplied by Andy is about 18mm higher than the plywood floor supplied by Sue.

I dragged out the old tank, and compared dimensions. Tank from Andy is about 16 to 18mm higher.

I had a conversation with Andy today, and he seemed surprised that his tank does not fit.

I tried the old tank in the car and this is about 5mm higher than the boot floor.

My car had damage to the body under the tank which was repaired whilst being repainted.

My solution is to raise the boot floor to match the tank. The parts book shows a trim panel inside the rear face of the boot covering the rear lights and the boot lock mechanism, which is missing from my car.

Does anyone know if this trim panel will clash with the raised floor?

The floor is now higher than the battery shelf, will this be a problem? I have yet to buy a battery and have no brackets to hold it in place.

Are there any other problems with a raised floor that I have missed?

Richard Hawkins

[nmauduit]

My car had damage to the body under the tank which was repaired whilst being repainted.

My solution is to raise the boot floor to match the tank. The parts book shows a trim panel inside the rear face of the boot covering the rear lights and the boot lock mechanism, which is missing from my car.

Does anyone know if this trim panel will clash with the raised floor?

your actual modification is not completely clear to me, but that rear panel is made of some kind of cardboard, so I would doubt that this is difficult to accomodate

The floor is now higher than the battery shelf, will this be a problem? I have yet to buy a battery and have no brackets to hold it in place.

Are there any other problems with a raised floor that I have missed?

I don't think the battery would be a problem in itself, esp. now that stronger batteries are smaller (and lighter) - the fitting of a spare wheel may be worth checking/planning, as the factory fit makes it flush to the top of the tank so that the whole above space is flat when the plywood piece is in place.

[RichardHawkins]

Thanks for the reply, and sorry I did not make my solution clear.

When I said I have raised the boot floor I should have said I have raised the level of the plywood board to the same level as the tank top.

Richard Hawkins

[1owner69Elan]

I bought my tank from Andy about 10 years ago. Beautifully made, a work of art. My car is a1968 S4.

My restoration is taking longer than I thought or hoped. Today I thought I should check that the boot floor (supplied by Sue Miller) fitted. The tank supplied by Andy is about 18mm higher than the plywood floor supplied by Sue.

I dragged out the old tank, and compared dimensions. Tank from Andy is about 16 to 18mm higher.

I had a conversation with Andy today, and he seemed surprised that his tank does not fit.

I tried the old tank in the car and this is about 5mm higher than the boot floor.

My car had damage to the body under the tank which was repaired whilst being repainted.

My solution is to raise the boot floor to match the tank. The parts book shows a trim panel inside the rear face of the boot covering the rear lights and the boot lock mechanism, which is missing from my car.

Does anyone know if this trim panel will clash with the raised floor?

The floor is now higher than the battery shelf, will this be a problem? I have yet to buy a battery and have no brackets to hold it in place.

Are there any other problems with a raised floor that I have missed?

Richard Hawkins

1. As noted, the battery can reside on its own shelf, although now lower than your adjoining plywood panel. So no issue.

2. The back panel which covers the back normally has the plywood panel slip underneath it as shown in the picture. But, this could readily be "cured" by trimming the plywood or back panel.

3. The plywood panel normally rests on a bracket at the top end (originally the bracket is a spring type pin catch with a pin attached to the plywood), the spare tire with foam inserts, and a notch around the boot lock area. All of that "support", which is not all that secure, can be accommodated by just having your spare have a foam overlay resting on the spare (or some such) to bring it up to the gas tank level.

In the pictures below, you see my Axminster tank (only a year or so old) at the same height as the plywood panel thereby allowing a flat boot floor. My plywood panel rests on the top bracket, my car cover bag - I have no spare, and tucked under the back panel and inserted at the boot lock notch.

The flat boot floor and the available volume allow for the fitted luggage below with a garment bag laying across the top. Your raised floor will reduce the boot volume somewhat.

PS: I made a new back panel out of aluminum sheet covered with leather grain vinyl to replace my ragged original cardboard one. New cardboard ones can be ordered from several UK sources. For me, to have one of these, because of its size, shipped from UK to US was not cost effective.

[RichardHawkins]

Thanks for the help everyone.

I love the fitted luggage,

Richard Hawkins

[RichardHawkins]

Today I tried to fit the fuel filler neck. The grommet that fits the body where the neck passes through the body does not fit, as it is larger than the hole in the body, and quite different from the grommet that I removed. I do not remember where I bought this grommet and have ordered another from Sue in the hope that I have previously bought the wrong grommet.

Has anyone else had this problem? I could cut the hole in the body to fit the grommet, but as the body is finished and painted I really did not want to.

My fuel gauge sender has a cork gasket, is this what others use, is it fuel tight and does it need a jointing compound?

Richard Hawkins

[pharriso]

My fuel gauge sender has a cork gasket, is this what others use, is it fuel tight and does it need a jointing compound?

Richard Hawkins

Richard, I went with the cork gasket & the Permatex sealant mentioned in this thread - https://lotuselan.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=30071&hilit=rivets

[Craven]

Recent purchase from Sue Miller provided the correct size grommet, one thing with the Andy Wiltshire tank unit fixing he uses a slightly larger metric screw and if you have an original tank unit and gasket you may have to enlarge the holes to fit. pita with gasket goo on the gasket to find the screws won’t go through the holes.

[RichardHawkins]

Craven,

Thanks for the advice, I expect the grommet from Sue to arrive tomorrow or Monday. Have also discovered that Andy uses M5 screws to secure the fuel gauge sender. I used the flange of the original ( broken ) sender as a drill jig to open up the holes in the gasket.

Richard Hawkins

[RichardHawkins]

My fuel filler tank grommet arrived from Sue in yesterday’s post. The hole in my car where the grommet fits is 63mm diameter, the corresponding grommet diameter that I purchased earlier (can’t remember who from) is 70mm whilst that from Sue is 68mm.

I have given up searching the web for something that may not exist and have carefully filed the car to fit Sue’s grommet.

I have raised the plywood board/boot floor to match the top of the tank.

The tank fuel inlet pipe does not align with filler neck. I have made a large bar that fits into the fuel inlet pipe to prevent the inlet pipe kinking as I bend the pipe to align with the filler neck. This took all my strength, but I am an old fart.

I now wait for the trim panel that covers the lock and the rear lights to see if there is a clash with the raised floor.

Richard Hawkins