I have a fuel cell coming for the van, and I have a question about NHRA safety rules. Since it isn't a pickup, I can't just mount it inside in the back. I plan on mounting it in the back under the floor. My question is, can I have a hole in the floor to fill it through or does it have to have a door that I can close over it?
Fuel cell NHRA question
- Thread starter JoshH
- Start date
I think it's going to depend on the tech but following the rules to the letter would force you to have a cover (firewall) over the top of the cell. Here's the section pertaining to your question. Hope this helps.
Tanks: When permitted by class regulations, fuel tanks located outside
body and/or frame must be enclosed in a steel tube frame constructed
of minimum 1 1/4-inch O.D. x .058 chromoly or .118 mild steel tubing.
All fuel tanks must be isolated from the driver’s compartment by a
firewall, completely sealed to prevent any fuel from entering the driver’s
compartment. All fuel tanks must have a pressure cap and be vented
outside of body. A positive-locking screw-on fuel tank cap is mandatory
on all open-bodied cars. Insulated fuel tanks prohibited. When used,
fuel cells must have a metal box protecting the part of the fuel cell that
is outside of body lines or trunk floor, excluding hose connection area
in rear. The metal box must be constructed of minimum .024 steel or
.032 aluminum. Nonmetallic fuel cells or tanks must be grounded to
frame.
Tanks: When permitted by class regulations, fuel tanks located outside
body and/or frame must be enclosed in a steel tube frame constructed
of minimum 1 1/4-inch O.D. x .058 chromoly or .118 mild steel tubing.
All fuel tanks must be isolated from the driver’s compartment by a
firewall, completely sealed to prevent any fuel from entering the driver’s
compartment. All fuel tanks must have a pressure cap and be vented
outside of body. A positive-locking screw-on fuel tank cap is mandatory
on all open-bodied cars. Insulated fuel tanks prohibited. When used,
fuel cells must have a metal box protecting the part of the fuel cell that
is outside of body lines or trunk floor, excluding hose connection area
in rear. The metal box must be constructed of minimum .024 steel or
.032 aluminum. Nonmetallic fuel cells or tanks must be grounded to
frame.
That's the way I read the rules too, but I just wanted to see if anyone who is more familiar with that kind of stuff than me might have something different to say. I guess I'll just have to make a door for it. Thanks for your input.
Seems like everyone I ask on things like this tells me it will depend on the tech and the event you're running. I've been trying to stay on the safer side of things and overbuilding. It would suck to have them not let you run over something trivial.
I did something similar in my gasser Vega, just made a simple door using a small piano hinge and a Dzus fastener to make it easy to open. If you want I can shoot a couple photos of it, but the door was just a rectangle of aluminum with the edges folded over double (to make them smooth and give a little more strength).
Thanks for the input, Michael. I ordered some Dzus fasteners and some weld tabs this afternoon. I think I'm going to just cut a square hole in the floor and put 4 fasteners in the corners so I can just pick door up off to get access to the fill hole.