Modern-day Miura

[C5GTO]

Twenty-two gallons! My gawd that's nearly twice what I'll have in my Fiero-based car. Can I buy the extra two gallons you lopped off?

Look at it from the bright side, your fill-up will be a lot less painful on the wallet than my fill-up.

[C5GTO]

Gas Tank/Coolant Pipe Mounts

While re-installing the gas tank I decided to take care of some other issues I had spotted. Specifically, to protect the tank from chaffing and finish up the coolant pipe hangers that are integral to the gas tank mounts. When I removed the tank to lower the top, I had to pry it downward as the sides had started to chafe against the aluminum plates surrounding it and this appeared to be making the tank stick in its compartment.

Here’s a picture of the compartment where the tank goes. There is of course a cover over the top of the gas tank that is not in place when the picture was taken.



After tank removal, I verified that the tank sides were chafed/scratched and to a degree they should not be given the car has only been moved around on a trailer and never driven. It was apparent that the aluminum to aluminum contact needed a cushioning layer in between. I bought some marine grade vinyl upholstery material and lined the tank compartment with it. Unfortunately I forgot to take an “after” picture prior to installing the tank. Hopefully this material will also prevent any banging or squeaking that might have occurred from a metal to metal contact point.

The gas tank installs from the chassis bottom and is held in its compartment by 3 sheet metal plates that also hold the coolant and AC pipes as they pass under the chassis. The plates that came with the chassis are made from Al 5052 .063 and were very nicely cut out on a CNC router. I had two concerns with them; 1) the 1 ½” coolant pipes pass through and are suspended by holes that are only two metal thicknesses wide (so 1/8 inch) thus susceptible to extensive wear at those points, and 2) there was no protection from road debris contacting and damaging the aluminum pipes.

My solution for more robust coolant pipe hangers was to add rounded sheet metal saddles into the front and rearmost plates. I think the smaller heater and AC pipes will be fine with rubber grommets inserted into the holes.





To keep all the plumbing safe I decided to make some debris shields. They act as a “skid plate” if you will and provide full coverage for the pipes. To keep the shields from flopping around in the wind, the sides were bent up and a half round bead rolled down the middle.





With the debris shields in place, it adds a nice finishing touch to the bottom of the car.

[luke.jenner]

Beautiful Work Joel! Can’t wait to read further updates!

[C5GTO]

Gas Tank Fill

Now that the gas tank has been shortened, it’s time to plumb in a fill cap and tube to get fuel to the tank. I at first thought about using rubber hose to carry the fuel to the tank but this didn’t feel right for a car built mostly from aluminum. So on further thought aluminum it would be.





I was able to source the fill tube where the gas cap goes along with the fuel safe hose from a place that supplies these parts for utility truck conversions. The tubes were routed such that a full size spare tire still can be carried in the front of the car if I choose to.

Now the important part, the gas cap needs to be accessible through the hood vent.



I built a stand/brace to keep the gas cap end from flopping around. It’s temporarily clamped in place for now. I’ll finish it up once the body skin and vent grill are in place so I can ensure the gas cap isn’t sitting too high.

[Falcata]

Hi Joel
Haven't had any time to fallow your wonderful build , just trying to catch up now it's awesome , keep up the great work !!!
Cheers Phil

[C5GTO]

Inner Door frames

I’ve been busy working on Miura powertrain and plumbing stuff but from time to time I’ve continued to work on the inner door frames. At the front of the door, the inner frames still needed the part next to the windshield and continuing rearward by the windshield frame.





The piece to fill this space has a complicated shape due to it supporting a door corner extending over the edge of windshield thus requiring a cardboard mockup in order to get it right. After a few iterations of mockup, I was able to find a way to build the frame for this area from a single piece of sheet.





After having an occasional weld crack at the sheet edge while metal working them, I’ve started to anneal all my TIG welds there. The weld discoloration you see near the edge in the picture above occurs during the annealing process.







The inner door frames, especially the pieces just added, still need to be trimmed on the edges but I’ll let that wait until I figure out the beltline trim/seals and weld in the framework flanges adjacent on the front fenders.