Anyone interested in possibly doubling the range on these cars?

[sketchman]

I'm sure you could just bend the float arm down a little.

And dropping the pump would be super simple.

I don't have recommendations for anything, because I never really thought about doing this. Just seems simpler to me to mod the one that's already there.

[Movin]

From what I have had apart there really is no where to go going up. There are also things that have to be above the fuel level and below the fill level. Extending the bottom of the tank straight down 4 inches would add about 6 gallons. A guard of sorts could be fashioned off the rear beam. The rear lower strut mount could be extended a couple inches to help compensate.

[Bert]

Novel project if you have unlimited free time but as others have suggested it is a lot easier/faster merely to strap spare 1 gallon gas cans in behind the rear wheel arches after removing the decorative vinyl plastic panels. A known extra 40 miles of travel in reserve per can is plenty of insurance almost anywhere remote. Back in the 1960s some Mini Cooper Ss featured a second fuel tank. Mini fuel tanks of the time held 5 Imp gallons (6 gallon US?), half of what OEM Festys have. The regular one was inside the trunk ('boot' they call it in Jolly old England) at and over the left wheel arch and if you ordered the optional one a mirror-image-shaped tank was mounted on the right. Then you wound up with prestigious-looking chrome filler caps on two sides of the car!. Problem with these, if you parked on a steep side incline, was gas siphoned from one to the other and then over-flowed at the lowest filler pipe. Plus you were lugging around another 50 lbs of baggage when the second tank was full.
Famous track racer and rule bender Smokey Yunick was constrained by strict fuel tank size rules but sneakily overcame them by installing long sections of hugely oversized fuel lines. Is this something you might want to contemplate instead?

[jhntu]

Novel project if you have unlimited free time but as others have suggested it is a lot easier/faster merely to strap spare 1 gallon gas cans in behind the rear wheel arches after removing the decorative vinyl plastic panels. A known extra 40 miles of travel in reserve per can is plenty of insurance almost anywhere remote. Back in the 1960s some Mini Cooper Ss featured a second fuel tank. Mini fuel tanks of the time held 5 Imp gallons (6 gallon US?), half of what OEM Festys have. The regular one was inside the trunk ('boot' they call it in Jolly old England) at and over the left wheel arch and if you ordered the optional one a mirror-image-shaped tank was mounted on the right. Then you wound up with prestigious-looking chrome filler caps on two sides of the car!. Problem with these, if you parked on a steep side incline, was gas siphoned from one to the other and then over-flowed at the lowest filler pipe. Plus you were lugging around another 50 lbs of baggage when the second tank was full.
Famous track racer and rule bender Smokey Yunick was constrained by strict fuel tank size rules but sneakily overcame them by installing long sections of hugely oversized fuel lines. Is this something you might want to contemplate instead?

That fuel line "mod" is an awesome idea.. What is the thickest suitable piping useable for brake line?

I'm tempted to buy a tank and compare the two side by side.

[Bert]

That fuel line "mod" is an awesome idea.. What is the thickest suitable piping useable for brake line?

I'm tempted to buy a tank and compare the two side by side.

I suppose you could solder brake line fittings on to capped pieces of 1 1/2 inch etc copper pipe if you were so inclined. You might even get such a getup to circle the spare tire a few times with the use of elbows and 45s.

[neisman]

Why bother???I get over 800 miles to a tank. Farther than I can drive between toilet stops.
More fuel is also more weight, meaning lower MPG.
Maybe I just don't get it?

[sketchman]

800 miles per tank? You're smoking some good stuff I think.

[TWFodor]

800 miles per tank? You're smoking some good stuff I think.

I want whatever he's on.

[ryanprins13]

Telling us why you want to do this might get you more help. Adding weight of more fuel reduces fuel economy.
If you extend the tank farther back please do something for safety in the event of being rear-ended.


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[sketchman]

MPG is more about aero and rpm than weight unless you're doing mostly stop and go driving. I mean if you're talking 50% difference or something big like that then maybe, but mostly aero and rpm.

[ryanprins13]

Anyone interested in possibly doubling the range on these cars?

MPG is more about aero and rpm than weight unless you're doing mostly stop and go driving. I mean if you're talking 50% difference or something big like that then maybe, but mostly aero and rpm.

Maybe, but he isn't talking about changing either of those. I have hauled a lot in my festiva both in the car and in trailers and even just extra weight in the car and long highway drives makes a big difference. 700pounds of sheep wool inside the festiva dropped me from 55mpg to 45 on a 70% highway drive and it was only in the car for 1/3 of the distance on that tank of gas.... I notice a several mpg drop just hauling the extra 300 pounds of 2 extra people in my car with almost exclusive highway driving. I feel and notice the handling difference with one other person in my car.
To double the cars range were talking 65-100 extra pounds of gasoline plus the weight of a larger tank and any modifications to hold it in there. Its gonna affect fuel milage, not as much as putting a rooftop carrier on it, but it still will.


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[Movin]

Rolling resistance , mechanical efficiency, the losses converting BTU of fuel to torque at the crank, this is where gains can be made. Aero can gain a little but it is way easier to put in a bigger tank or haul more fuel. I tow a trailer to haul the extra fuel I need, the water, a tent, a cot and usually about 1500 lbs of necessities between gas stations. Not discounting Aero but it is hard to package all this stuff in a sleek bullet shape on both ends when you need a trailer fill of toyz out in the desert!!

[sketchman]

My point was that double the fuel is not going to hurt MPG enough to say it's not worth doing. I wasn't meaning to suggest that he should try to double the range by aero and gearing.

[burundon]

What about a propane conversion?

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[sketchman]

I've wondered about that too. What about refueling? I would think you'd need to keep 2 fuel setups to swap out and have one already refilled and ready to go.

What size tanks would you need?