Dual Original tanks

[ag9111]

In nsw it has to be 300mm past the last cabin opening.

Ie door, window, hatch etc. So pretty much 300mm from the rear cab window.

Also it should exit the body of the vehicle not just dump under the vehicle. However an engineer can certify under vehicle exit if they deem it satisfactory, with a ute its normally not a problem.

I thought it was 1000mm past the last rear most opening window, and can not exit on the near side of the vehicle.

[har05l]

In nsw it has to be 300mm past the last cabin opening.

Ie door, window, hatch etc. So pretty much 300mm from the rear cab window.

Also it should exit the body of the vehicle not just dump under the vehicle. However an engineer can certify under vehicle exit if they deem it satisfactory, with a ute its normally not a problem.

I thought it was 1000mm past the last rear most opening window, and can not exit on the near side of the vehicle.

300mm is correct Garth but if this is getting done legit through an engineer I think a muffler will be a struggle to get in there

[Kegsy]

Yep definitely 300.

The near side rule is engineers choice. In my experience some mind, some do not.

[SPB]

When I left it on the hoist this morning the plan was still for the exhuast to still exist roughly in the same position. The hardest part is getting it past the rear shockie/chassis/fuel tank. It was all doable when I left. For those that want a 3" exhaust it probably wont work. Once it is done I will take a bazillion photos for you all.

[SPB]

Well its nearly there. Only the tanks need plumbing together. One little variation is that a bracket really needed to be added. So a replica of the front and rear bracket were welded onto the chassis. Yes welded to the chassis. However as they were over engineered compared to the original the Ginger Beer said no problem! Here are few photos. I will get more when its back on the hoist tomorrow. I will also give away the cost when its all done.

Note the cut out needed not to be as big. However it leaves plenty of room for a larger diameter shocky to go in. Yes the exhaust runs under the chassis just near front wheel. However it isnt any lower than the jack point, the photo isnt that great. It was also decided to run a 2.5" exhaust system aswell which exits in the normal way.

Front and rear bracket




Rear shock



Rear guard with small cut away


Exhaust



The tanks

[motoz]

Very interesting.

It's great to see someone thinking outside the standard path for upgrading these vehicles.

Well played Sir, well played.

[Kegsy]

Good job.

Ive done a few exhausts down the outside of the rail before, never a problem.

Good to see you stuck to your guns and got it done, looks like a quality job too

[Cowboy Dave]

Looks like an awful lot of work though. Did you still come out ahead $-wise?

[snowman]

i agree with the others. you set a task and did it . not sure how much you did yourself but there are a lot of other brackets plus effectively a new exhaust.

what is your total storage now? 75 + 67 ish = 142 total which is pretty good. compared to the other swap out volumes.

how have you resolved filling and getting fuel out of it? have you just cross connected to make it one big tank?

can you isolate one for outback trips to protect fuel volume?

i dare say some people on here who have the skills do to a lot of this themselves may look at this option.

i would have to pay someone and i think that you would end up spending the best part of the $1500 comparing fitted apples for apples.

nice write up too. cheers.

[ag9111]

Well done Shaun. Good to see it coming.

Very Interested in how you finish it off, filling wise.

[SPB]

Okay some more photos. It is now progressing slowly due to some workshops letting me down(enough of that later). I should be doing the plumbing on wednesday. I will also give final figures of how etc when complete.

What I am after if anyone can help is I need a metal fuel cap and preferable the bracket in the photo. Mitsi want $250 for the fuel cap!



How the tanks look side by side.

[SPB]

Sorry folks I have found a solution to my problem. I bought an after market one from Burson. Not quite the sam elooking but wll do the job. I will make the bracket.

[Big Damo]

Can you imagine if Mitsubishi put in twin tanks from scratch, alot like the Prado, Landcruiser, Patrol, do you think it would have snaffled the market from Hilux?? certainly would have been a bigger advantage over Hilux than we already have!

[snowman]

you should of had a drain point welded in while fabricating it mate.....

[borngeek]

[SPB]

Pick Picky you lot. There is a drain hole that went in after the photos!

[snowman]

Pick Picky you lot. There is a drain hole that went in after the photos!

good work. it wasn't until i saw the u/s photos it occurred to me.

Mits removing them on later models is a joke. Although most of us will never have fuel issues i know a few people who have placed petrol in their diesels cars. Even blokes who should no better.

i reckon if they were after 'reasonable' feedback it would be to 'bring back the bung'. Listening Mits.

[SPB]

Ah you meant the tank I thought you meant the bracket. Didnt even consider putting in a drain plug but I know what you mean about putting in the wrong fuel. Having 2 diesel cars at home helps remind us though.

[SPB]

So the fuel tank is now all finished. So what started as a 3 day job by one workshop turned into a month or so job. The first workshop did the mount and exhaust work and signed off on. No complaints about their work except they didn’t plumb in the second one. The next workshop had the car all day and all apart then put it back together again and said no we can’t do it. So I thought how hard can it be? All we have to do is plumb it which many other non skilled people could do and have done with axillary tanks. So I did it myself.
So I originally I got a Pollack valve (thanks Garth) so it could switch between the two tanks without the need to transfer fuel. Then I had a blonde moment with fuel hose. I took the second original fuel filler to get some hose. Everywhere including the industrial places said we don’t carry 14mm hose so I ended up with 16mm hose. Which is was too big. So I bought 13mm (1/2”) hose and got it on no problem. So Connected up the filler and return to an original filler pipe which didn’t work out in the position I wanted but fits okay. The filler hose is Industrial Grommet Fuel/oil suction hose. I used a ProComp drag car fuel pump to do the transfer between tanks. It is meant to do around 200L per hour. I have only filled the second tank to 55L and transferred it in 10 minutes. I ran the wiring just to switch on the dash. At the moment I haven’t go the second sender hooked up but will in due course.

Okay the Cost.

Carton of Beer for the Tank
$1200 for all welding, brackets, paperwork at the workshop(Darwin rates)
$500 for hoses, clamp, rocker switch, filler pipe, petrol cap other misc.
So cost wise worth it? Yes but here comes the killer.
You need to move the whole exhaust system. So ideally to do this you need to be keen on changing your exhaust to 2.5 to 3” which many people have been doing anyway.
So another $1200

The Verdict

I am happy with the way it is set up. It was a bumpy road but I got there and would do it again. I may in due course still put the Pollack valve but not just yet. I went off road several times with it installed and no problems including one of my local difficult tracks. Though I haven’t gone on a long trip yet or filled both tanks to full I think for the long term the whole project was worth the effort. Without filling both tanks to the brim, I reckon I have 150 Litres as the extra filler hose is 1.5” and around 1.5m long. It would be a little harder to do with a tub back as just trying to get underneath and the filler would be harder. I will post a few updates on its performance over the next few months.

Cheers


Shane

[ag9111]

Well done Shane, good to see it nearly done

I can see a lot of people bawking at those costs, but if you want 150l badly enough

A lot of people bawk at the cost of a long range fuel tank, but if you want 125l badle enough

Horses for courses

[snowman]

firstly nice work mate. plenty said it couldn't be done and it didn't come easy, or cheap. but you have got there.

probably not as cost effective as we would have all liked if we were to follow in your footsteps though i guess. but you gave it a great shot and now you have about 140 odd on board.

that said what about a long range tank for that spot eh. relocate the zorst and you would probably get another 100 litres in that location with a dedicated tank like the one they make to replace the OEM.

[SPB]

Really the cost is comparable I think. $1700 for what I did compared to what $1300-1500? Only you have to want a larger exhaust aswell. Remember I am in Darwin paying close to $150 per hour and almost no competition for the other parts so no discounts or reasonable prices. Also the hoses I used are are all industrial grade. And you need to get the tank cheap. ARB and TJM just throw them in the scrap bin. I know not everyone changes the exhaust but if you are thinking of doing it then this project starts to become viable. Not sure about current long range tanks, but my last one went over the driveshaft so there wouldnt be room.

[SPB]

Just to confirm. The second tank holds 71 litres from empty. And going by todays price of Diesel in Darwin it would cost $240 to fill up both! And thats with my 8c discount voucher.