2G: Frontline Fabrication 2G DSM Bolt-In Fuel Cell

[DGajre777]

I've been curiously checking this site every week for the past few months... and it's been updated!

The only 2G DSM Bolt-In Fuel Cell is now being made.

I'm not in the market for a fuel cell (not right now anyways), but it's good to see a few people are still building new parts for DSMs! Nice Work Andrew!




Frontline Fabrication - Products: 2G DSM Bolt-In Fuel Cell

[black_gst]

thats awesome. i doubt ill ever be cool enough to need one but im sure there are a few poeple that would love to have one

[twicks69]

Dee, you are correct, this is currently the only bolt-in fuel cell that fits in the OEM location for the 2G. It is usable on all 2G AWD's for sure. I am not sure how the fuel cell would mount to the rear on a FWD, as the rear bolting point attaches to the rear subframe.

The pictures above are of the one currently in my car. I will be pulling it out again before final assembly and will take some more pictures.

I had Andrew make mine with the OEM pickup assembly as well as 3x -10AN sump fittings. It also has a nice roll-over/overfill vent with tube that gets mounted in the wheel well by the stock pickup tube. As well, it takes the OEM soft line, and just minor modification to the stock hardline fuel filler tube is required (you need to cut and cap off a couple lines).

It bolted in perfectly, and weighs in at 14 pounds!

I am going to run it with an OEM pickup assembly and twin in-tank pumps for starters, then will change over to full external pumps.

I did have to do some modification to the stock pickup assembly fuel level float as it hits the top of the fuel cell since the shape of the OEM fuel tank is higher surrounding the pickup assembly. The float lever had a portion of it cut off, then re-bent, and then the float itself was trimmed, reinstalled and now has full limits of travel. It should work just fine.

Currently, I am running a Full-Blown dual pump hangar, but will be getting rid of it soon. It takes ALOT to make the full blown fit in the cell as the current design has a total mounting depth of 6 1/8", and the Full-Blown unit takes up every inch of it! Originally, I had the pumps prepared for installation with a 7" mounting depth, and had to do alot of cutting, resizing, etc. to get the size down to the required depth. I got it, but it took time, patience, and improvizing to get it done. It is a tight fit, and is mainly due to Full-Blown's design (and its flaws).

Andrew and I were discussing making a new pickup assembly from scratch if we had to, and I might pursue this option.

The fuel cell is IDEAL for people running external fuel pump configurations due to the baffling and sump design inside the cell.

Absolutely awesome product, and great quality!

[DGajre777]

Awesome, pics would be great!

[nuclearr]

Nice and you only lose 6 gallons in capacity. If I ever need a fuel sell which I probably will one day this would be it.

[mountaineerjeff]

Hey Im glad to see you guys are finally getting these. Andrew has done a really great job on these. I can tell you first hand that he took his time and made sure these things are perfect. I was lucky enough to see the few prototypes and fabrications as he worked out all the kinks. These things are complete and look so great its kinda sad no one will see them. His fab skills are bar none, and his attention to detail is the greatest. Good luck with your tanks, for the time and effort Andrew puts into these you are getting them at a great price as well.

[twicks69]

Ok, I have the fuel cell all installed, and it fits like a glove! Absolutely awesome fitment and finish!

I have attached a few pictures to give you guys a quick look at the cell, the pumps, some of the wiring when I was putting it together, plumbing, and layout.

The fuel pump setup being used is a pair of Walbro 255HP in-tank pumps on a Full Blown pump pickup assembly with individual -6AN feed lines to a pair of Walbro 255HP in-line pumps, with a pair of -6AN feed lines attached to the fuel rail with a center-mounted return line and a -8AN return line from the regulator to the rail. In the future, I will likely have Andrew fab me a REAL pickup assembly cover in the future that actually fits and flows the way it should be.

The wiring is currently based around a triple relay setup having three Signal-Stat 192's powering the pumps. The first relay powers the second two relays, and these relays each power two fuel pumps (one in-tank and in-line per relay). The main relay uses a 40A fuse while the four fuel pumps have 30A fuses. The power wires are all 8 gauge, the signal wire is 12 gauge, and the ground wires are all 8 gauge. The connectors for the pump assembly are Deutsch connectors from BATTS Racing -- Welcome to Batts Racing

1x DTP06-4S Plug Assembly
Housing Options: DTP06-4S Housing, Gray
Socket Options: Stamped Sockets, Nickel, 10-12 AWG

1x DTP04-4P Receptacle Assembly
Housing Options: DTP04-4P Housing, Gray
Pin Options: Stamped Pins, Nickel, 10-12 AWG

1x DT04-3P Receptacle Assembly
Housing Options: DT04-3P Housing, Gray
Pin Options: Stamped Pins, Nickel, 14-16 AWG

1x DT06-3S Plug Assembly
Housing Options: DT06-3S Housing, Gray
Socket Options: Stamped Sockets, Nickel, 14-16 AWG

The fuel pump wiring uses only three wires from the factory wiring harness:
Black w/ blue line -- Ignition Switch = Signal wire for relays
Yellow w/ blue line -- Signal wire for fuel level gauge and warning light (tapped and wired to both the float and warning light switch)
Yellow w/ black stripes -- Ground for fuel level gauge and warning light

---

If you are removing the rear speakers, and ABS sensor wiring from your car when running this fuel cell, you can remove every other wire in the back seat harness from the driver-side frame rail to the fuel tank. I pulled the door switch wires, ABS sensor wiring, and rear speaker wiring as well as all the rest of unused wires. It was a bunch!

---

I will post up more pictures of the finished product if you like.

[twicks69]

And more pictures....

[FLASH1970]

I had a chance to see this tank and it does look like top notch stuff.

[Boosted98gsx]

That is some hawt sex. Are we getting a full write up on how to install one of these puppies?

What happens to the driver's side fuel sender?

[twicks69]

Originally Posted by Boosted98gsx

That is some hawt sex. Are we getting a full write up on how to install one of these puppies?

What happens to the driver's side fuel sender?

Driver-side fuel sender is no longer used.

Well, the full writeup would consist of:

**Use well ventilated area for working on car**
*Put car on jackstands or lift
*Drain OEM fuel tank (or be really smart and safe dropping the tank with 2 jacks)
*Disconnect Battery
*Disconnect OEM filler and vent tubes from tank to the filler neck.
*Remove both inspection ports on the back seat floor to access the gas tank.
*Disconnect your fuel feed and fuel return lines
*Disconnect your electrical connections
*Have two jacks under gas tank (preferably with a couple boards or 12"x12" pads for stabilization)
*Disconnect the 4 fasteners attaching the OEM fuel tank to the underbody while disconnecting the OEM parking brake cable brackets.
*If you have ABS on your car, do the next portion very carefully as it will entail you to disconnect harness connections before fully dropping.
******Lower gas tank slowly - if you have any electrical connection still attached, now is the time to disconnect them.
*Carefully remove gas tank.


*Chop and cap all the vent lines on the OEM filler neck hard line.
*You will be trimming the OEM filler neck soft line to fit -- it takes around 1/2"-1" to fit nice without collapsing or binding. Do this with the tank installed or mocked up.

*If you are running a in-tank fuel pump or pickup assembly, install it into the fuel tank with it on the floor outside the vehicle using 1/4"-18 x 1" bolts/washers/locknuts with bolt through top of compression flange.

*If you are using the full-blown twin pump assembly, quite a bit of modification is required to fit it in, such as trimming of the OEM gasket to fit, modification of the fuel level float, and height modification to fit the 6-1/8" mounting depth.
*Install gas tank using the front passenger side OEM fuel tank mount point, the passenger-side frame bolt, and the passenger-side rear subframe mounting point bolt. On the float lever, I removed the float and compression washer, then used a bolt cutters and cut the bend off (the last bend that the float originally was mounted on), then bent the upper portion (right above the cut bend) into the same shape as the OEM and reinstalled the float and bent the arms until I got the limits full/empty fairly close. If you are doing this, you are definitely better off with an aftermarket float.

*For wiring, I used a Fullblown pump, and used Deutsch connectors. Retain the following wires:
*Black/blue stripe - ignition switch.
*Yellow/blue stripe - used for factory fuel level gauge and warning light.
*Yellow/black marks - used for factory fuel level gauge and warning light as ground.

*You can now wire in your electrical control system for the fuel pumps.

All the other wiring can be pulled if you are not running rear speakers, door light switches or ABS.

*Install fuel cell.
*Installing the fuel lines is self explanatory. As well, the fuel tank breather vent/rollover vent should be mounted high up in the rear passenger-side wheel well by the filler neck -- this will also act as an overflow vent.

Pretty darn easy.

[Boosted98gsx]

I was wondering about all the electrical mods you had posted pictures of.

*edit* also do you have to drop the rear subframs to install the cell?

[AlphaVision]

Great stuff! I love it. I wish I lived in US...

[gixrman]

Glad to see some people are still fabing custom parts for DSM's. I've been thinking about a smaller cell (10gallon) and moving the battery to the unused side. Glad to see.

[twicks69]

Originally Posted by Boosted98gsx

I was wondering about all the electrical mods you had posted pictures of.

*edit* also do you have to drop the rear subframe to install the cell?

You can install it with the rear subframe in, it just makes it a bit difficult to do the initial fit-testing of the fuel filler hose. As for the actual installation, you would do it with the subframe in the car first, then install the fuel cell as the rear mounting tab on the fuel cell attaches to the lower front portion of the subframe where the little forward-facing bracket attaches by the passenger-side axle on the subframe.

[black_gst]

that tank looks sweet and i love your relay/fuse set up for the pumps

great job Tim

[turbo addict]

So the rear of this bolts to the rear subframe? Ugh. I was looking at one of these so i can keep my stock fill location and external pump but i don't think it will fit wit my magnus subframe. Damn.

[twicks69]

The fuel cells are custom hand-made pieces; I don't think it will be difficult for Andrew to make the bracket differently to suit your needs.

As for the fuel cell, it is epoxy-coated and is chemically resistant to methanol/alcohol/E85/E98/Q16 and VP Import fuels.

I also mounted the tank breather/overflow vent in the wheel well if you guys need pictures of that, but I think it is self explanatory.

[MaNGiNa24]

Looks fantastic, great to see guys still innovating

[turboking15]

Originally Posted by twicks69

I also mounted the tank breather/overflow vent in the wheel well if you guys need pictures of that, but I think it is self explanatory.

What all is included in your breather line? Like breathers, one way valves, roll over valves etc? Some pics would be nice if possible

[twicks69]

It is a -8AN pushlock line with a rollover vent and a bracket/shield, bolted into the wheelwell by the fill tube.

[DashLaflash]

I e-mailed Andrew about fitment on a FWD car. He said he has been trying to get someone to help him mock up the mounting locations on a GST chassis but with no luck. So if there are any DSMers in the West Virginia area please bring your car to Andrew to come up with a mounting solution.

[greengoblin]

That looks killer. Thanks for posting up pics.

Kevin

[my1997gsx]

This thing looks sweet I would love to be fast enough to need one :-) lol
Maybe someday!!!!!!!

[keltalon]

Originally Posted by DashLaflash

I e-mailed Andrew about fitment on a FWD car. He said he has been trying to get someone to help him mock up the mounting locations on a GST chassis but with no luck. So if there are any DSMers in the West Virginia area please bring your car to Andrew to come up with a mounting solution.

Did he ever get the fwd tank mocked up for sell?

[DashLaflash]

Originally Posted by keltalon

Did he ever get the fwd tank mocked up for sell?

You would have to call or e-mail him. That was a long time ago but last I heard he had a couple people that were going to help him get it mocked up. I'm sure he has it all figured out by now. If you end up getting one post some pictures of it installed in your car.

[jongraack]

Anyone hear anything about the fuel cell for the GST models yet?

[gofer]

I can assure you, there has been no progress with getting a FWD model made of this gas tank and I wouldn't hold your breath.

[jongraack]

Originally Posted by gofer

I can assure you, there has been no progress with getting a FWD model made of this gas tank and I wouldn't hold your breath.

Alrighty then. Do you happen to know of anyone who does make them?

[gofer]

Andrew (Frontline Fabrication) is the only person I'm aware of that makes a bolt-on gas tank for a DSM. He's a one man show and is still trying to fill orders that were made months ago, which is why I can confidently say the FWD tank hasn't seen much development.

He's a busy guy.