I am wondering how many people here, and others you might know run a fuel cell even if it is optional for your class, ie. IT?

Do you/they run the cell in the stock location or generally back in the spare tire well?

Victor Penner

 

Keep in mind that the SCCA rule says you must be within 12" of the stock location for IT. It is possible to place it somewhere behind with a bulkhead separating it from the driver's compartment. We do not run a cell in the CRX at this point, but will revisit that idea in the near future.

 

Right, forgot about that. Where is the gas tank on a CRX?

Victor Penner

 

A local ITS/ECHC racer put in a fuel cell since he does some endurance races with the car. Its mounted in the stock hatch area, its a 22-gallon ATL unit. There's one pump to a surge tank, and another pump from that to the motor - i think the surge tank is small (1/2 gallon maybe) but will protect against fuel starvation at low fuel loads. It protected so well that they ran out of gas on the first pit stop because they had no idea it was dry.

 

The stock location for a CRX is under the area directly behind the driver's seat. There is a kickup there and the the tank filler pipe enters it from above. What is good about this location is that it is in front of the rear wheels and the spare tire well too. What is bad is that it is not the easiest to service. Keep in mind that the fuel pump is internal for the stock tank and the plumbing does run along the rocker panel in a 2nd gen. All of this makes for an intersting engineering dilemna when trying to fit a fuel cell in place of the tank.

 

Is there a fuel cell that fits in the stock location or is it always a major retro-fit?

Victor Penner

 

usually a major endeavor (unless you use the "well-cell" that goes in the spare tire well). Best left to a professional, IMO. Mitch Piper can do them very well, for a fee.

last time I looked into this, I figured about $2000 minimum between parts and labor.
hth.