It was all going quite well so I was bound to trip up on something. The plan for the fuel filler neck was to weld a plate to the end of a tube, then cut it to shape. Actually, scratch that, the original plan was to buy a filler neck, but it turns out the ones I was watching on Ebay are the wrong size. So the alternative was to DIY it.
The job started ok, once I'd ground back the welds I could see some pinholes so that wasn't a surprise. Cutting the end hole to size got the cap on, but it wasn't tight enough. Regular fuel filler necks have a gentle slope to pull the cap tight so I had to replicate that. Not too bad, a few taps with the hammer and I got the right angle to pull it tight.
Problem is this is where it came unstuck. I'd effectively broken the welds to make the slope, so it was no longer one piece of metal. And of course, now everything was thin, welding just became a game of 'chase the blow through'. Unfortunately while other locations could tolerate blobs on the other side, as soon as I had one weld on the inside the end became useless.
So it's back to the drawing board for this one. The issue is that I need to have a flat surface on the top for the cap to seal against, but then a sloping surface for it to tighten up against. And everything I can come up with either covers one or the other, not both.
My next thought is some form of mouldable metal to make the shape, something like SteelStik or cold weld from JB weld. If I 3D print a mould I reckon I could get it quite accurate, but would it be strong enough? I'd add a flange to attach it to the body, and if it was strong enough I could attach the fuel pipe straight to it. I'll see how good my 3D skills are first!
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