A little project update on Chug A Lug

I won't go into details but this has been a PITA to get to this point. My fancy Fuel line feeding my Holley Red Electric Fuel pump. I wanted the pump mounted just below the tank. The backside of the Riser was the perfect place. I wanted a Ahut off Valve to allow service on the Filter and Pump without loosing but a tiny bit of fuel. The Filter I chose is a 49 micron serviceable from Summit Racing. The outlet on the Pump is directly across from the input. I am waiting on a 45 degree fitting to arrive from Summit so I have everything to route the line all the way to the Carb.

I had this all figured out while I was still building the Tub. BUT as I was taking photos of the finished setup. It dawned on me I had never taken into consideration the position of the Cross member under the Bed. Well it turns out I should have as my first design ran right through the Cross member.

The pump is mounted in rubber and the Aluminum mount is sealed to the Tub with a thin gasket of Neoprene Rubber.  The Aluminum angle being used to mount the Tank is so I don't have to have holes into the back of the Riser behind the Tank. This way I can remove the Pump for service without messing with the Fuel Tank. I should take it out and paint it.

The Brass fitting you see coming out of the Tank is something I had to make/fabricate/modify. The tank is a 1/4" NPT fitting the Shut off Valve is a 3/8" NPT thread so I had to have an adapter somewhere. I also needed to stand the whole thing off the bottom of the Tub. So this fitting is made from a 1/4"MNPT to 3/8" FNPT fitting and a 3/8" NPT Street Tee I reamed the threads out of both a 5/8" reamer then cut a fit a short piece of 1/2" copper water pipe. I then Soldered then all together. I then pressure tested it at 60psi and preformed a vacuum test. Anyway it did the trick

I still have planned a support bracket for the Filter. I used the tiny Braided Hoses because a fuel or Oil line should always have a flexible section to minimize the chance of cracks.

You see a Cap with a Red domed end on the TEE leading into the Input on the Pump that is my fuel tank drain. It will drain the whole system from the Tank to the Pump.

I'm going to design a skid plate for this that will mount on the frame to protect the plumping. That will come later.

I'm glad I did this while the tub was on the Rotisserie sooo much easier then cusing while laying on my back on the cold cement for hours.

Rear View the writing on the Pump will be correct once the Tub is on the frame

Front view showing off the shut off lever And how snug up under the tub this is.

OH and before someone points out I tapped into the Tank via the Drain. I KNOW I did it on purpose I wanted to be able to access every bit of the fuel and I wanted the larger fitting (read more flow.

OK back

The next photo is of the Anaconda like electrical cable that will run from the Dash and Engine compartment to the Junction box at the rear of CHUG.  Here it as I am assembling it.

1) 12ga/3 extension cord to carry 120V from one end of CHUG to the other

2) 6ga cables to carry up to 50amps of 12V to an Anderson connector (mostly to carry 12V to my Future Off Road trailer

2) 12ga wires for 12V aux and ground going to my 7 Pin Trailer connector

7) 14ga wires that will carry Turn/Stop Tail/Clearance Electric trailer brakes, Backup lights and 2) spares.

The Air Line will piggy back on the outside of this cable. The Cable will run inside the Right side frame. Keeping Electrical as far away from Fuel lines as possible.

The Cable is covered with a woven PEG cable cover called TECHFLEX 

And here it is entering the Junction Box You can also see the Brass fitting setup I came up for to get air to both tanks and the Connector in the Junction box.

Cable connected to the Junction Box which is made from Micarta Nothing connected to the cable but the bus bar (which yes I made)

And here is everything connected up in the Junction Box barely enough room. The reason for the long runs on the Tail light wires are to allow me to take the Fuel Line protecting it apart. I have to have slack somewhere.

And then all buttoned up. I will run electrical tests before sealing it all up for good. I don't currently have a Battery for CHUG and for some reason my regulated 12V power Supply went to the great beyond a while back. SO I'll pickup a 7AH gel Cell to use while I wire things up.

As you can see all this would be a night mare to deal with once the Tub is on the frame . In fact I'm not sure I could even get to it with it sitting above the Receiver without taking that all apart.

All connections are soldered and covered with heat shrink. With any luck I shouldn't have to deal with this stuff for a very long time.

OH a side note I added a Ground wire to the tail lights since one of the biggest lighting problems we have with the trucks at work turn out to be grounding problems. I figured I would make sure my lights were properly grounded.

I have some High output Bulbs I'll put in once Chug is on the road but for now cheapy 1157's will have to do.

I'm figuring out how I want to control the position of the cable under the Tub before it goes into the frame channel. I may also put an Aluminum heat shield over it depending on how close it ends up to the Oval Shaped muffler I plan on running.

 

It is a pleasure to watch the excellent craftsmanship of your build. As usual, your attention to detail amazes me. VERY VERY  impressive.

Fun day today at least for a while. I started making my new linkage by making a nice stock looking tapered shift cane. And since my silly little Chinese lathe is not really suited to cutting a taper especially on something 12" long I figured I would do it in 12 steps (hmmm wonder if means something) cutting .010" each step so I could get the cane from .500" to .375" or so in the 12" I threaded both ends and I got to work. All was going good until about 2/3'rds of the way through the job when some stupid cast collar with an external key decided to unscrew itself and there by breaking the Lead screw drive on my lathe. NOT something it looks like I can make. SO tomorrow I call Grizzly and hope parts are still available. I finished the job hand cranking the thing PITA.

Today I got the Cane including the pivot block that attaches to the bottom of the Cane and the Right Angle mount done. I'm using a Rod End at the bottom of the Pivot block and tomorrow will get that all figured out and start on the Off set tubular link that will connect the bottom of the Cane to the shift rail on the OD unit. 

That is if I'm not spending the day crying in my Beer cause my lathe is FUBARed.

Has anyone seen that Red Billiard ball I had thinking I might use that as a OD shift knob. I think a Round ball would look good between the two Egg shaped knobs on the Transfer case shifters and the Mushroom shaped knob on my Transmission Shifter unit.

Photos tomorrow.

YEA some nice guy at Grizzly tools after making sure I knew that if their lathe wasn't the same as my lathe and the parts did not fit I would have to pay a 10% restocking fee (if they don't fit I'll either modify them or toss them) He then proceeded to tell me that had all the parts I wanted in stock. Total cost with shipping and handling would be like $31.00 YEA and they should be here in less then a week Double YEA.

Work is progressing nicely on my OD shift linkage I think I have come up with a nice clean adjustable design that dosen't bump into anything and won't be rattling around.

Would be nice to know the height of the tub as such as I could make it a little more direct line if I knew that but having it lower and out of the way will be fine.