Anomie

Does anyone know if the typical nitro tank is made of polypropylene? Some other type of plastic, perhaps? I would like to make one out of Lexan or possibly acrylic, but I have no idea if it will hold up to the chemistry of the fuel. I really have no idea what I am doing [&:]

Any help would be appreciated.

calvino

my searching shows they look like theyre made from nylon, i think they "heat weld it", get a quart of fuel, or go down to the local track or field and see if anyone has some old bad fuel, and test different plastics in it

Anomie

Thanks Calvin. I also realized that most RC bodies are Lexan and fuel does not seem to be terribly detrimental to the material. This should work fine, but I will certainly do some testing before diving in.

sheograth

Yeah, they're nylon most of the time. Are you trying to make a custom fuel tank? Because there are tons out there already, maybe you can shoehorn one into your project.

Anomie

Yes, custom... of course!

I am hoping to use a length of Lexan tubing about 2" in diameter and 8" long with aluminum end caps. I want to see the fuel clearly!

sheograth

Mmm yeah that would look good. You can put a few drops of some UV reactive additive in the fuel and have some UV LEDs in the car - that'll bring the house down [&:]

Anomie

Dork. I only plan to use food color [X(]

sheograth

Is this for your crawler thing? 8" seems quite long for a fuel tank, is it going to be the centerpiece of the vehicle or something?

Anomie

It's just a thing, and the centerpiece will be a rotisserie with a pork loin cooking

Actually, I may make the tank a couple of inches longer if there is room. I just want it to hold a lot of fuel so I don't have to refill often. At 8" long it will hold almost 14oz.

sheograth

Well, you'll never have to refill if you never drive it

[&:][8D]

qaiz

Reiko, look at a coupla'a airplane fuel tanks. They could possibly be what you need. Come in all differient shapes and sizes. And are made for Nitro.

Check out [link=http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0093p?&C=QCA]these.[/link]

Anomie

Thanks Qaiz. I'll take a look.

(Sheo is a big meanie making fun of my truck [])

sheograth

Sorrty

we love your truck.

SAVAGEJIM

Noe the less, I want to see it too, hury up and finish it

Anomie

The tank is a minor issue, really. Originally I was going to have two Lexan cylinders side by side, one with fuel and one with coolant. That would be soooo pretty! I have since made the coolant res out of aluminum, so the fuel tank will be on its own. I like the idea of a cylindrical tank that is shiny (of course) and some stainless lines to connect it to the pump and carb.

Midget

Why not make the fuel tank out of mettle or aluminum...

Anomie

That was my first thought. However, I have come to realize that there is too much aluminum and not enough contrast on the chassis. I began to incorporate some steel frame supports to draw attention away from the alloy, but alas there is not enough. My next idea was to create a fuel tank from a clear material so that there is another element to the appearance. More color, but nothing that looks too plastic-ish. Does that make sense?

Anyway, that may well still happen. Aluminum TMaxx tanks are pretty cool.

calvino

why not get the tank, heat it up with like a blow gun, and stretch it, maybe not the most beautiful (sorry) but it will work , we need pics man, thats why sheo's sayin its a big spit

Anomie

Sorry! If it ain't pretty, it ain't going on my baby. Stretching is a good idea, but the material must be clear and fairly shiny. I am going to test some plastics this evening to see what's what.

Out of curiosity, does nitro affect your Lexan bodies at all?

Also, there are pictures of my endless build all over the place - the nitro crawler thread, and a few older posts in the giant scale forum. You know what it looks like!

warheadforever

Yea, but I think he want to see up dates, like all of us. LOL It is a really neat custom.

calvino

sorry, um, lexan with fuel, all it seems to do is leave this real dirty spot on your shell, i haven't tested it on painted, but doesn't seen to have any adverse reactions[8D], most of the fuel in nitro fuel is methanol, oil, nitro (other company wooha.......)

Anomie

Thanks, booper. I will take it under advisement

From the sound of it, the fuel should be ok inside Lexan. I treated some different acrylics with ethyl alcohol in 90% and 100% varieties, and the material showed no ill effects. I think I'll pick up a gallon of fuel and further my testing.

warheadforever

Just be prepared to pay like 50 bucks for a gallon! [:@] My LHS it comes out to be like $53 somethin' with tax. [:@][:'(]

Anomie

I put together a little test setup for the fuel so we'll see how it goes. So far, the Lexan seems a good choice.

Worst case, I will use Pyrex [:-]

Anomie

The Lexan is going to discolor too much over time. I will use Pyrex.

Thanks for all of the input.