Topic: surge tanks / swirl pot?

are surge / swirl tanks allowed or are they considered a second fuel tank?

Re: surge tanks / swirl pot?

Do a quick search for swirl pot and you'll see it has been discussed before. The answer was no, you can't do that.

Re: surge tanks / swirl pot?

TrackGeeks_Chris wrote:

Do a quick search for swirl pot and you'll see it has been discussed before. The answer was no, you can't do that.

/\   What he said.  NO!

Gosh, my business card says 'Tech Tyrant'

Re: surge tanks / swirl pot?

we thought we needed a swirl pot  because we had fuel starvation under hard cornering but it turned out our in tank lift pump had crapped out and we were running solely off the out of tank booster pump. 
(moral of the story is before you start adding additional safety issues / failure points make sure your stock equipment works properly)

also, i've heard of teams doing very well with holley's "hydramat"   which I believe is completely legal and lets you run the tank down to less than a gallon of fuel without starvation.

5 (edited by RobL 2017-04-06 10:58 AM)

Re: surge tanks / swirl pot?

theinvictus1 wrote:

also, i've heard of teams doing very well with holley's "hydramat"   which I believe is completely legal and lets you run the tank down to less than a gallon of fuel without starvation.

Everything in the tank is legal.  Technically, you could put a swirl pot inside the fuel cell and it would be legal. 

But you could get 4 of these http://www.autoperformanceengineering.c … ckups.html and put them in the four corners and call it a day.

--Rob Leone Schumacher Taxi Service
We won the IOE at Southern Discomfort.
We got screwed at The Real Hoopties of New Jersey  and we took cars down with us.
We got the curse at Capitol Offense but they wouldn't let us destroy the car.

Re: surge tanks / swirl pot?

RobL wrote:

Everything in the tank is legal.

I've asked this before, and was told here that ANY modification to the stock fuel system is illegal, including Holley Hydramat.

Captain
Team Super Westerfield Bros.
'93 Acura Integra - No VTEC Yo!

7 (edited by RobL 2017-04-06 12:45 PM)

Re: surge tanks / swirl pot?

VKZ24 wrote:
RobL wrote:

Everything in the tank is legal.

I've asked this before, and was told here that ANY modification to the stock fuel system is illegal, including Holley Hydramat.

Sorry, I assumed a fuel cell which is already a change to the fuel system.  Changes to the fuel system ARE legal but need to be purpose built (like a fuel cell) and high quality (AN fittings and braided hose).  I think you mean stock fuel tank which can not be modified in any way.

Stock tanks in the stock location are fine. But if you’re to switch to a fuel cell, what most catalogs call “fuel cells” are really just big plastic
gas cans with drain holes. A real fuel cell has a separate metal case, an internal deformable fuel vessel, splash- and leak-fighting foam filler, and purpose-built fittings and mounting. Everything else is just another gas tank, and frequently less safe than stock.

--Rob Leone Schumacher Taxi Service
We won the IOE at Southern Discomfort.
We got screwed at The Real Hoopties of New Jersey  and we took cars down with us.
We got the curse at Capitol Offense but they wouldn't let us destroy the car.

Re: surge tanks / swirl pot?

Also, don't forget, it doesn't hurt looking into your stock tank to see if everything is alright there. Sometimes the pump pops out of the baffle, or the baffle itself separates, or the pickup falls off, and so on. Also, there might be a later revision of your stock tank that's better at keeping fuel starvation at bay. Most reasonably modern-ish tanks will NOT start starving for fuel in corners at 1/3 tank unless it's a sustained sweeper like the one at Road America.

K Car Stalker

Re: surge tanks / swirl pot?

The rules are fairly simple.

If you are using a stock tank, then everything must remain 100% OEM. No screwing around with adding things inside the tank, no trying to swap tanks for one form a different car that technically fits, nothing. Make sure the stock parts are in good shape and move on.


If you want to go to a fuel cell, you can do that but you better know what you're doing so you don't create a fire hazard. You cannot have a swirl pot/surge tank between the cell and engine. You can install one inside the fuel cell if you do it correctly. It's not really necessary though. Go buy some of the pucks listed above, or a hydromat and you'll never have starvation problems. I happen to use the pucks, and I can tell you that you can run the tank down to less than half a gallon just fine.

20+ Time Loser FutilityMotorsport
Abandoned E36 Build
2008 Saab 9-5Aero Wagon
Retired - 1989 Dodge Daytona Shelby 2011-2015 "Lifetime Award for Lack of Achievement" IOE, 3X I got screwed, Organizer's Choice