Fuel cell installation in a hatchback vintage racer

I've pulled the old, out of date fuel cell out of my Capri, and I need to decide on the installation of a new one.

The Capri is a hatchback, so it is not as simple as putting a fuel cell in the floor of the trunk and thereby having a bulkhead between the fuel cell and the passenger compartment.

In the prior arrangement (as an SCCA IT car), a plastic fuel cell sat inside of a fabricated metal box that was mounted where the spare tire well had previously been. The top of the fuel cell was flush with the rear deck area, and another metal box had been fabricated to go over the top of the fuel cell:

This box was approximately six inches higher than the top of the fuel cell and covered the top of the cell, the outlet hose, air inlet hose, and an electric fuel pump. This arrangement was cumbersome as the top cover had to be unbolted each time you put fuel into the cell.

Does anyone have an opinion as to whether or not this type of fuel cell would be safe enough and would pass tech without a separate metal cover?

This model is a rubber fuel cell completely enclosed by a steel container. I would used braided steel hoses for the fuel supply and air inlet lines for the short distance they would travel inside of the passenger compartment. I would plumb the fuel filler neck to exit outside of the passenger compartment with either steel piping or steel braided hose. I plan to mount the electric fuel pump outside of the passenger compartment, most likely tucked up beside the frame rail.

Any opinions, suggestions, and pics of similar set ups in cars without a trunk bulkhead would be appreciated.

FYI, I plan to vintage race the Capri, and most of the vintage racing organizations don't go into very specific detail on fuel cell requirements.

I have that style of cell in my Datsun1200 that I vintage race. Before I switched to vintage I ran at SCCA regionals, tech was never an issue. Just make sure you get a cell that is FIA GT-3 approved or SCCA approved. The 1200 coupe had no bulkhead, fold down style rear seat with trunk (so no hatch) so I fabricated a bulkhead out of the correct thickness of sheet metal that filled the spot where the seat back was. The bulkhead went from floor, just ahead of the hump for the rear axle, up the rear window just ahead of the trunk lidmhinges. The one I did was not pretty so a couple of years later I had my fabricator friend make a nice aluminum one. As for the filler neck I do not like the extended fillers mainly because they are only as good as the installation. Also dependent on location. I just use a funnel to fill the cell. For the vent line I run a loop to act as a anti siphon (upside down car) and then vent it outside the trunk.

Tom

There is also a rule that it can't be more than 6" away from where the old fuel tank was located. I completely ignored that rule on the TR8 because there was no way I was mounting a fuel cell under the car above the rear axle. I cut out the spare tire well in the trunk and mounted it there. Now it sits lower and farther back. Technically the front edge of the cell might be 6" from where the rear of the old tank was, but I don't think that is how the rule is suppose to be interpreted.

What you might do is install a hinge on one side of that old cover and then a few dzus fasteners to keep it in place. That should make it easier to fuel. I would just mount the new cell below that old cover. And I did own a Capri II and I know how difficult it would be to build a bulkhead to separate the back part of the car from the front.