Photography by Tim Suddard
As an endurance race car built to run the Sebring 12 Hours in 1962, our Elva Mk VI sports racer originally came equipped with twin side-saddle aluminum fuel tanks.
While badly beaten and battered, the left-side tank came with the car. The other one? Gone. Now what?
First, could we even salvage the bent tank? We started by straightening it as best as we could. It looked better.
How much capacity did that tank offer–and could we get by with just the one? We poured water into the tank. It took 7 gallons before finally overflowing.
We figure that our Elva will get 12 to 15 mpg under racing conditions. If we have 6 gallons of capacity–assuming the fuel tank’s bladder sucks up some capacity–we could, theoretically, cover 72 to 90 miles on a full tank. Our longest track is Sebring at 3.741 miles. We also figure that our Elva can lap Sebring in a little under 3 minutes, with most sessions lasting 20 to 30 minutes.
Our math says that we’ll go about seven laps–about 25 miles–during a session, burning through about a third of a tank. So we decided to forego the expense and time it would take to create a second tank, as the single one seems adequate for our needs.
For an intricate project like a fuel tank restoration, we often call on the experts at Aero Tec Laboratories–known in the biz as ATL. The company was established in 1970 and has been a partner since our inception.
Before we sent the tank to ATL, though, we first media blasted the grungy tank. It cleaned up fairly well and wasn’t torn anywhere.
Upon the tank’s arrival, the engineers at ATL first cut a hole on the inside to allow fitting of a bladder. Opening up the tank also allowed them to work the tank from the inside and finish straightening things.
Next, they designed a custom bladder to fit the old tank. Now we had something built to modern racing standards.
The shop also added a fuel hose and one-way valve so fuel could be added but not escape should the car flip over. It also added a vent and, at the bottom, a fitting so we could get fuel from the tank to the fuel pump.
The entire project cost about $3500. Yes, we could have saved some money and somehow installed a standard rectangular cell, but there was little room to do so and that wouldn’t have been the correct way to restore this car.
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