Feeding The Beast
With the new wheels fitted the final ground clearance can finally be measured and another "Phew" moment pass the happily passed. With four and a half inches of ground clearance now available to the lowest point of the sump the project is now very much on track. A lowered Saab 95 with a big bore exhaust has less ground clearance than this, even if the exhaust pipe is far less critical than the sump. None the less if the suspension is lowered to a more race track orientated setting things will get tricky so later in the project the sump will be lowered.
Oil Feeding -
More views of the rolling chassis and ground clearance can be found in the pictures here.
This now leaves the project at a complete rolling chassis and only requiring cooling rads (oil, water and air) and fuel tank before the body work and aero package is fitted. So onwards to the cooling system.
Feeding the beast fuel is going to be one of the simplest of tasks, he said hopefully. The tank will be mounted on rubber pads, to prevent noise and damage to the tank. The fuel lines are already fitted from the fuel rail to the rear of the car along with the breather pipes. So first job mount the rubber pads and bolt down the tank.
Fuel Tank Mounted on Rubber Foam
Fuel Tank Bolting Flange
Next job the fuel pump and here a little care is required. There are many fuel pumps available and some look very tempting. The SAAB B204 requires 3.0 Bar pressure at 84 litres per hour, which sounds simple. Many external fuel pumps are available that will meet or exceed that specification. But head hight (lift) is another key factor that is often neglected. The Specification for a fuel pump is often miss quoted and although it may state the pump delivers what you require this may be without any lift. In almost every case the pump will be below the engine fuel rail or carburettor. In the case of the beast the fuel rail is 500mm above the outlet from the tank. But stop and ponder a little longer. What happens on a hill climb? This could double the lift height required. Fuel starvation on a hill is a tad embarrassing to say the least. So the beast is getting a pump with 3-
On goes the fuel pump with inbuilt pre-
Fuel Pump and Filter
As space for an air box is limited an induction air filter was chosen and with the orientation facing the bonnet vents some ram air induction may also be possible. Knowing the gasps of the SAAB turbo an induction unit callable of feeding a 4 litre motor was selected.
Feeding the beast Through an Induction Air Filter
The bodywork and areo package is due for delivery within the next two weeks so the final feeding process of cooling the charged air will be completed at that time. Until then the actual position of the inter cooler will remain unknown.
OMG!!!!! After fitting all the bodywork, roll bar and roll bar cover and bonnet the project takes a massive step backwards when the fuel filler cut out is make. The hole in the bodywork is absolutely central in the fuel filler recess but the fuel filler pipe in the fuel tank is 15mm to the right of the hole. Not only that but the fuel filler pipe is also 15mm to high and this stops a standard fuel filler cap from fitting into the bodywork correctly. As the fuel filler cap has to contain the non leaded fuel valve, so that Mr. IVA is happy bunny, there is no possibility to modify the filler cap.
SO. Off comes the bodywork.
This is so that the fuel tank can be moved over to the nearside. While the bodywork is clear the fuel filler pipe will be shortened by 20mm so it no longer collides with the fuel filler cap.
The old filler recess location was rather large and a fitting the fuel filler into the correct position for the fuel tank made a very small offset from the centre of the recess. This just became of more and more offensive every time it was viewed.
Click here to see the Second Feeding Session.
