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Material for fuel sender gasket
james h - 6/9/11 at 09:05 PM

While my car is off the road, I'm trying to do the jobs I never got around to before SVA, one of which is putting in my R1 fuel sender. Originally, this would have been attached through the top of the R1 tank and really is a switch for a low level light.

1. Can anyone forsee any problems if I put it in the side of the tank?

2. I'm going to use rivnuts to hold the sender in the tank. Are there any compatibility issues with using steel rivnuts in an aluminium tank?

3. I need a small piece of gasket material if anybody has an offcut? It only needs to be about 1" by 2" in size. The integrated gasket on the sender isn't thick enough to clear the flange on a rivnut.

The sender to be used:

R1 sender
R1 sender

Thanks

James

BenB - 6/9/11 at 10:02 PM

1. Just leaks
2. Yes, look up thermite
3. Cork is popular for gaskets and fuel proof.

Dingz - 6/9/11 at 10:10 PM

quote:

1. Just leaks

Can you not fit it in the top? there may be a problem sealing the rivnuts too.
Viton rubber sheet will be fine, I should be able to find you a little bit.

Chippy - 6/9/11 at 10:10 PM

You can get alluminium riv nuts, they should be compatable. HTH Ray

james h - 6/9/11 at 11:05 PM

I've bought some aluminium rivnuts off eBay that should help the second issue.

I'd ideally put it in the top but its not long enough to give me the reading I'd want to have for a low fuel warning light.

The plan is to drill three holes - one for the sender unit to fit through, then two 6mm holes for the rivnuts. Over these holes I'd have the gasket cut so it can be laid flush against the tank and with clearance for the rivnut flanges. It would look like a rectangle with the three holes as above but bigger ones for the rivnut flanges, if that makes sense? I'd tighten the sender up against this.

Dingz, if you could find some for me that would be brilliant! Very much appreciated - I've just measured what I need, it'll be about 2.5" by 1.5". I'll u2u you.

Thanks for your help - as always this place is a fountain of knowledgeable people

James

steve m - 7/9/11 at 07:44 AM

I have some cork gasket material, and can send it, if you pm your address to me
but, i wont be home till next tuesday,

steve

BenB - 7/9/11 at 07:58 AM

Are they blind (closed end) rivnuts? All the ones I've got are open ended which means the fuel will pee out between the rivnut thread and the bolt thread if you put it on the side (unless you gunk it up with something gunky and fuelproof)....

BenB - 7/9/11 at 07:59 AM

If it's that the sender float arm isn't long enough, isn't it easier to just easier to extend the float arm? It's not as if there's much force going through it...

mcerd1 - 7/9/11 at 08:27 AM

quote:
Originally posted by BenB
2. Yes, look up thermite

that's a bit extreme - I don't think you'll suffer from that

but you will get corrosion between the dissimilar metals (look up 'galvanic corrosion' )
basically the aluminium will sacrificially corrode around the steel - leaving you with a steel rivnut in a pile of white powder (aluminium oxide)
aluminium doesn't like stainless steel much either and any salt just makes things even worse

[Edited on 7/9/2011 by mcerd1]