| This
page was updated on
03/04/2010
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| 10/4/08- Once I
settled on the smoke tank dimensions and tackwelded 2 extra mounting
tubes into the front cockpit floor, I cut some MDF for the tank
formers and bolted them together to check the fit. |
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| 10/4/08- I bent the
.050" 5052 alum on my brake and then tack welded the top seam. |
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| 10/4/08- Before I
started tacking the top seam, I took apart the wood mockup and used
the formers individually to hold the shape of the tank. In my
first attempt at welding the tank, it was extremely difficult
getting the assembled wooden mockup out of the shell without
damaging it. |
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| 10/6/08- Using the
same formers trimmed down to allow for the metal thickness, I cut
out then notched and bent the flanges on the tank ends. |
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| 10/6/08- The ends fit
well, the next step is to drill holes for the weld bungs. I'm
not using the large neck filler in the picture, that's for my fuel
tank. I ordered a 1" filler for the smoke tank. |
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| 10/11/08- The tank
seams, drain bung, supply bung, and filler neck are all welded.
My first attempt at welding the vent line to the bung was a disaster
when I burned completely through the 1/8 x .035 tubing. Since
the 1/8 tubing fit so sloppy into the 1/8 NPT bung, I upgraded the
tube to 5/16 x .058 6061 T6 which fit the bung much better and was
easy to weld. Finally, I drilled a .040 hole at the top of the
tube so that the smoke oil won't siphon out. |
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| 10/11/08- The vent
bung is ready to weld in place. The filler neck and threaded
o-ring cap is from SummitRacing.com, Billet Specialties 24110.
It is made of 6061 T6 and is beautifully machined and polished. |
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| 10/12/08- Finished
welding all the bungs in place and touching up any suspected holes
along the seams. I pressure tested the tank by screwing a 1/4"
npt male air hose fitting in one bung, plugging the other one and
rubber banding a balloon onto the vent bung. After hooking up
the air hose from my compressor, I inflated the balloon by
pressurizing the tank and then swabbed soap solution over all the
seams. No leaks! |
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| 1/2/08- The tank is
finished, now it's time to finish weld the mounting bushings.
I jigged the smoke tank bushings the same way as the fuel tank by
drilling 1/4" holes through a 1x2 and bolting the bushings to the
wood to hold them in the proper position for welding. The
bushings are welded to 2 cross tubes welded just in front of the
front stick. |
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