I got impatient and bent up an aluminum enclosure and mounted the distribution blocks. I can add up to two more batteries if I desire more capacity, don't see the need even for a street car.

 

The one in Beavis car is indeed printed. Question to Brendan, how does this cope with the transmission tunnel heat?

 

I don't know yet for sure as I've not subjected it to any serious (on-track) temps, but that was certainly something I considered. The underside of the trans tunnel is completely covered in heat shielding to try keep interior temps down - hopefully that is sufficient so as to not melt the ABS, which should be ok up to about 60-80 degrees C.

 

Since we're on the topic of questionable choice of batteries (people love to tell me that my car is going to explode because of my choice of battery), this is the video detailing on what I've done.

 

I watched the vid last night. Pretty cool!

 

I was kinda surprised how heavy the evap cannister was. 7.4 lbs in 5 min.

 

Wow, that was heavier than expected indeed!!

 

What year is your car? I don't remember mine being that heavy or looking like that.

 

It's a 00', California emissions car. So maybe that's why it's so large. Here's a better picture.

 

How are you venting your tank now?

 

Not that anyone asked, but on our race cars we usually use the OEM routing for the evap can overflow as our final VTD. OEM overflow dumps into the subframe behind the RF wheel. Our rationale is thus:

A: Far as possible from exhaust
B: Far from rear tires
C: Far enough forward to be properly atomized before it exists the rear of the car. No black flag
D: Driver will get a whiff and know there is a problem

We purpose the lines and just delete the evap can.

 

Thanks for the info Emilio, I haven't quite figured out what I was going to do. Seems like it would be easy enough to vent right behind the axle to be sure it wouldn't get on either tire.

 

My Lexan windshield would appreciate it if everyone did something like that instead of just letting it spew out of the rear like a geyser.

 

I have been thinking about removing the gas tank and entire parcel shelf and replace the floor with a flat aluminum sheet similar to Bubbles Bubbles Stripped Bubbles Finished.

The upside is it helps with the L/R balance (I am not light, bw: 230-250 on avg).

The only down side to this is I mount ballast in the seat mounts currently to make weight for PTD/ST5.

What is the consensus on putting fuel cell where the seat is, battery (odyssey battery pc680) in front of the cell, and the 5L fire system in and any ballast in the pax footwell?

The Ballast is throwing me off but I guess I can replace ballast plates with fuel?

 

Unless you're doing a really small fuel cell it's not worth it IMO. The stock miata gas tank is actually pretty damn light. If you're doing something like a 5 gallon you could lose some weight.

Nvm, failed at reading and that you wanted to cut out the whole thing, that'd drop decent weight. I dropped about 19lb out of the seat belt towers, rear shelf, and seat brackets this winter. Cutting the tank surround as well would yield some decent savings

 

I'm no expert but putting fuel right next to the battery seems like a horrible idea, no matter the fire suppression measures in place. I like this combo even less when its within arms distance of the driver, and in an enclosed space.

 

If that battery holder is ABS, you'll be fine. Glassification temp is 110C for most filaments, melting temp is much higher (~230C). I've got PETG parts in my bay (glass temp 85C) sitting on top of my radiator and I've had no warping, even with an hour stop and go commute daily. Drop down to PLA and you might start having issues (glass temp 60C). I'm an advocate of printed parts for anything but structural members. Start moving into more exotic filaments like nylons and you've got surprisingly strong parts with temp resistance on par with ABS, chemical and UV resistance. omgpham is using nylon for ITB stacks, and a number of other parts. plastic printed parts will never replace everything, but they're a great lightweight choice if you've got access.

 

I have a track only car, what was the evap cannister originally for? Looking to take out, never really knew what the benefits of having it were.

 

Gasoline fumes kill baby seals.....or so they say. The evap cannister contains charcoal that absorbs the fumes. There's a purge selonoid that opens a vac line to suck the gas vapors out of the charcoal and into the motor. Only downside to removing it is you'll get a gasoline smell from time to time.

 

On NB, the vent is just in front of the RR wheel. Leave the loop that goes from the tank exit to the top of the fill tube, then go back and use the stock filter and exit diffuser.

Here is the picture:
Diagram and bypass picture shown

Then, do not over-fill the tank, because if the fill tube gets totally full, fuel will run down the vent tube. Stopping on a first click is no problem.