Projects 1957 Hillman Husky 392 hemi build thread

My goal is to have this thing on the road by late September. I'm working on several different parts of the car at once. Today I started work on the gas tank.

The current tank is only 7 gallons. It's in pretty bad shape too. I originally thought that I'd add a little height to it to increase the capacity. After smelling the rank gas still in it I started having second thoughts. I tried pouring it out but it's too thick to pour. I know I can get it boiled out but it has rust issues too. I'd like to use the existing tank so when you look under the car you don't see an aftermarket fuel cell. I like the look of the stock tank and it's profile.




This is the well the tank fits in to. The tank isn't in now so you can see up in the well. When the tank is in the top of the tank is the floor of the spare tire well. I won't have a spare tire so I can extend a tank in there.





I've used Holley Red pumps before and wasn't happy with the noise they put out. Just think of angry mosquitos on steroids buzzing in your ears. This time I'm going with an in tank pump. I choose an Aeromotive Phantom pump. It will also solve the issue of trying to find a spot to hang the pump under the car. Fuel will run cooler and I have less chance of the pump running dry. These are adjustable in height so will fit the current tank or an aftermarket aluminum tank. Height adjustment is 5.5 inches to 12 inches. I placed an order today with Summit for one of these so it will be here tomorrow.





After looking at poor condition of the existing tank I decided to try something different. I think I'll go with an aftermarket aluminum fuel cell in the car but I'll use the shell of the current tank for appearance only. I'll do this by cutting off the top of the current tank and securing the fuel cell in the shell bottom of the existing tank. I've looked at this 15 gallon RCI aluminum tank. It's 30" x 12" x 9" tank and I think I can fit it in the original tank and up in to the spare tire well. At worst I can use a 12 gallon tank. This way when you look under the car you'll see the bottom of the old tank but it will contain the new tank.


This is the plan for now. I may end up going a different direction if this fuel cell idea makes it too difficult to run an exhaust out the back of the car. This is a possibility as most of these tanks are 30 inches wide. The current tank is about the same width.

 

Here's my plan B if the 30" wide tank makes it too difficult to bring an exhaust out the back of the car. This one is made by Aeromotive and is also a 15 gallon tank. It's 18″L x 20″W x 10″H so I wouldn't be able to use the existing tank as a cover. It does have a pump and sender installed so that's a good thing.

My 59 Husky with a 302 also had a small 7 gallon tank but a tank for a Sunbeam Alpine was a direct bolt in and gave me an extra 4 gallons. It's 11 gallons so the size was ok. That car has leaf springs so it was virtually impossible to get the pipes out the back. There just wasn't enough room. Because of that the exhaust exits just in front of the rear tires. This makes for a little more exhaust noise than I'd like.

I'm hoping to be able to have the exhaust do a full run out the back of this Husky. If I can do this only by going with a narrower tank then I may consider it. I'm hoping to find time to get under the car this weekend so I can determine which way I need to go. This car doesn't have leaf springs so that will help free up a little room. With the Maserati/Jag fixed rear end there isn't room above the rear end cradle for exhaust. I think it would have to go under.....which may or may not work. Space may determine that this exhaust also needs to go out the side in front of the rear tire. Or as discussed earlier this is another argument for side pipes.

 

Food for thought when sizing the gas tank. If you are thinking about doing much driving or cruising, you will find that a smaller gas tank will become a pain in that you will be making frequent stops to fuel up. As an example the supercharged 392 with a 518 trans and 3.73 gears in my car gets 8 MPG. Fuel economy wasn't a high priority in the build, but without knowing exactly what to expect in the way of performance I installed a 19 gal tank and am glad I did.

 

Plan A for hiding the fuel cell sounds a good idea.

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My '48 Plym had a 455 & now a 331 hemi with an 11 gal. tank. Maked for frequent fuel stops! replaced with a 16 gal. tank.

 

Thanks for the tips guys. I'm approaching tank selection, and I'm, thinking at least 20 gallons. I also need tips on electric fuel pump selection that is quiet.

That Hillman sure will be trick! Keep up the build.

 

Since most people wont have a clue what the stock Hillman tank should look like, there's no reason not to modify it and use it as a cover for any tank. Size really doesn't matter as you can use the back and sides of the old tank so it has a stock look, and then either narrow them to give room for exhaust, and lengthen it front to back to enclose a fuel cell. Once it's all shaped to cover a cell it can be ground smooth and painted to conceal whatever changes you make.
I'd go for the narrower cell myself, and rework the old tank "cover" so the exhaust wont be an issue to run out the rear. Seems if keeping a "stock" type look it would be more important to route the exhaust under the car, as side pipes will kill any stock look immediately.

 

The wheels/tires might be a hint....

 

I agree the bigger the better.....just like with the radiator. The car only has so much room so everything is a compromise. I'd like a 19 gallon but there just may not be enough room to fit everything including exhaust back there. I don't think I'll be going on any long cruises in this so it probably doesn't have to be too big. I know the original 7 gallon tank wasn't going to cut it so hopefully I can at least double that. Anything above a 100 mile range I would consider ok.

I talked to another guy that has a 440 in a Husky. He says he never puts more than 5 gallons in at a time. Helps keep the gas from going bad if you don't drive it every week.

 

If there's any in your area use E-0 gas, & maybe some stabil.

 

I do use STA-BIL. Still see problems with the new gas shrinking rubber and gaskets.

 

E-10 or E-0?

 

I believe CA is currently at 5.7%. E-10 is on the horizon though.

 

I hope I can. Both plans have pros and cons though.

 

I got under the car today and measured the room I have under there. The narrower length tank won't work. I don't even have 17 inches front to back and the narrower width tanks would require more room front to back than what I have.

This is the tank I ordered today. It's 30" long x 12" wide x 9" high. 15 gallons. My "cover" tank is actually 29" at it's longest and that's at the curved part. So I'll have to widen it past the 30" since the curved radius on the side won't allow the 30" aluminum tank to fit. The frame rails are approximately 36" apart so it will be close. I figured I'd probably use 2.5" exhaust tubing. I may have to go with an oblong oval shape to get it to fit past the widened tank there. Looking under there there are a lot of obstacles to have to move the exhaust around. Luckily there are no upper A-Arms for the rear end but there is the cradle for the rear that takes up space. It may be possible to go just under the cradle above the half shafts but that's right in the area of the coil overs. I'll take it one step at a time.

The tank I'm getting will have an angled fill pipe so I can adapt it to a remote fill on the side of the car in the stock location.

 

Yes, go with 20 gallons if you can. My car should weigh no more than 2,600 lbs so I'm hoping it won't be so thirsty.

 

Here I can get E-0 that doesn't go bad as fast as Ethanol contaminated gas.

 

There are no E-0 stations within 100+ miles of me. I can only see that there are 10 of these stations in the US. Anyway, that's the least of my worries right now.

 

For future reference http://www.pure-gas.org/
There's 2 in my town & 3 others not far away.

 

Something to think about. In Australia on one model of the Ford Falcon it's impossible to fit dual exhaust on. Some claim they actually get better performance with a single 3" than with the normal dual pipes. Maybe a single pipe behind the axle, or does your new tank solve the problem?

 

Nothing is off the table as they say. I'll consider everything and do what it takes. I may be routing both pipes down the passenger side of the car anyway to stay away from the master cylinders.

Thanks for the input.

 

Due to interference, to get equal length of pipe on my '48 Plym they cross over with the right side pipe exiting on the left side & vice versa. Same thing on yours, if you run them both down the pass side turn the pass side pipe over to the drivers side at the rear to equalize, left bank zigs to the right in the front, right zigs left at the back to about equal things out

 

That makes sense. Not sure I would have thought about that. Thanks for the info.

 

Yes, this is a good reference site and where I got that there were 10 in California. There is some talk about CA going to E-15 in the near future.

I had a Sunbeam tiger that wouldn't idle and would barely run. Took the carb apart and the floats and accelerator pump were sore of glued in place. No hint of varnish or any other residue but the parts were stuck because of the new fuel. I had gone a few months without starting the car but I've done that many times in the past without issue.

 

Here's a friend's of mine with a 392 w 2X4s

 

I tried looking up the owner of this when it was in Florida....I think Dan Z. was his name. The guy never did call me back. I had lots of questions for him as it's always nice to talk to someone that has done it before.

This car has a great stance. Color is a good match for the car too. The build on this car is much different from the approach I'm taking on my Husky.

 

Could that have been DAN ZAPICO? I worked with him back in the 70,s , and he had a Hillman back then. I saw him in 2009 in Michigan, and he said he had several 392's. Small world.

 

Yes, that was the name. I had a few pictures of his car on page 3 of this thread.

I think he didn't have the car anymore when I tried contacting him.

 

The owner lives in the San Antonio, car was built in in California so his knowledge of the build is limited. However, I may be able to get you some more detailed pics if you're interested.

 

I appreciate the offer. I ended up going with the earlier Husky body style so what they did would be substantially different than on my car. Most of what I was looking for was steering and front end related.

I used to have the name of the place that built the car in California but never called them since I was going a different route. Seemed like they did really nice work though.

It's nice to see that if you need info on the HAMB it will be provided. I love the support. Thanks guys.