Tech Question: Fuel cell foam

OK now that my car is way low. i scrape the gas tank some times and rather than put the original dirty tank in the trunk i ordered a fuel cell and it came with foam in it.. my question (sorry if its a dumb one) but will anything bad happen if i take the foam out.. I mean i just wann be able to peek inside and see if i need gas , not guess or have to buy a gauge and sending unit...

thanks in advance

 

The foam is in there primarily to prevent the fuel from sloshing. Most track tech inspectors will jack you hard for removing it, for that reason....or send you home. So far as street driving...

Depending on how you drive, removing it may or may not be a problem. Stock tanks have extended filler necks, & sometimes baffles, to prevent excess sloshing. Though, anybody with a gas tank behind their truck seat will testify that they still slosh.

 

The foam is just there to keep the gas from sloshing around too much and uncovering the sump. If it is a large tank (10 gallons or more) and you don't plan on running it bone dry it really won't benifit you to have the foam anyway. Now if you are racing or driving extremely aggressively you may benifit from the foam otherwise it is not necessary.

BTW If you do plan to remove it I will buy it from you. I am making my own cell and I do want to run foam in mine.

Thanks
BPD

 

You're making the right call for a street car. Removing the foam is greatly preferable to picking it out of your fuel system in a thousand pieces once it's had 5 years to degrade.

 

you could just take the chunk of foam out below the filler hole and leave the rest. Usually the foam is multiple pieces.

Brick.

PS- Here is a quick fact about fuel cell foam. If I remember correctly the foam is 98 percent void. Meaning it only uses up 2 percent of your fuel capacity.

 

Cool guys , thanks alot for the info... Gonna take it out, never gonna race my car...

 

Most fuel cell foam breaks down more than most think- best to run really good filtration with foam.
I have NEVER heard of a tech official not letting a car run with a cell with no foam.
There is nothing in the general section whatsoever that could allow a tech to turn a car away for not having foam in a fuel cell either- 1:5 section 16.

 

Dunno what the current NHRA rulebook says, but I'm guessing that's what you are looking at. Maybe it's more of a bracket/regional thing around here, though I've talked to Southern & Texan guys who have mentioned it. The local circle tracks have been known to be pissy about it, too. At any rate, it's not a problem for him.