Manufacturing
Tank Body
The tank body was manufactured from two pieces of aluminum
sheet metal. These pieces were cut using the shear in the Drexel Racing Shop.
After this, the holes for the fill plate and outlet were cut out, using hole saws and various drill bits. The next step
was to take the two pieces and bend them on the break in the machine shop. The
pieces were bent to the angles specified by the Solidworks Sheet Metal Feature.
In order to mount the fill plate, a nut plate was manufactured. The nut plate was welded in place then the Tank Body was welded together.
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| Manual sheet metal sheer |
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| Drill press |
Nut Plate Assembly
The Nut Plate Assembly consists of a nut plate, filler plate
and a cork gasket. The nut plate was made by taking the detail of the nut plate
and scribing out the X Y coordinates on a .25 in. piece of aluminum. Where the
scribe lines intersected were the area where the hole was to be punched. The
next step was to center drill, tap drill, and tap the nut ring. The fill plate was
then cut out on the sheer. This time, a transfer punch was used to mark out the
holes in the plate using the nut ring as a transfer guideline. The holes were
once again, center drilled, and drilled out for the correct size. The holes for
the filler neck and vent were then drilled. The final component of the assembly
was the cork gasket. The holes in the nut ring were transferred and then
drilled out similar to the fill plate.
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| Nut Plate drawing in Solid Works |
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Laying out the Nut Plate
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Filler Neck
The tube profiles for the filler neck were printed out using
Solidworks. These were used to ensure accurate angles with the tubes. The tubes
were cut out using a vertical band saw and cut precisely using a belt sander. These
pieces were then clamped together and welded. The fittings for the sight tube
as well as the gas cap were made using a lathe and then welded on as well.
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| The lathe in the Drexel Racing shop |
