Header Tank Information

One of several "Problems" that a person encounters when an EFI engine is installed into an early Mustang is fuel tank slosh. Late model vehicles either have baffles or a canister type device that surrounds the in-tank pump. This allows it to keep fuel around the fuel pump during acceleration and making turns while the fuel tank is near empty.

Most Mustang enthusiasts use a frame mounted inline fuel pump. These pumps while effective can be noisy and are still susceptible to "sucking air" when the fuel pickup becomes uncovered in the tank. A fellow Ford hobbyist named Ben W, AKA: "Cap't Ben" and myself were discussing this problem one day and were brainstorming a fix for this problem. By chance we came across a Ford Bronco site that dealt with a modified Auxiliary Header tank. This is a self contained tank that houses the high pressure pump, is supplied by a reliable low pressure pump and the return line from the engine. Bronco owners learned that the use of this small tank eliminated the fuel pumps becoming uncovered with fuel during extreme angles encountered while climbing the big stones. We concluded that if it works for the Bronco rock climbing guys it will work on early model EFI converted ponies and other vehicles.

Ben drew up a sketch for a similar tank with measurements for his 1965 convertible & then built three prototypes for testing. The following photos are from the tank installed & tested on my 5.0 and from Ben's EFI car.

This small aluminum box contains a time proven auxiliary fuel pump that keeps the small tank full, The return line from the engine is also connected to the small tank to keep plenty of fuel in the header tank. Then there is a return line to the original tank for unused fuel. The high pressure pump is now installed in the header tank. This helps eliminate fuel pump whine that frame mounted pumps are famous for.

Here are a few shot of the tank installed:

Side view from passenger side. You can see the auxiliary fuel pump & the main 3/8" supply line for the engine.

Second Passenger side view. Here you can see the Auto Zone Auxiliary pump that supplies the header tank. The top line is the main line to the engine. The bottom line to the left is the return/overflow line from the tank. It connects to the modified sending unit.

Here you see the return line to the sending unit on the left side. The line on the right is the return from the "Old" supply line that is now my return line. When a new 22 gallon tank is installed, a small connection nipple will be installed in the tank in this are so the return line to the sending unit will be deleted. This header tank can be installed anywhere you desire. I picked the drivers side just to be close to my engine return line. The mounting hole are drilled through the body of the car and though the outer lip on the fuel tank. Easily accessed in the truck area.

The bottom line is the return line to the fuel tank. A small section of 3/8" tubing was soldered in adjacent to the original supply tube on the fuel gauge. A wire tie added to tie the new return line and the original supply line (Inside the tank) added additional support for the newly soldered in tubing.

Cool rear disk brake upgrade. Check out this link for details: http://www.ultrastang.com

Here are some of the photos of the tank while under development:

This top view shows the High pressure fuel pump installed, The small fitting on the right top is the return from the engine, The fitting on the left that is above the auxiliary pump is the overflow back to the original tank.

The low-pressure pump (Far right, gold in color) is from Auto Zone, part # E8016S and the Auto Zone part # for the fuel pump strainer which goes on the bottom of the Mustang in tank pump is # FS111. Any fuel pump for a Fox body EFI engine will work. I have the 255lph unit on mine.

Top view shows the lid welded on with the center cutout. This allows for the final lid to mount to the six threaded holes. The final lid's shape has been redesigned & is visible in a photo is further down.

This is a side view showing how the auxiliary pump and wiring setup.

This is the current style lid. With the ears on the outside of the tank it allows for closer mounting to the fuel tank.

This is a view from Ben's car. Note the new position for the auxiliary fuel pump and also the second line soldered in adjacent to the original fuel supply line.

Unit Specifications:

The body of the tank is a one piece extruded aluminum square tubing. The overall dimensions are 7"D x 6"L x 3"W. The lid & base is constructed with 1/4" aluminum.

The fuel lines can be adjusted to meet the fuel requirements for your vehicle. While 1/4" & 5/16" are fine for a stock motor I stepped up to 3/8" line for a modified motor.

Various brass fittings that had the appropriate size compression fittings. All receiving holes in the box are 1/4" or 1/8" pipe thread.

Other Header Tank Sites

http://www.sdsefi.com/techsurge.htm
http://www.awildchild.com/accum1.htm
http://www.bcbroncos.com/ Go to the Fuel Systems Link.

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