Best Filler Connection Location - SType

[renrut]

I'm looking at fitting the filler connector and pipes this bank holiday weekend. Problem is I can't find a good location to put it. The CoP says it should be >500mm from ground level and >250mm from the exhaust, and not require any doors or the boot to be opened to fill it up.

I was thinking of putting it on the bumper next to the tow bar so that it would be protected in a minor rear end and also save a lot of hassle on running pipe work in and out of the steel body but that might be a little bit too low. With there being an exhaust on both sides of the car it makes putting it on the sides of the bumper or further up the wing near the original petrol filler awkward. But if thats the best place to put it then I'll do it.

Where has everyone else with an S-type got the filler pipe? Pics appreciated

[lazydocker]

Not an s type but I mounted mine on the towbar itself on my Omega, then I didn't have to cut any panels at all

Had no issues with getting it signed off

[Tubbs]

I did one the other week, i should have taken some pics. Customer didnt want it through the body and the car had no tow bar. I undid all the clips under the rear valance. With a longish bracket pre drilled so i could get 3 decent sized tec screws. And a really long tec driver extended out onto a long 1/4 drive extension bar in my cordless drill, i managed to get all the screws in. I then made up another 2 support legs back to the boot floor from the filler bracket lower down where i could get to it as it came just clear of the valance. I had to cut a bit of the plastic bumper away so it sat back properly.
It was the square type filler. And i got it bang in the middle so it looked quite good.
When he rang his insurance company they said it had to be on the UKLPGA database in order for him to install it. He took it somewhere, the inspector actually phoned me to say that it was one of the tidiest conversions he had ever seen. I was quite chuffed. He did comment on the filler arrangement. And said he had to get his copy of cop and a tape rule out but it was in specification. He said he had seen loads that where in his words 'wobbly' and not able to withstand 50 n let alone 500. (so thats newtons and not newton metres is it ? Whats the difference i wonder ? )
But if you have a towbar in the way and mount it underneath the towbar then you arnet going to get it high up enough. However, what the cop actually says is fillers mounted at a height of less than 500mm above the ground are likely to prove awkward to use. So thats not exactly a fail. But open to interpretation i would say.
If its a box section towbar and you have a straight filler could you not cut through the front and back of the box section and pass the filler through it ? Be awkward to fill with a caravan on though unless you got it in the right place !

[rossko]

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=s-type ... r&tbm=isch

so thats newtons and not newton metres is it ?

Newtons = force Newton-metres = torque
akin to pounds and foot-pounds, one's a straight heave-ho and one's a twist.

If its a box section towbar and you have a straight filler could you not cut through the front and back of the box section

Eeek destroying the integrity of the towbar. I believe strictly we're not supposed to screw or weld brackets on them either, but that doesn't seem as bad as a ~25mm hole.

[Tubbs]

Eek destroying the integrity of the towbar. I believe strictly we're not supposed to screw or weld brackets on them either, but that doesn't seem as bad as a ~25mm hole.

It was just a thought. I did obviously consider that, but then decided it would only actually be drilling a hole on one plane of the towbar box section. And it may only be a 13mm hole, the 25 mm hole would effectively be spanned by the brass square plate, which you would tap the screws into anyway. Towbars are mostly closed off across 2 planes from mounting bracket to box section. So not really an arguement for destroying the integrity of the towbar,

[renrut]

I've had a look at the car, the top 1/3rd of the bumper is above 500mm so I was thinking of putting it here,



It would have to point upwards though and I'm not sure if thats a good idea or a very bad one what with water potentially collecting in it. The bumper is curvy all over though which might make fitting it neatly time consuming.

[Tubbs]

Why can you just not go on the opposite side to the towbar electrics with one of the square towbar fillers with the black cap ?
Still over 250mm and as i say the 500mm is open to interpretation i would say. So from the floor to the bolt that holds the towhitch on what does it measure ?

[Gilbertd]

Personally I'd whack it in the rear wing, if you've got it, flaunt it. Alternatively, you can put it where the countries busiest conversion company do it and have the owner laying on his back on the floor of the forecourt to fit the filler nozzle http://www.professautogas.co.uk/gallery ... s-type.php

[Tubbs]

That is funny
Do you reckon you can even get the gun on ? And whilst laying on your back to release the trigger i hope every conversion comes with a free pair of safety goggles !

[sijones]

Anyone doing a book on whether it's got a bracket holding it in, or it's just in the bumper?....

[Tubbs]

Just the bumper i recon. Its really hard to get up under the rear valance to the chassis rail.

[57jam89]

I have just fitted lpg to mine.

I fitted the filler in the same position as the one in this pic, most s types are the same, but i did have to fit heat shields over the pipes.

For me a hole in the body is a NO NO!

[renrut]

Personally I'd whack it in the rear wing, if you've got it, flaunt it. Alternatively, you can put it where the countries busiest conversion company do it and have the owner laying on his back on the floor of the forecourt to fit the filler nozzle http://www.professautogas.co.uk/gallery ... s-type.php

That looks next to useless.

I could put it on the towbar but I'm reluctant to for the very reasons you said earlier about it being nearly unusable with something hooked up.

Putting it in the wing means going into and out of the car again with the pipe-run, I was gonna run all the pipes straight down out of the car from the tank and keep them outside from then.

I'll take the bumper off when (if?) the rain stops and see what the bodywork behind looks like.

[Gilbertd]

This is where I have the filler on my Range Rover.



Good point is that it doesn't matter which side of the pump I pull up at, bad point it that some fillers with the big plastic shield on them can be a bit tight to fit if I've got something hitched up to it. However, I've got into the habit when towing of just giving it a bit of lock as I pull up so it moves the trailer hitch away from the filler to give a bit more clearance. The only problem I can think with your type of towbar is that while you can buy the plates for mounting the electrical sockets they tend to be a bit flimsy so would bend very easily. You would probably need to make one out of some fairly substantial steel so it held the filler rigid. Mine has a big lump of steel on the back so it is bolted up solidly rather than just in the plastic bumper.

[indyjukebox]

Alternatively, you can put it where the countries busiest conversion company do it and have the owner laying on his back on the floor of the forecourt to fit the filler nozzle http://www.professautogas.co.uk/gallery ... s-type.php

You are now responsible to clear up the coffee from my laptop screen and keyboard.

[renrut]

Aftera few hours wrestling with rusty bolts I finally got the bumper off the other night to discover that with the towbar fitted and the huge bumper bar there is almost no room behind the plastic to fit a filler.

I'm not keen on having the filler down low anyway and I'm not keen on having it at the side of the bumper as its a bit close to the exhaust for my liking.

This only really leaves the passenger side wing behind where my cd changer is. I'm planning to swap to an MP3 head unit anyway so being rid of the clunky old changer isn't an issue and would free up the space.

The bit I'm not sure on is that the pipe between tank and filler would run out of the bottom of the car then have to come back inside the boot area to connect to the back of the filler. I assume its ok to do this as I've seen fillers on cars where this must have been done and I haven't found any explicit prohibitions on it in the COP guidelines but what is the general feeling on this?

[Tubbs]

Its fine as long as the filler assembly can vent back outside the car. You do this by passing the pipe through a top hat, and have a peice of vent hose connecting onto a rubber boot at the back of the filler cup.

[renrut]

Ah. I think I've got one of those in my kit. So I don't need to worry about boxing off the pipe run from the filler to the tank, just the business end of the filler?

[Punx0r]

I like the towbar mounts

I don't have a towbar so improvised a little:





There was no way I could bring myself to take a holesaw to the rear quarter panel...

[renrut]

After all the umming and ahhing I finally fitted it tonight. To the towbar. Its a bit low down but no lower than the towbar electrics socket and I've angled it outwards so it should be easily usable with a trailer on.

Next I've got to do the pipe runs under the car. This could be a slowest install ever, in 2 months all I've managed is to put a tank in and bolt a filler to the towbar. I need more free time!