Lomax 223 Fuel Tank Capacity, Fuel Tank Venting etc

[Jimmy Cooper]

New to these cars so was there a standard issue 223 tank or did people use the Citroen 2CV ones?
My '223' seems to travel about 125 miles from showing the fuel tank contents gauge from full to zero but I haven't run the tank to completely dry yet.
The tank filler also spits back if filled slightly faster than a trickle and will also syphon vent if filled right up. Needs a larger bore vent in my opinion which is routed higher. Where to look for the vent please?
All info gratefully received; thanks!

[trikehound]

Hi,223 tanks are different to a 2cv!They sit up on the rear of the chassis,where as 2cv`s are hung under!I am rebuilding my car and have had a new tank built and fitted a breather valve off of the tank breather,which should help filling plus will stop fuel spilling out! However,this is untested yet,as I am still finishing the rebuild.I do not know what part of the u.k. you are in ,I am in the New Forest,Hants.I have the old tank and I know a man that can build you a nice new ali. tank! You are welcome to loan the old tank for a pattern! Fuel gauges are notorious for being hard to set up for an accurate reading!Even the experts suffer from this! A spare can of petrol is sometimes worth carrying! I hope this helps! Graham.

[cscmemsec]

Do you know who built your special. They would be able to help with tank capacity, or if you let me know your registration I may be able to find out for you.
Our larger tank was custom made as we knew we would be travelling long distances.

Use the contact form if you wish to contact me.
Carole

[Jimmy Cooper]

Thanks for the info Graham!
I'm near Petersfield, Hants.
How about a few pictures on here please of your venting system? Might help me & others a lot. Also, if the old tank isn't to be used again any chance of filling it with water and letting me know the std capacity? Or, can you provide the physical dimensions so I can work out the capacity?
I cannot find ONE article stating this tank capacity even after trawling the net on a good few occasions.

Here are four pics of mine. I contacted the previous owner and got lots of good rebuild info. I would think though that the blocked pipe at the rear right should be a vent; yes? Maybe I can utilise it as such?









Thanks, Chris (Jimmy Cooper is the lead character in Quadrophenia; a favourite film).

[Jimmy Cooper]

Having written the post above I wondered about having another go at seeing if anything could be found on the net about the fuel tank capacity wise.
Amazing. after fruitless searches on other occasions; this. Takes some scrolling down and not sure to believe it or not. Though a 2CV engine made about 30bhp in std, good condition form so???

http://www.autoviva.com/cradley_motor_w ... sion/37456

[howardjs]

Hi, the 223 tank is a basic oblong so just measure the volume WxHxL in centimetres. 1000cc = 1Litre
For example if your tank is 20cm x 20cm x 100cm this = 40,000cc or 40L = 8.8 gals.

Howard

[Jimmy Cooper]

Thanks Howard. I just haven't scrabbled around underneath the 223 yet to measure the tank physically!

[howardjs]

Here's a photo of the original 223 exhibition car showing the tank, but not the vent unfortunately.

[Filbyflyer]

My 223 (The Filby Flyer" was the Which Kit Magazine project car for 1994. It used as far as possible the standard Lomax parts. The metal tank looks like yours and has a 15 litre capacity. When I got the car there was an open vent pipe projecting about a foot into the boot space. The problem was that is you overfilled the tank it overflowed into the boot! What I did was to extend the vent pipe up to near the top of the filler pipe in the boot and then loop it down and through a hole in the wooden floor. Now, if I fill it to the very top of the filler tube it will overflow harmlessly through the floor. There is a danger that it could set up a syphon (although this has never happened) but this would empty only the fuel in the filler pipe. I have never had a problem with venting.

Don't rely on the fuel gauge. When full it registers 3/4 and when it registers completely empty there is about 5 litres left. You can always use a dipstick to check.

Hope this helps!

David
2259

[Filbyflyer]

In one of these pictures form the Which Kit build articles you can see the vent pipe coming up alongside the filler pipe. The top of it is just out of view.

http://webspace.webring.com/people/af/f ... er/wk5.htm

On second thoughts, your tank may be slightly larger than the 15l standard as it extend beyond the chassis rails a little. I believe that the original Lomax tank lined up exactly with the chassis rails (as in the sectioned photo) for safety in the case of an accident.

David
1159