Manta A tank for EFI.

Clean gas tank....

I chose to make an insert that installs from the top of the tank, it will house the fuel pump and wiring.
I cut out the area above the 'dish' that's installed in all Opel gas tanks.
As you can see, the inside of the tank is super clean with no rust, not bad for a 33 year old gas tank....

I still don't know why Opel puts these 'soup bowls' into their gas tanks.
It's gone now!

Ron, in theory the 'soup bowl' makes sense, but in reality it doesn't go to the bottom of the tank,
It is suspended from the top of the tank.
So at some point when the fuel level drops low enough, it will get no fuel at all.
The check valve pickups are a better idea, I think, for a car that will be driven hard, especially through the turns.
They are designed for exactly that purpose, and pull fuel from the bottom of the tank.
If any of them are uncovered, the check valve closes without drawing air, and whatever valve is still submersed in fuel
(ex: left hand pickup in a right hand turn), will continue to suck fuel into the pump.

I needed to open the tank up anyway to install the in-tank pump,
So putting the three pickups in place is relatively easy at this point.
Just waiting impatiently for the parts however...

After much thought Ron, I'm going with my initial concept.
I had already ordered the fuel pickups, they should be here in another day or two,
So I may as well stay with my original thought pattern.
But thank you for the input, I will have plenty of other turbo EFI cars to build over the next few years,
So I have time to think about other avenues to try for the fuel tank and related hardware.

As of today I finally have all the pieces for the fuel pickups fabricated, and most of the items fitted to the fuel tank,
Waiting only the one-way check valves.

I decided to keep the stock fuel sending unit, and use the OEM pickup tube as the fuel return line.
While it was out of the tank,
I dismantled the sender, and retensioned and cleaned the contact surfaces so the gauge would work more accurately.

Here I made a reinforcement ring for mounting the access cover to,it will be welded to the inside of the tank flange.
It's just a piece of 11 gauge steel, drilled and tapped to accept bolts.

You may ask, how are you going to fit a ring inside a gas tank when the hole it fits inside is smaller than the ring itself?
No problem, I just made two slots 180 degrees apart, then slid it inside the tank.

Here you can see where I predrilled some holes in the tank flange, and clamped the reinforcement ring below it.
Then I plug-welded at the holes, securing the ring to the tank.

This is the fuel pickup line I made.
It will be brazed into the tank where it passes through the tank wall, and then held up near the access door by a retainer clip.

Details of the fuel pump and pickup.
I made a steel fitting that's the same diameter as the pickup on the fuel pump (7/8"),
And T'd it out so I'd have two side pickups and one central pickup.
No, those hose barbs are not the correct size for the side pickups, I just used them for fitment purposes.
The pickups are all 5/16".

The second photo shows the approximate mounting angle of the pump, and it relates to the tube I fitted to the the top of the tank. The steel clamp around the pump body will be welded to a bracket hanging from the access hole flange,
Then the pump is secured by tightening an allen bolt within the clamp

Yesterday my fuel pickups/check valves arrived, so I finally got a chance to complete the fuel system.
Here you can see the three fuel pickups, the metal lines, and the fuel pump before they're fitted to the fuel tank.

Here are the pickups and pump installed in the tank.
The second photo shows the left side pickup, and the last photo shows the right side pickup.
You'll note I reconfigured the right side pickup tube to clear the float for the sending unit.

Where and what type of fuel pickup/check valves did you buy? . . . for future reference.

They're made by Walbro, I got mine from
http://www.autoperformanceengineering.com/
They were $15 each.
Thanks to Travis for finding their website for me.
If you go to 'external' pumps and look under accessories, they're listed.

It's a check-valve that senses fuel flow.
As you said, it closes when the flow stops, preventing air from entering.

Well, since I had some paint and my paint gun out today painting wheels,
I decided to paint the gas tank for the turbo Manta.
Almost looks too good to put under the car...