DIY Gascolator

To All:

The Gascolator dates from the days of the Model T Ford. Back in those
days the fuel tank was located in the cowl, just forward of the
windscreen -- which was plate glass. The filler was located on the
cowl. The float-type quantity gauge was located in the instrument
cluster. The system did not have a pump; it relied on gravity to feed
fuel to the carburetor. There was a strainer inside of the tank which
prevented LARGE particles of debris from reaching the carb, whilst the
Gascolator served to trap any WATER that happened to get into the
tank. The Gascolator's bowl was made of glass, allowing you to SEE
any water that may have been trapped. Your job was to loosen the
clamp securing the glass bowl and empty it, thus ridding the system of
water.

When I was a kid every junk yard worthy of the name had a windrow of
early Fords -- T's as well as A's -- which managed to survive the lust
for scrap iron generated by World War II. These junked Fords provided
a host of parts for anyone crazy enough to build their own airplane.
One of those parts was the Gascolator.

Alas, Gascolators have become rather rare birds in today's world.
Fortunately, they are relatively easy to make.

The first thing you'll need is the receiver; the glass or metal
'sediment bowl' through which all of the engine's fuel must pass.
Back then, it was always glass. Nowadays it's usually metal but
either one will work. (If you want to stick with Ford parts for some
reason, give a call to Mike's "A" Ford-able Parts in Maysville,
Georgia. Good people. See their on-line catalog at www.mikes-afordable.com

The receiver needs a mouth 1-3/4" to 2" in diameter. This could be a
baby food jar or similar. It could also be a section of chromed drain
pipe from under the bathroom sink. Or kitchen sink. (But don't get
caught!) The tricky bit here is to close the open end of the pipe,
which you can do by spinning or by hammering or whatever. If you
chose to hammer the end closed you'll have to anneal the brass pipe
several times during the process so keep in mind that quenching non-
ferrous metals SOFTENS the metal, whereas quenching ferrous metals
hardens them. To anneal your brass pipe simply raise it to a red heat
then swirl it around in a bucket of water. That makes it good to go
for another round of hammering.

Once you've hammered or spun the brass pipe to a single point, you may
seal it with a dot of hard solder.

Whatever you settle upon as your receiver, the next step is to find an
O-ring that matches its diameter. This is pretty easy since most real
auto-parts stores (as opposed to un-real, chain-store type FLAPS) will
have TRAYS of O-rings in every size imaginable. Simply find one that
fits.

The body of your Gascolator needs to be about 3/4" thick (ie, 19mm).
You need that much depth because the body will receive several
fittings that use NPT -- pipe threads. (I'm assuming you have
suitable pipe-thread reamers and taps.)

Although NPT is pretty strong you do NOT want to depend upon a pipe-
threaded fitting to SUPPORT the Gascolator, which will be mounted on
your firewall -- and which must be the LOWEST point in your fuel
system. (Why lowest? So that the water will go there.)

A circular groove is cut into the Gascolator body to accept the O-
ring. The receiver then presses against the O-ring with sufficient
pressure to form a gasoline-tight seal. The pressure comes from a
simple screw affair and a pair of straps that connect to the body of
the Gascolator then pass under the receiver. At the point where the
straps pass under the receiver you must fabricate a plate or other
fixture that is threaded 1/4-20, the bolt provided with some means of
safety-wiring. The head of the bolt is usually fitted with a cross-
bar or wheel to make it easy to unscrew by hand.

On the body of the Gascolator you must provide for one inlet (ie, from
the fuel tank) and two outlets. One of the outlets is to the carb and
is fitted with a sintered bronze muffler from a pneumatic-tool. The
other outlet goes to the primer. All of the drillings in the body of
the Gascolator are 3/16" or larger in diameter and are tapped 1/8"
NPT.

You must also provide some means of attaching and supporting the
Gascolator to the firewall.

The body of the Gascolator may be made from a billet of aluminum or
frm a casting..

I will post an illustrated version of this message to my blog as soon
as I am able to do so.