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BOE Surge Tank- Cure for Fuel Starve

54K views 74 replies 29 participants last post by  RichardNHCooper 
#1 ·
We've made several of these little guys on a custom basis now and have been adding them to our TVS supercharger kit for a while as well.

They've been so popular that I thought I'd formally announce that they're for sale.

The kit is extremely labor intensive to make and there's a lot of parts that goes with this little kit and it could be the very thing to save your engine-- ESPECIALLY if you have forced induction. We do all the machining, fabrication, welding, etc right here in the shop

Here's a link to where it can be purchased, BOEFabrication.com | Beyond Original Equipment . Due to the nature of the beast, we will only carry a small inventory of this kit, so most will be made to order. Please allow 2 weeks for shipping... There's some more information about the kit in my "shop log" thread and quite a bit on my webpage...

Let me know if you have any questions.

Best,

Phil
 

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#33 ·
Ronnie- Got it:up: Yours is one of those fresh off the mill... Now to get my arms burnt on the TIG:eek:

Take care buddy- Phil
 
#34 ·
Got it on monday, I installed it today.

Really impress how everything fits nice and tight under the clam. If it wasn't for the FPR and the blue hoses, nobody would know there is something going on there.

Great workmanship Phil! A clean solution to a **** up design by Lotus. I can't wait to test it on the track.
 
#35 ·
Glad you like it Jeff. Thanks!!

If you lose an engine, it won't be from fuel starve now:up:

Keep the rubber side down,

Phil
 
#38 ·
Ya, lots... I've had a few cup cars, a ton of Elises, and several S's install them. Many are not on the forums, as you might suspect. Robains on the forum has a whole bunch of catch can plumbing in his S.... I feel like I've seen just about every conceivable engine configuration in the lotus it seems and have only seen one guy use the particular piece of real estate that the tank occupies (that one guy has a volt freaks battery there). I bet you have room in this area;)

Here's pics of Robain's setup from the BOE site:






Hope those help,

Phil


Edit- As I look at those, he may not have had his catch cans installed at the time he took the pics... LOL, sorry about that... I know he has catch cans now. Maybe he can chime in...
 
#39 ·
Ya, lots... I've had a few cup cars, a ton of Elises, and several S's install them. Many are not on the forums, as you might suspect. Robains on the forum has a whole bunch of catch can plumbing in his S.... I feel like I've seen just about every conceivable engine configuration in the lotus it seems and have only seen one guy use the particular piece of real estate that the tank occupies (that one guy has a volt freaks battery there). I bet you have room in this area;)

Here's pics of Robain's setup from the BOE site:


Hope those help,

Phil


Edit- As I look at those, he may not have had his catch cans installed at the time he took the pics... LOL, sorry about that... I know he has catch cans now. Maybe he can chime in...
Thanks Phil!
 
#40 ·
Perhaps two more different angles will help... I love these yellow cars:drool:
 

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#41 · (Edited)
I'm trying out version 2 of my catch can setup. What you see in the pic Phil posted of my car is version 1. Version 1 was rather bulky and used two large Greddy aluminum cans that were NOT very effective at oil separation.

Below is version 2 with Phil surge tank solution:
 

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#42 · (Edited)
Sorry for the crappy pic, done with my iPhone. If they look very much like air compressor oil separators, I'd say you're correct -- JEGS just slap on their label and call it day.

They do work well (not a single spec of oil in my IC and/or tubes), but after a full day at the track, they need to be drained. They're directional -- I screwed up the direction my first attempt, but corrected.
 
#46 ·
Surge tank review

I tested the surge tank last week end. On the same track I used to have fuel cut with over a half tank full! I could literrally drive to the last bar without any fuel cut.

I limped to the gas station with no fuel bar showing on the display but only managed to fill it with 35L. So when you think the tank is dry you still have about 3L of fuel left.

I set the FP to 48-49psi. The car appears to drive the same as before. No unusual noise from the engine. I might run it on the dyno just to be extra sure where the a/f are. :shrug:

The only downside is the noise. You don't hear it at speed with the top off. But with the top on, you hear it very clearly especially around town. I wish it were more quiet. But I prefer the sound of a fuel pump than the sound of an engine going pop. :D
 
#47 ·
The noise? You can hear the noise of the pump in the surge tank? Very odd, I don't hear a thing -- well no "Added" noise anyway -- I set my FP to 52 psi.

Rob
 
#48 ·
More up to date photos. We cleaned up the fab process and updated some bits and pieces. pretty sexy units... You can see the innards here as well...

Thanks,

Phil



 
#51 ·
LOL- New website now so my old links are gone:(...

Actually switching over to all o-ring seals for the AN fittings on the next batch were making, so they'll even be another step cleaner... We build A LOT and I mean A LOT of fuel systems for the Lotus...

Here's the current model: BOEFabrication.com | Beyond Original Equipment
 

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#53 ·
Shay- I think you're referring to robs catch cans, not the surge tanks, correct???

Phil
 
#54 ·
Those tiny "glass/plastic" oil catch cans are long gone ... but they may find a new life as replacements for my EVAP. Unfortunately the Saiku Michi units also don't appear to be keeping all the oil out -- maybe my piston ring gap is tad to much -- or maybe that's just the way it is for catch cans.
 
#55 ·
Just a quick update...

I can barely stay ahead of the demand curve on these, but we did find some time to clean things up yet again. In the above pic, we were using NPT threads on the tank itself. All threads are o-ring fitting now.... Not a HUGE deal, but a deal and nonetheless:) I just can't stop tweaking things I guess:eek:

As many know, fuel starve is a huge deal and this will allow you to run your tank completely empty before you'll experience fuel starve... In addition to that, you've got top-tier adjustable fuel pressure included that will allow you to make small tweaks to your tune to better dial it in to your engine's particular needs... A VAST improvement over the stock fuel system...

Cheers,

Phil
 
#56 ·
Haven't updated pics and info for a while...

The newest link is here with a bunch of newer pics, etc.

BOE Fabrication - Lotus Elise, Exige, and Evora Performance ECM Tuning Products

We have slashed the weight of the kit and made it look prettier along the way:up: The tank with fittings and mount is only about 3lbs!:eek:

Mounting location is the same as our original place so that it won't interfere with any aftermarket modifications down the road. It is also out of sight (the regulator can easily be moved) to better pass visual inspections. Black fuel line in lieu of blue upon request.

With nearly 200 of our surge tanks floating about, you can be sure that the system does exactly what it's supposed to do:shift:

Cheers,

Phil
 

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#57 ·
A couple more installed pics in another car we're just finishing up...
 

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#58 ·
Just about done machining and assembling another batch of tanks. Should be ready to go around the first of the week. 6 are all ready spoken for (running a tad behind with track season getting into full swing:eek:), but we'll have a handful on the shelf for quick turn around...

Cheers,

Phil
 
#59 ·
Okay, i use my elise as a DD (only taken it to the track once), but twice now i've parallel parked it with low fuel in the tank (about a a half bar when driving up to park) and then it wouldn't start after i came back later (which can be a bit embarrassing when you're parked in front of a sports bar with panoramic windows and a couple hundred people in it. It was parallel parked on roads with a pretty steep grade for water drainage so i thought it might be related to fuel starve issues people have on track (because the car was leaned a lot to the right side).

i was smart enough (if that's possible given the circumstances) to get some people to help me push it into the street, it then fired right up and off i drove (no check engine lights interestingly enough).

Would this surge tank address the issue? Someone mentioned it being noisy?
 
#60 ·
Yes, it would address the issue. It's really a secondary fuel tank in series that is always full.

I haven't heard the noise once the engine starts up. If you turn the key on but don't push the starter, you can hear the reassuring sound of the fuel pump filling up stuff to full pressure.

I like mine :)
 
#61 ·
BOE surge tank - Top product & excellent value.

The company I am associated with has fitted 7 of the BOE Surge tank kits to customer cars over the past 6 months and the feedback has been very positive. Not only does the kit do what BOE says, it has an ingenious mount to keep it out of the way of other components and maintains short line runs.

A great product.
 
#62 ·
Just completed the install of one of BOE's surge tanks. The components are top notch and the install was fairly easy. It took me about 3.5 hours total, but I also took the opportunity to remove the washer fluid tank bracket (the tank was already out) and move my catch cans where the bracket was. Everything looks really clean and I can finally get my hands down to emply the catch cans.

I had some trouble (user error) with getting the quick connects seated on the hard line from the tank and the fuel rail, but was actually able to call Phil and have him walk me through it. These guys at BOE really are great to work with. :clap:
 
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