Bob Pictons In Tank Fuel Filter For the Hillman Imp and other vehicles



This is what is in the kit includes

• New sender unit gasket as the cork ones especially, break when the sender is removed and a rubber one when it is a later car.
• Round magnet (very strong, watch the fingers !
• Steel machined insert with massey in tank petrol filter

This was a project that was on my mind for some time and I played with the idea a lot as did Dave Lane and Peter Nunney.

Peters solution was first to the finish line with his tea strainer and rare earth magnets and the pure simplicity over shadowed my own ideas.

Stainless tea strainer held down by a few rare earth magnets, effective and simplicity itself.

Photo by Peter Nunney aka The Nun on the Imp Club Forums

One of my ideas was to use the wire mesh filters used for in tank filtering in VW beetles (yes the early ones, they are the only true bugs !) which would keep them running even with an inch of crap in bottom of tank.

The VW ones stand tall however the machining to get it in there was starting to become daunting



So inspired by both Bob came up with his solution which was dimple and effective.

• A mesh filter (I think it is a Perkins, massey or Briggs and Stratton one) and it is shown in the picture.
• Second ingredient is a stainless machined retainer for the filter machined by Bob
• Third is a nickel plated Neobydium magnet
• A new sender gasket (as they always break on removal, especially the cork ones)

Messing in the fuel system is not for everyone, if you are not 100% sure on what you are doing ask someone who does. in any case the mod is at your own risk.


So let us begin

Check all parts are present as shown in first picture, especially the gasket as the danger of fuel fumes cannot EVER be understated, the fumes are way more dangerous than the fluid itself and they are heavy so do not blow away easy.

On either early or later cars please disconnect the battery first, then remove the wire for the fuel sender and tuck it out the way. The battery should never be connected until the job is complete and the fuel smell has gone !

Try and do this outside if you can.

If you have had issues with particulates at the fuel filter you need to back flush your fuel line first as there will still be crap sitting in it.

Mark the sender position with a black stripe so it goes back in same orientation as before.

If you are fitting this to an older car please remove the six securing screws making sure the small fibre washers etc do not get lost.

For later cars you will need to tap the ring around to release the sender. Sorry I dont have images from a later car as I do not have any.

Remove the senders and watch the float on the way out.

Now the magnet supplied is strong and I mean STRONG watch your fingers getting between it and any metal surface as it will snap and pinch your skin like you would not believe, do not ask me how i found that one out you have been warned

I chose to use a bit of rigid plastic air line, was a nice fit, popped the tube down on top of the fuel exit and then fed the magnet down to center it, managed to get it first time so far.



The above was from my Chamois

The below is courtesy of Dave Lane on his Singer



Next part for me was the same process with the tube but with the filter and sleeve held on end with elastic band.



The end results mine on the left and Dave Lane one on the right




Assembly is the opposite of dissasembly

A few people had concerns over fuel level in bottom of the tank needing to be a little higher but I can honestly say if you are running the tank down to 1/2 litre or so, you are chancing it going up or down a hill anyway

Some pictures are left below which shows how much work actually goes into making this filter, it is not a simple job cutting from stock, machining and pressing.

Fantastic amount of effort from Bob and a great service to the car community.

If you wish a filter please contact Bob direct

bobs_tank_filter@hillmanimp.org

original email addresss masked to prevent spam.