Vellios Aluminum Oil Tank

limerockracer · 10-20-2004, 03:58 PM

Has anyone had recent contact with George Vellios Company? The web page is through Ed Barrett.

I am trying to get an aluminum oil tank made for my vintage 914/6 racer. Has any one used one of the Vellios tanks in their cars? I would be interested in any comments.

Any help would be appreciated...

Thanks.

BURN-BROS · 10-20-2004, 04:02 PM

He's like a shadow right now. Don't know what up with him.

BigD9146gt · BigD9146gt's Garage

The only good thing i've heard about those tanks is that their cheap. Besides that, they seep oil, weight a freggen ton, and the AN to metric fittings are pricy just to get it to work with the OEM conections.

I make an aluminum sheet metal tank, all out of 5052, uses all the factory fittings, oil filter stand, filler neck, and is a pound lighter than the factory steel tank!. I'm going to be making filler necks and filter stands soon because those are getting rare and pricy too. Plus, my tank comes with a lifetime garrenttee against any defects. With the velios tank, your left in the dark like the man himself. If your interested, pelican can get one for you. I've taken pictures of them, if you do a search you can find them.

Don.

BURN-BROS · 10-21-2004, 08:53 AM

Here are some pics of when I was farting around with them.

BigD9146gt · BigD9146gt's Garage

Aaron, nice solid works drawings! Go figure, I'm giong to make one here soon with the oil level sensor and a temp sensor.... The only thing your missing is the screen.

BURN-BROS · 10-21-2004, 09:48 AM

Thanks Dan, I haven't done the screen yet. Temp is a good idea too.

Dave at Pelican Parts · Dave at Pelican Parts's Garage

Dan, do your tanks have internal baffles? Some of the early repro tanks do not, and that has caused problems....

--DD

BigD9146gt · BigD9146gt's Garage

Dave, they sure do. I got my hands on an original tank that someone had fully incased in fiberglass...i guess they just wouldn't give up and face the fact they needed a new one. I cut it open, and copied it completly, all the way down to the screen size. The vellios tank uses perferated sheet metal with much larger hols than stock. The screen i use is just like the factory but stainless, so it will last a long long time. All of the plumbing is the same too. All the peices are CNC stamped and bent, the tubing is done by CNC bender. I then TIG everything together, pressure test, and powder coat. Its rather labor intensive, but there needed to be something more on the market b/c the vellios tank was the only option to stock, and with the stock tanks $$$ skyrocketing, i got to work.

Don.

Racer Chris · Racer Chris's Garage

[QUOTE]I would be interested in any comments.
QUOTE]
Vellios tanks aren't worth the aluminum they are made of.
Not only are the castings porous, the machining quality is horrendous. In addition there is absolutely no customer service.
99% of them need extensive repair before thay can even be installed.
Stay away!

BigD9146gt · BigD9146gt's Garage

Hey Aaron, i'm catching up in the world of Solid Works!!! Its for a 72 911... Not 914, but I'll get there!

BURN-BROS · 12-09-2004, 03:16 PM

Great job, Don! Go into properties and change the colors around to make each item stand out. Congrats again on a job well done.

BigD9146gt · BigD9146gt's Garage

Aaron, do you know anyone who has a digitzer machine? I'm not sure if thats the name, but its like an infared pen hooked up to an arm, and you pick points on a part which then traces it out 3 dimensionaly giving you an exact CAD replica. Is there any companies that wouldn't charge an arm and a leg to have an oil tank digitzed? I'm curious how close my crude measurements came out.

Dave at Pelican Parts · Dave at Pelican Parts's Garage

Don, did you check the earlier thread on the Racing BBS that showed the 911 oil tank modifications that Chris Striet (I think it was) did? It was to an earlier tank, I think. He cut a slot in the side of the tank, and put a flat piece of metal with a number of holes in it in place in front of the oil pickup (suction) fitting.

--DD

BURN-BROS · 12-10-2004, 06:15 AM

There are a few ways to digitize. The digitizing arm can be somewhat accurate if used properly. I have played around with it and used it to get partial dims from the Marelli twin plug cap.

Laser scanning will give you very accurate dims in certain planes. I have gotten quotes for 1/2 a scale model for around 3000.00 to 5000.00 bucks(depending on how much work you would like them to do when meshing surfaces together.)

I would use the digitizing arm for point to point measurements that are hard to establish on a part. the mounting studs on the oil tank comes to mind. Most of the digitizing that I do is by hand with depth gauges and calipers. Depending on the part, I can be finished with what dims that I need to take manually before I set up the digitizer.

Alchymia (Tel: +1.805.520.7499) Ask for Alfred. Prototype shops expensive. If you decide to move forward just get mounting points,perimeters, and hole placements/depths in relation to each other.

Hope this helps.

BigD9146gt · BigD9146gt's Garage

Dave, i saw that thread, it was a nice way to add some baffeling. It sounded like it worked well for him. Its a simple, quick way to acheive what he needed. I on the other hand wouldn't go with that design. I would install something like what Lindsey Racing uses for the 944 oil pan. Its a peice of metal like Chris used, but it has a large hole cut out and another peice of metal with a hinge going over it (like an upside down draw bridge to a castle). So no oil can escape to the other side of the pan, and when the side forces come back down, the oil will push the flap open and drain back into the lower section. I'm working on this for my 914-6gt tank for acceleration purposes. The nice thing about the 914 6 and 911 tanks is that they are more longitudinal than transvers, so the only oil starvation problems will be under acceleration.

Aaron, I was thinking about getting a hight gauge. I was given a 24"x36"x5" granit measuring surface with stand a few years ago. i think with 3 parallels holding the welded seam as the datum points, i could get some accurate higth numbers.

It sounds like $100 bucks isn't going to cut it with the digitizing guys. Oh well, I can get by. Thanks again.

BURN-BROS · 12-10-2004, 09:55 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by BigD9146gt
It sounds like $100 bucks isn't going to cut it with the digitizing guys. Oh well, I can get by. Thanks again. [/B]

As do I.

Btw, prototype shops can run around 150 per hr. figure a few hrs to digitize the minimum dimensions required.

porsche914_73 · porsche914_73's Garage

I'm no Mech Eng but I saw what IMO, is a cool alternative for those of us with too much time on our hands and looking for a DIY alternatives. It was on sale on Ebay not too long ago.
Instead of mounting the oil tank on the Left OEM location (which throws off the balance of the car) why not mounting the tank on the battery side and then relocate the battery to the front trunk?
The reason why Porsche placed the oil tank on the left side was because of European driver location was on the right. Anyway, you know what I mean. You get a better balanced car.

Also, has anybody considered to make a OEM style tank BUT inverted to be mounted on the right?!? I imagine that once you get the drawings digitized, it will be a matter of inverting the drawings horizontally and PRESTO, a right-side mounted OEM style oil tank!

Happy Holidays!

Mr9146 · 12-13-2004, 07:21 PM

This is a great thread. Those digital images are pretty f-in cool.

It is a shame that the factory stuff is getting so pricey. Glad to see folks coming up with alternatives.

BURN-BROS · 05:01 PM

I called my local Porsche dealership to check on prices a year ago. There were 13 of them left in inventory. Demand will drive the price and only the serious will pay. I wanted to buy 3 a while back from Ottos and 2500.00 for all three is a hard sell. I immediately started to work from a damaged tank and asking local formers the basics.

The right side I thought about the other day. It provides more balance than on the left. I was going to do a right tank for the liquid intercoolers that will be installed on the car.

Dave at Pelican Parts · Dave at Pelican Parts's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by porsche914_73
...The reason why Porsche placed the oil tank on the left side was because of European driver location was on the right.

Um, no. Only in the UK, Australia, and Japan. And the 914 was never produced as an RHD model from the factory.

The tank, IMHO, was on the left because they had already put the battery on the right and they didn't want to move it. So they moved the relay board up a bit (or is it down a bit?) and put the tank in the inner left fender.

The tank in the image above was, I think, made by MSHP quite a few years ago. I know one person who has a prototype version of it, and he really likes it. I have heard from others that the production ones were much worse...

Quote:

Also, has anybody considered to make a OEM style tank BUT inverted to be mounted on the right?!? I imagine that once you get the drawings digitized, it will be a matter of inverting the drawings horizontally and PRESTO, a right-side mounted OEM style oil tank!

You'll have to re-work the inner fender as well as removing the battery tray. The left and right inner fenders are differently shaped; the left side has flats and such for the oil tank mounting and the various through-holes needed, while the right side does not. I don't think the tank would be very securely mounted unless you beat up the panel some...

Nonetheless, it would be an interesting exercise.

--DD