One of the challenges with building and maintaining a race car is that eventually you run out of easy places to put things.
This car needed a fuel pump mounted in the engine compartment. The problem wasn’t simply making a bracket to hold it. The pump needed to be mounted securely, positioned where it could be accessed, and kept clear of the steering, belt drive, engine accessories, plumbing and everything else already competing for space.
Looking at the front of the car, there wasn’t exactly a lot of unused real estate.
Finding a Home for the Pump
The available space near the steering rack looked promising, but a simple flat bracket wasn’t going to work. The mount needed to reach around the existing components while putting the pump in the correct position.
Rather than trying to make an off-the-shelf bracket fit, the solution was to build one specifically for the car.
The starting point was a piece of aluminum stock.
Making Room Where There Isn’t Any
The bracket needed more than a few holes drilled into it. Material had to be removed to create the clearance necessary for the surrounding components while leaving enough material where strength was needed.
A manual mill made it possible to work the piece down and create the shape required for the installation.
Sometimes fabrication isn’t about making a complicated part. It’s about removing exactly the right material from a simple piece until it fits a complicated space.
Machining the Clearance
One of the larger clearance areas required removing considerably more material. A roughing end mill handled the bulk of the work before the area was finished to its final shape.
That clearance allowed the bracket to tuck into the available space instead of forcing the pump farther out into an already crowded engine compartment.
Turning the Pieces Into a Mount
Once the machined section was where it needed to be, the fabricated portion of the bracket could be added.
The aluminum pieces were fitted and TIG welded together to create a rigid mount while keeping the overall assembly compact.
This is one of the reasons having both machining and fabrication capability in the same shop is useful. The solution didn’t have to be designed around just what could be cut, just what could be welded, or just what could be machined. Different processes could be combined to make the part that actually fit the application.
The Finished Installation
With the bracket completed, the fuel pump could be mounted securely in the space beside the steering and belt-drive components.
The finished bracket doesn’t look particularly complicated—and that’s really the point.
It fits the available space, clears the surrounding components, supports the pump securely, and looks like it belongs there.
This Is What Custom Fabrication Is For
Not every fabrication job starts with a drawing and a list of dimensions.
Sometimes it starts with:
“I need this mounted here, but there’s no room.”
Those are the projects where a combination of machining, welding, fabrication and a little problem-solving can turn an awkward situation into a clean solution.
Pottsies Fabrication provides custom machining, precision welding and fabrication for one-off parts, repairs, modifications, prototypes and projects where an off-the-shelf solution simply doesn’t exist.
Have a project that needs a custom solution? Get in touch and let’s see what we can build.