I'm encroaching on 7-yrs for my ATL fuel cell which has been recertified once. I'm planning to replace this winter and pre-planning. Has anyone removed one before? Looking for any guidance, awareness, tips, etc.
All I know is that it's removed from the passenger side . Which means I need to remove the radiator? I can certainly take apart things until I get to where I need to get, trying to reduce unnecessary work 😀
Thanks!
Arax
Hello- I replaced my ATL on the RXC Spyder with an aluminum version from the factory.
To get it out, you need to remove the side panel and the lower skirt/valence along with the radiator on that side. You will need to also remove the side metal panel that holds the ATL bag in place which is riveted to the frame. Once all removed, disconnect the fuel lines and filler hoses at the back, push the hose connectors that attach to the bag in through the back and the bag should slide out the right side. Good luck.
Thanks for your input. Interesting they have an AL option, I'm not sure what to think of that.
Curious - does the lower skirt come off on its own, or did you have to remove other hardware to get to it?
For the lower skirt, I recall that I needed to remove the support at the rear and front, disconnect the brake duct hose (drill out the rivet) and then drill out the rivets (of course more rivets) along the front. Then the skirt should pull away as needed.
I finally removed my fuel bladder. It's not hard after you figure out the steps to get there.
The one difficult part however was removing the bladder and accommodating the two rear ports for the fuel fill port. I used a prybar to push them inwards and attempt to recess them from the firewall. It was very hard to keep the two in while trying to extract the bladder. Is there a better way to do this? I'm anxious/worried on installing the new bladder. Hopefully it's softer which will allow me to flex it quite a bit more.
@ Bill - I'm very curious with your AL tank. How did they accommodate installing the tank while having those two rear ports pre-installed?
The AL tank has side fill ports so the rear ports for the ATL are not used. You can purchase the fill hoses with the tank.
Your new ATL should be more flexible and allow input easier.
